Human trafficking in Bangladesh
S Yasmin, Lalmatia, Dhaka
Human trafficking is a 'social evil' that seems to be growing at an alarming rate throughout the world. This practice results in unimaginable human suffering and represents one of the most important human rights violations of our times, resulting in a form of 'Modern Slavery'. For Bangladesh, this condition is more acute.Bangladesh is the origin and transit for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude, and debt bondage. Bangladeshi women and girls are trafficked to India, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). A small number of women and girls are trafficked from Myanmar to India through the country. Bangladeshi boys are also trafficked to the U.A.E., Qatar, and Kuwait for forced work as camel jockeys and beggars. Women and children from rural areas in Bangladesh are trafficked to urban centres for commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. Its high-profit, low-penalty-nature makes human trafficking attractive to criminal gangs. The crime of trafficking is mainly committed against persons who are socially and economically vulnerable. Economic underdevelopment generates huge exodus of men and women to affluent countries. As far as trafficking in women and children is concerned, it necessarily involves a gender dimension and a negative consequence on the rights of women and children as almost all the women-victims are trafficked for the immoral purposes of flesh trade or child-victims are sold as suppliers of human organs. Trafficking victims are lured into trafficking by false promises, like promise of better life/jobs, and marriage proposal or fake marriage, forced (kidnapping), and outright trade (sale done by people known to the victims such as relatives). They are vulnerable to trafficking schemes due to poverty, gender discrimination on social protection. The South Asia-Gulf Region trafficking route affects Bangladesh. Several reports over the years reveal that traffickers use 20 main points in 16 south/south-western districts of Bangladesh near the Indian border to run their trade. The main trafficking route is Dhaka-Mumbai-Karachi-Dubai. There are people on both sides of the Bangladesh-India border involved in this trafficking chain. Bangladesh continues to face a huge trafficking problem, which is compounded by pervasive poverty, weak government control, and generalised corruption. Trafficking victims suffer from mental stress; bad social treatment after their rescue. This crime has to be prevented at any cost.
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