Source: Yojana magazine
It is a Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
Objectives of the scheme
- To prevent trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation through social mobilization and involvement of local communities, awareness generation programmes, generate public discourse through workshops/seminars and such events and any other innovative activity.
- To facilitate the rescue of victims from the place of their exploitation and place them in safe custody.
- To provide rehabilitation services both immediate and long-term to the victims by providing basic amenities/needs such as shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment including counselling, legal aid and guidance, and vocational training.
- To facilitate the reintegration of the victims into the family and society at large
- To facilitate the repatriation of cross-border victims to their country of origin.
Target groups/ Beneficiaries
- Women and children who are vulnerable to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
- Women and children who are victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation
Implementing agencies
- The implementing agencies can be the Social Welfare/Women and Child Welfare Department of State Government, Women’s Development Corporations, Women’s Development Centres, Urban Local Bodies, reputed Public/Private Trust or Voluntary Organizations.
- The organization must have adequate experience in the field of trafficking, social defence, dealing with women and children in need of care and protection, children in conflict with the law, etc
Components of the scheme
1.Prevention
- Formation and functioning of Community Vigilance Groups (Each community vigilance group constituted under the Prevention component should have a woman from the community duly recommended/nominated by the respective Panchayat/Municipality Corporation, as the case may be, where the project is being implemented.)
- Sensitization Workshops/Seminars. Representatives of Gram Panchayat/Municipality Corporation, as the case may be, should also be invited to all Sensitisation workshops/Seminars.
- Awareness generation through mass media including Kala jathas, street plays, puppetry or through any other art forms, preferably traditional
- Development and printing of awareness generation material such as pamphlets, leaflets, and posters (in local language)
2.Rescue
- Information gathering: Through the formation of the network of Police, NGOs, Women‟s Groups, Youth Groups, Panchayat, Hotels, and tour operators, etc.
- Rescue operations: a. The scheme would provide fora. Incentives to decoy customers/informers; b. Transportation cost of the victim(s) from the place of rescue to shelter home; c. Initial documentation.
- Immediate Relief on Rescue: The scheme will provide food, shelter, toiletries, clothing, trauma care/counselling, medical aid, etc. during the interim period between rescue and production before the concerned authorities.
3.Rehabilitation
- Setting up of Protective and Rehabilitative (P&R) Homes: The P&R Homes would be set-up by the agency.
- Basic amenities: to provide basic amenities such as food, clothing and other items of personal use
- Medical Care: This Scheme would provide Doctor’s fees, cost of medicines, hospitalization, appropriate linkages to de-addiction centres.
- Legal Aid: As victims are the main witnesses against the trafficker/pimp/ perpetrator, or to claim their right to property, marital rights, divorce, maintenance and custody of children, they will need to be provided with legal aid which would include court work and documentation relating to the victims court case.
- Administrative Costs: To support small contingencies arising out of the project.
- Education: As a large proportion of the rescued victims are children, they will need to be inducted into the formal or open school system, for which some expenditure on text-books, notebooks, stationary, school uniform, and other incidental expenses may have to be incurred.
- Vocational Training and Income generation activities: in order to completely rehabilitate the victim it is necessary to provide alternative livelihood options. Therefore, support for vocational training is provided.
4.Re-Integration
- Setting of Half-Way Home: Half-Way Home is a Home within the community, where a group of victims, ready for reintegration, live and work out of this place. This is to facilitate a smooth transition from life in P&R Home to an independent living in the community.
- Restoration to Families: The scheme would cover travel of the victim and an escort from destination area to her hometown/village, expenses incurred towards her food during her travel and incidental expenses.
5.Repatriation(Cross-Border)
- Facilitate repatriation procedures: The scheme would provide for expenses incurred in fulfilling various formalities for obtaining a repatriation order for the victim.
- Repatriation to the country of origin: The scheme would cover travel of the cross-border victim and an escort from destination area to her country of origin or border, expenses incurred towards her food during her travel and incidental expenses.
