FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM 92 Pakistan While in Pakistan trafficking is more prevalent in the case of foreign women being brought into the country, internal trafficking of Pakistani women is said to be on the rise, though there is insufficient information on it. Forced prostitution of girls from lower income backgrounds has always been in existence with very few being able to escape from the net even if they wish to do so. There are no data available on the magnitude of the problem of trafficking in Pakistan. Trafficking in Pakistan is linked to general migration trends in South Asia, trends which have may facets. The persistent rural urban disparity and problems in urbanization relate to migration in South Asia. Lack of job opportunities and persistent suppression of women in the region contribute to their migrating to other neighbouring countries. Major inflow of the trafficked persons is from Bangladesh. It is estimated that 200,000 Bangladeshi children work in the brothels of Pakistan237 and about 200-400 women and children are estimatedly smuggled out each month to Pakistan over the last ten years238. Apart from Bangladesh, a miniscule number of women and children are trafficked from Nepal to service the sex industry in Pakistan. The traffic route from Bangladesh follows from Dhakha to Kolkata, Delhi, Amritsar and Lahore. India Within South Asia, India is both a country of transit and destination. There is also considerable internal trafficking and trafficking to the Gulf States and to Southeast Asia. As in the case of Nepal and Bangladesh, no reliable statistical data are available on the number of women and minors in the various red light areas of Indian cities, much less on the victims of trafficking. According to informal sources, it is estimated that cross-border trafficking represents about 10 per cent of the coerced migrants. It is generally estimated that 2.17 per cent are Bangladeshi and 2.6 per cent are from Nepal. Inter-State trafficking, therefore, could comprise as high as 89 per cent of trafficked victims239. Given this dimension, addressing internal as well as cross-border trafficking issue is essential to any strategic approach at the national level. 237 Layers for Human Rights and Legal Aid, Pakistan. 238 Ministry of Women and children’s Affairs, Government of Bangladesh. 239 Asian Development Bank, Draft Report on India for Regional Technical Assistance for Combating Trafficking of Women and Children in South Asia, Manila, March 2002.