notnot herher realreal namename...... REPORTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS The Media Guide - A MEDIA HANDBOOK Not her real name - India Published by the HIV and Human Development Resource Network (HDRN) for UNDP-TAHA 2006 - Not her real name The Media Guide not her real name... REPORTING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS A Media Handbook Published by the HIV and Human Development Resource Network (HDRN) for UNDP-TAHA 2006 The Media Guide Not her real name - Conceived, Produced and Published by: HIV & Human Development Resource Network (HDRN) THE PUBLICATION MAY BE FREELY REVIEWED, QUOTED, REPRODUCED OR TRANSLATED IN PART OR IN FULL, PROVIDED THE SOURCE IS ACKNOWLEDGED. Printed by: Image, 9811116841, 65749684 - Not her real name The Media Guide FOREWORD The AIDS epidemic is exceptional. Hence it requires an exceptional response. The AIDS epidemic, over the past 25 years, has found some answers (though many questions still remain) for both prevention and care. These have to be worked upon, up-scaled and energized. The AIDS epidemic, however, continues to grow, except in small pockets the world over. This is despite, some one would say, a very rapid response from all nations and their governments. Hence we need to keep innovating and finding new ways of addressing the AIDS epidemic. In India, close to 4 in every 10 people living with HIV, are women. And the numbers can grow, if our response is either not adequate or not timely. The absence of spaces, opportunities and adequate capacities of women to negotiate safer practices and more empowered identities for themselves and their children lie at the heart of their vulnerability to not only trafficking, but also to HIV and AIDS. UNDP TAHA is a multi sectoral response to try and grapple with these twin issues of trafficking and HIV. We work on vulnerability reduction, prevention, rescue, repatriation, reintegration, care & support of trafficked and people living with HIV while also creating an environment of empowerment and capacity development through policy advocacy, leadership development, community participation and so on. UNDP TAHA has been conceptualized within the Rights Based Framework. In its current phase, we are committed to developing models for a long term response to HIV. Our projects are implemented in partnership with those most vulnerable to HIV and those most affected by the epidemic. TAHA is cognizant of the fact that all trafficking makes the trafficked person vulnerable to sexual exploitation, and hence vulnerable to HIV. We firmly believe that all sex workers in India are not trafficked persons. We are also very mindful that sex workers’ struggle for dignity and safety makes them a key partner and ally in our anti-trafficking activities. TAHA locates all its activities from the human development perspective. Recognising the stellar role played by the media in catalyzing such a response, UNDP-TAHA has partnered with HIV and Human Development Resource Network (HDRN) to mainstream trafficking and HIV related concerns. The publication aims to promote good media practices and favourably impact coverage of the many issues that surround trafficking and HIV. The media handbook also intends to demystify the subject, set out a roadmap for the media, and provide fresh inputs to them on reporting. I would also take this opportunity to thank HDRN for producing the media handbook and I urge the media to use this resource for their personal learning, to be shared with fellow journalists and others, and to be used in reportage that will assure India of a new generation of long term responses to HIV. Ms. Mona Mishra Project Coordinator UNDP-TAHA Project The Media Guide Not her real name - Additional copies of this publication are available on the HIV and Human Development Resource Network (HDRN) website at www.hdrn.org. HIV and Human Development Resource Network (HDRN) The HIV and Human Development Resource Network (HDRN) is a regional not-for-profit, advocacy and leadership development organization. The organization was established with the support from The Indian Network for People Living with HIV and AIDS (INP+) and UNDP to offer a range of services particularly on advocacy and leadership to various stakeholders working in the areas of HIV, trafficking, mobility and sexuality with gender as a cross cutting issue. HDRN D-29 Hauz Khas, New Delhi – 110006 Tel: 65659620/21 Email: [email protected] URL: www.hdrn.org - Not her real name The Media Guide INTRODUCTION Trafficking and HIV have both emerged as two of the fastest growing development challenges faced by the country today. Whilst the two social issues are huge challenges on their own, the linkages between them create even greater challenges that must be understood if the design of our responses