Care and protection to victims of trafficking

Upgrading skills – an antidote to trafficking

Shangmila (name changed) is a 38 year old divorcee from Tamei Village of Tamenglong District, Manipur. Her two children live with her husband.  As her parents passed away , she lived alone in a rented house. She struggled with life without any future as she had studied only upto primary level with no vocational skill. She supported herself by supplying vegetables to vendors.

The Manipur Domestic Workers’ Movement Organization (MDWMO) staff had known Shangmila from field visits the village. During one field visit, Shangmila shared with them that a man had offered her a job in a company and she would be leaving the village soon for the job. She was in distress and confused about the work in ther new place. She showed the address and contacts of her work place. The staff contacted the company and it was later found that it was a brothel.

The truth was a shocking to Shangmila. After understanding the problem, our staff counselled her for various vocational options. She was interested in learning weaving but had no money to undertake the training. With some financial assistance, our staff referred Shangmila to a weaving centre at Kabrabam Leikai Handloom Cluster, Imphal West for a six months weaving course.

Shangmila was thus saved through timely intervention from being trafficked due to her ignorance and vulnerability to such unscrupulous agents. Today Shangmila is able to earn her livelihood through her newly acquired skill in weaving.

Prevention is the best Policy

As shown in the above story, constant vigilance is the only way forward to nip trafficking cases in the bud. Besides visiting villages where children and women are at risk, our staff conduct continuous awareness sessions in such locations, pointing out the evils of trafficking.

Jharkhand is one among the states chosen by the ILO to work on the issue of safe migration and human trafficking under the Work in Freedom project. Hundreds of villagers in the districts of Ranchi and Khunti are being made aware of the problems through novel methods like street plays and audio-visual programs. People are responding very positively as they become aware of the issues. 

We encourage you to participate in the eternal watch to stop human trafficking and continue to generously support our efforts in rescuing and educating vulnerable sections of our population from this pernicious evil.