1.http://aninews.in/newsdetail2/story253771/enabling-women-to-exit-bride-trade.html
2.http://www.shortindia.com/sify-news/enabling-women-to-exit-bride-trade-135695.html
3.http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/when-women-come-cheaper-than-cattle/story-EJD38cJ4kaTGVn03LJzUkJ.html
Introduction
Zahida, 40 is overcome Zwith sorrow as she recalls with a sense of bitterness, how she was
taken far away from her' home in Assam, forced into a life of extreme humiliation and loss of
dignity. "My own brother for a paltry sum of Rs. 2,000 married me off to Khursheed from a
village in Haryana'' she laments.
There are hundreds of women driven by desperate circumstances who find themselves
caught in a web of promised marriages in areas far, from their own villages, mostly outside
their state. The marriage however is only a cover up for an ugly truth of bride trade or bride
trafficking. The. 'marriage' is nothing short of being; 'sold' to a man for a sum of money, a
transaction that often involves the immediate family members or relatives of the woman, as in
Zahida's case.
Bride trade is akin to trafficking for a sex. Girls and women are 'sourced 'as 'brides' from
states including Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and
Maharashtra. They are then brought to Haryana, Punjab and other 'destination' states to be
'married' rather to be 'sold' as brides and then treated as a sex object, domestic worker and
literally a slave.
NGO: Empower People
According to Shafique Rahman Khan, Founder and Executive Director, Empower People,
a Haryana-based NGO focusing on rescue of victims of bride trafficking and honour crimes
against women, "Each time, a woman to is 'sold' as a bride, she is required to fulfill all the duties
of a wife without being given either the rights or the privileges of a married woman." Says
Khan, the majority of these women have no voice in household matters and are not allowed to
attend festivals. Several women do not even figure on the Electoral Roll.
The organisation began its work in 2006, works not only with victims of trafficking" but
focuses equally on those who are vulnerable to being trafficked. The emphasis is on the creation
of supportive networks and this has led to active engagement with religious/ ethnic leaders,
community members. and other stakeholders.
Social composition of women being trafficked
A study conducted by Empower People in 2012-13 showed that amongst the women,
trafficked majority (79 per cent) were from Muslim families. 17 per cent were from ST and 4 percent from the SC community. The study also showed that even if a woman exits the network,
she is liable to be trafficked again. 56 per cent women have been trafficked twice, 21 per cent
women a have been trafficked three times and 6 per cent women more than thrice. The team at
Empower People,understood that there have to be safeguards to prevent a relapse into trafficking.
A powerful safeguard is to secure their identity proof. Without" this, they remain nameless,
faceless. and without any official identity and even if they have been rescued once but once
again find themselves in vulnerable circumstances that drag them back into the trade.
What NGO do?
The organization stresses on establishing the identity of trafficked brides by registering
them in the Electoral Roll or enabling them to get a ration card. Empower People facilitated the
process of getting an identity proof. They gave her information on the legal aspects of her situation
and then inducted her into a vocational training programme to enable to learn a skill,
earn a living, and live a life of dignity.
Conclusion
Trafficking is a reflection of extreme vulnerability of women and girls, especially from
marginalised communities and is indeed a horrifying aspect of an unequal society that treats
women as 'commodities'. By addressing the mammoth issue of trafficking in a small way, Empower People is enabling hundreds of women such as Zabida to find their way back from its
grip to a more secure, safer, dignified existence that was their right in the first place.
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