Guwahati, January 17 – U.S. President Donald Trump has proclaimed January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the passage of the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and adoption of the United Nations’ Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
In commemoration, the U.S. Department of State declares 2020 the year of “Freedom First,” recognizing that human dignity, autonomy, and freedom are essential to the exercise of our rights and liberties.
Following the announcement and also as a part of U.S. Consulate General Kolkata’s ongoing efforts to combat human trafficking, the Consulate and NGO Shakti Vahini have launched “From One To Many -Ignite the Force” – a series of anti-trafficking workshops to empower youth to combat human trafficking and facilitate inter and intra state collaboration in three cities – Guwahati, Patna and Ranchi.
The project goal is to empower youth to lead prevention campaigns, such as the Swayamsiddha campaign in West Bengal that has forged a multi-stakeholder collaboration to empower school girls. The three workshops will allow stakeholders in each state to learn about the model and discuss best practices, keeping in mind local issues and the socio-cultural scenario.
Following the workshops, participants will continue to network and share developments, as well as lead two pilot projects in each state. Six months after the workshops, participants will convene for an international conclave at the American Center Kolkata to share impact stories of the pilot projects and discuss ways to continue to strengthen collaboration.
American Center Kolkata Director Monica Shie said, “The U.S. Consulate General Kolkata is committed to intensifying our efforts to end human trafficking through a year-round, multilateral approach that supports the coordination of anti-trafficking efforts through meaningful engagement with local governments, law enforcement, judiciary, civil society, the private sector, and trafficking survivors.”
Founder of Shakti Vahini, Ravi Kant said, “Human trafficking is an organized crime and over the years it has grown in dimensions. The missing children data as reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an indicator of the magnitude of the problem. It is important to make our children and youth aware of this problem so that they are aware of the designs of the traffickers and know of the various support mechanisms which are present.”
The Deputy General of Police of Assam B J Mohanta, Dr L R Bishnoi, IPS, ADGP (CID) Assam Police, Surendra Kumar, IPS, IG, CID, Assam Police, Satyanarayan Sharma, Member Secretary, Assam State Legal Services, Dr Vanessa Bouche, Professor of Texas Christian University and anti-human trafficking expert.
Ananya Chatterjee Chakraborty, Chairperson, West Bengal State Commission for protection of Child Rights joined the workshop and spoke about multi-lateral stakeholder collaboration to combat all forms of human trafficking in Assam and the region. “Let us come together to wipe out the blot of human trafficking from the face of humanity,” said Surendra Kumar, IPS, IG, CID, Assam Police.
“ Combating human trafficking is one of our priority areas in Assam and we are taking adequate initiatives to prevent trafficking, rescue the victims, prosecute the criminals and unify the victims with families,” said B J Mohanta IPS DGP Assam.
Global estimates indicate that as many as 24.9 million people adults and children are victims of human trafficking. Traffickers deprive their victims of the ability to exercise their unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – an affront to America’s founding principles. Delivering on unfulfilled promises of freedom for the millions of people whom traffickers exploit must remain a first priority for us all.
Throughout the past two decades, the United States government has remained steadfast in its commitment to bring to justice those who profit from the exploitation of others, to ensure victims are identified and receive trauma-informed support services, and to prevent traffickers from committing this crime in the first place.
The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “On National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, I ask that you please join me in taking up the President’s call to “tenaciously pursue the promise of freedom for all victims of this terrible crime” and join us as we redouble our efforts in the year 2020 to prevent exploitation, prosecute traffickers, and protect survivors of human trafficking.”
