Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan calls for concerted efforts to end human trafficking

Saifabad: Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday called for concerted efforts to end the heinous crime of human trafficking, describing it as the third largest organised crime in the world, next only to drugs and illegal arms trade.

"Trafficking in persons is an extreme form of human rights violation and results in exploitation and perpetration of crime against innocent people," she added.

The Governor was releasing a set of five handbooks on "Countering Human Trafficking," brought by Prajwala with the support of the US Consulate-General, at Raj Bhavan, here, on the occasion of the UN World Day against trafficking in Persons. She expressed anguish that female victims continue to be the primary target of trafficking, as women constitute 46 per cent and girls 19 per cent of the total trafficking victims.

"The fact that at any given point of time more than 2.5 million people are trapped in modern-day slavery shows the gravity of the crime," she said. The Governor stated that the proposed draft titled Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care, and Rehabilitation) Bill-2021, once approved and becomes a reality, then its effective implementation might help prevent the trafficking to a great extent.

Dr Tamilisai called upon people not to stigmatise the rescued victims; instead she said, "We must work for their effective rehabilitation. It is high time that we listen to the voices of the victims and prepare concrete action plans to root out the practice of human trafficking. Victims' experiences serve as a base to understand the causes and consequences of human trafficking and help come out with the right strategies to fight trafficking in humans."

We need to listen to the victims' voices, as the current year's anti-trafficking day theme, "Victims Voices Lead the Way," proposes. It is not acceptable to re-victimise the victims through stigmatisation.

The Governor appreciated the work of Prajwala's Sunitha Krishnan in bringing out the handbooks for the duty bearers. She termed them as ready-reckoner for the duty bearers working to fight human trafficking. Prajwala general secretary Padma, Sunitha Krishnan, Clark Ledger, acting Consul-General, US Consulate of Hyderabad, Dave Moyer, Public Affairs Officer in the consulate, Secretary to Governor K Surendra Mohan and Senthil Thirupathi, Cultural Affairs Assistant in the consulate and others were also present.