127 women abducted in northern regions in three years
Staff Correspondent
At least 127 women above 18 years of age were abducted and another 220 trafficked from the country's northern regions between January 2000 and June 2003, according to a finding revealed at a workshop yesterday. The daylong workshop on 'Trafficking in Women and Children: Challenges and Strategies' was organised by the Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS) at the Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management. The study, conducted by CWCS President Ishrat Shamim in eight northern districts, also revealed that about 2,405 children aged between 10 and 16 years went missing, 1,109 were kidnapped and 967 trafficked during the period. "Trafficking is a socio-economic problem across South Asia," said CWCS Executive Director Shireen Hasan. Trafficking is a human rights issue and pre-empting human rights violation is a doctrine that the European Union (EU) happily subscribes to, said EU Delegation's Second Secretary Anne Marchal. During the three-year study, various awareness programmes were undertaken. These include training to combat trafficking, advocacy workshops, motivational training for youth and adolescents, basic counter-trafficking initiatives and socio-economic benefit packages for adolescent campaigners.
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