Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, March 28: International Youth Champions Anti Trafficking in Persons Conclave was organised from March 13 to March 16 at American Centre, Kolkata. It was jointly hosted by US Consulate General Kolkata and NGO Shakti Vahini that works for protection of human rights. This was the 8th International gathering of stakeholders and this year saw the participation of 75 youth leaders from the US, Bangladesh, Nepal and India who discussed the strategies to prevent the organised crime of human trafficking and the role of youth to eliminate such activities. Students have to play a key role in the eradication of human trafficking. Student representatives from different colleges across India including Karim City College’s Pratyush Singh, Abhishek Prasad, Afreen Naaz and Manju Hansda comprised Team Jharkhand.
The conclave was inaugurated by US Consul General Patti Hoffman who said the US was committed to working together with international partners to end trafficking. �It is not enough to denounce this horrific assault on human dignity. We must actively work to prevent and end this barbaric exploitation of innocent survivors,� she said.
Vanessa Bouche, Associate Professor, Political Science at Texas Christian University said, �The idea is to get university students in the US who have been active on the anti-trafficking issue to interact with university students from India, Nepal and Bangladesh so that they can talk about different ways of combating the issue using their universities as platforms.� She further added that situations in the US and India were not that different. �We do have situations where parents traffic their children and I know that�s a problem in India as well and people don�t think it�s a problem within us but it is.�
Ravikant, the founder of NGO Shakti Vahini, noted that the three-day meet was aimed at finding �synergies� among stakeholders to initiate �concrete action� against the traffickers.
�Shakti Vahini ,along with US consulate ,has been organising this conclave for the past few years to highlight the factors that have led to the rise in number of trafficking cases everywhere as also the plight of the victims, some as young as eight years old. The role of the youth is important in the fight against trafficking. Youth leaders are the drivers of social change and they are the most affected by this crime. Anti-TIP issues need to be addressed on Indian campuses .The youth can contribute significantly to the cause by raising awareness that can lead to real impact. As internet-connectivity has opened up new threats to today�s young people, the youth need to be ever more vigilant and aware to combat the scourge of TIP in their communities.� Kant added.
At the inaugural session of the conclave, Arati Kujur , the chairperson of Commission for Protection of Child Rights in Jharkhand, one of the worst �affected states, said tracking the victims often was problematic when their names were changed as they were moved from one place to another. Citing an example, Kujur said, �Say a 21 year old woman who is also known by the name Anju at her native village went missing. The authorities, who have been looking for her, do not know that she goes by the name of Sabina in Delhi. It becomes difficult to follow the trail when identities are changed.�
The 4 day conclave organised different activities such as panel discussions on US as a partner in the global fight to combat trafficking ,the regional challenges of human trafficking, role of media, digital media and CSR in combating gender based violence and human trafficking, conversation with government officers who have contributed to the fight against human trafficking, NGO internship opportunities and many more. The conclave also saw Dr. Vanessa Bouche and some of her students lead workshops on campus activism, community activism & professional activism.
The last day of the conclave saw participants being divided into regional groups giving group presentations. In the ensuing six months, campus and community activities will be taken up by all the regional groups who will then be reporting the activities they took up for combating human trafficking.
