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CHAPTER 7
Rights of Women and Children
7.1 Justice (Smt.) Sujata V. Manohar, Member of the Commission continued to serve as
the Focal Point on matters relating to the Human Rights of Women, including Trafficking.
During the course of the year under review, the Focal Point dealt with a number of issues
pertaining to rights of women and children including prevention and combating of trafficking
in women and children.
A] Trafficking in Women and Children
1) Action Research on Trafficking in Women and Children
7.2 In the year 2002-2003, it was reported that the Commission and the UNIFEM had
jointly begun an Action Research Programme on Trafficking in Women and Children in
India. Work continued on the project during the year 2003-04 also. Keeping in view the
objectives of the research, data was collected from eight different categories of respondents
by the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, the nodal NGO coordinating the research
programme. This data was collected from the districts of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal and the NCT of Delhi where the incidence of trafficking was reported
to be high. Data was also collected from the metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Chennai,
Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad, which are stated to be the demand areas. In all, data
was collected from 4006 respondents, 561 rescued trafficked victims, 929 non-rescued
trafficked victims, 510 rescued trafficked child labourers, 852 police officials, 582 clients,
160 traffickers and 412 brothel owners.
7.3 In addition to this, data on missing persons from various States/UTs was collated along
with crime data from various States/UTs on Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 (ITPA)
and related offences. Copies of the notifications and government orders issued by the State
Governments/UTs under ITPA were also collated for the Action Research. Simultaneously,
action programmes were conducted along with the Action Research wherever required. Some
ANNUAL REPORT 2003-04