FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM 94 polygamy, divorce, and absence of post divorce maintenance and dowry has undermined women’s social status and is a cause for violence against women. • Registration of births and marriage is not enforced widely and parents tend to marry them off to persons who do not need dowry, but without registration there is no way to check if the man is already married. • The sanction of polygamy under the existing personal laws in South Asia particularly Bangladesh, India and Pakistan allows for multiple marriage by men. It is in the background of the compelling factors existing in South Asia that gives incentive to trafficking in person that the regional cooperation document on the issue, the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children, 2002 would be looked into and analyzed to serve whether it can emerge as an effective regional instrument to counter trafficking in persons in South Asia. Background / Origin The importance attached to the issue of trafficking of women and children is evident from the social agenda that SAARC has developed over the last one decade to address the issue. As a part of this agenda, the development and well being of women have been identified as one of the principal areas of cooperation by the SAARC Member States. The Fourth SAARC Year of the Girl Child in order to ensure a constant attention on problems of the girl child. The Third SAARC Ministerial meeting on Children held in Rawalpindi (1996) commits the signatory countries to combat intra and inter country trafficking in children and assist victims of violence due to prostitution and sexual exploitation and evolve administrative, legal and rehabilitative structures both within and between member States to combat the problem. The Ninth SAARC Summit of Heads of State of Government held in Male in May 1997 expressed grave concern at the trafficking of women and children within and between countries and pledged to co-ordinate their efforts and take effective measures to address this problem. It was also decided that the feasibility of establishing a Regional convention on Combating the Crime of Trafficking in Women and Children for prostitution be examined by the relevant Technical Committee.