is to facilitate the kind of change we seek. Poverty and the lower social status of women in our society make them more vulnerable and susceptible to such exploitation, and also heighten their vulnerability to HIV. Those who become HIV positive as a result find themselves further ostracised and marginalised with even fewer options of regaining societal acceptance. Media can play a critical role in the prevention and control of trafficking and HIV by increasing the knowledge and understanding among key stakeholders and people at large. The media can give a face to the issue, shape the debate and help determine the choices available. It has been observed that reporting on such issues is inadequate and quite often sensationalised. While we don’t undermine the work that has been done already, there is still a need for continued, consistent and sensitive reporting on the issue and commitment from the media and the public which will be translated into action. Through this publication, we intend to get the media on board while campaigning to put an end to trafficking in persons, changing the gender-poverty equation and social attitudes that prompt it, with the purpose of turning the media into a agent of social change. As a result, it is hoped that this will create an enabling environment for the survivors and PLWHA to be rehabilitated and re-integrated. The publication also aims to be a ready tool to facilitate more sagacious writing and reportage about trafficking in persons and the related issues including the linkages with the spread of HIV. And above all, to harness the power of the media to make reportage enabling for those vulnerable to trafficking as well as the survivors of trafficking and HIV and AIDS. The media handbook includes two parts - the media guide and the media manual. The media guide is designed on one hand to bring the various facets of trafficking in persons, its extent and its effects to the notice of the media persons who would be reporting on these issues, on the other hand, the media manual delineates the role of the media when it comes to reporting about and countering trafficking. We are sure that the media handbook will sensitize the media into better reporting about trafficking and HIV and inspire them to take a pro-active approach and become partners in countering the twin problem of trafficking and HIV. HDRN acknowledges the support provided by UNDP – TAHA project, especially Ms. Mona Mishra, Project Manager and her team in helping us bring out this manual. HDRN would also like to thank Mr. R. Mohan for conceptualizing and Ms. Aparna S. Reddy for authoring the media handbook. We extend our thanks to Ms. Rebecca Khosla, Ms. Afsana Cherian, Ms. Saraswathi G. Rao and Ms. R. Mangathai for providing substantive contributions in preparing the kit and Mr. Ajay S. Kathait for administrative support, Mr. Pavitra D Tuladhar & Mr. Harish Bhardwaj for design. Photos are by Mr. Keshav Chaturvedi. K K Abraham President HIV and Human Development Resource Network The Media Guide Not her real name - This media handbook has been put together to serve as a background kit for media persons as they report on the complex issues related to Trafficking in Persons and HIV/AIDS in the Indian context. In this document, we have decided to use the pronoun ‘her’ to describe the trafficked person, for the gender situation is one of the most crucial factors leading to trafficking in persons. The word “Trafficking” signifies “Trafficking in Persons.” In the context of the UNDP-TAHA project, this media handbook focuses on trafficking in persons for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation which makes her vulnerable to HIV and AIDS, though it acknowledges that human trafficking happens for other reasons as well, which are equally exploitative. - Not her real name The Media Guide “I went to see her I waited and waited… for hours But she did not want to talk… ...they say a picture is worth a thousand words. But sometimes, a picture can not speak at all.” The Media Guide Not her real name - PROLOGUE ” …. You are asking me about my village. My husband must still be living there. And my oldest daughter. I was married off when I was twelve. I still remember how it used to scare me each night when my mother-in-law will push me into the room to sleep with him. That year, as the harvest time neared, he left for work with the other men. I felt relief. His best friend, who was almost a permanent guest at my home, came over one night. He forced himself on me. Few months later I realized I was pregnant. I told my sister. My husband had been away for months. “He will not accept you,” she could see my future. I approached his friend. I did not know what else to do. He told me he would take me out to the nearby town. “There are doctors there.” I agreed.