Campaign against women trafficking launched

Under the campaign, posters highlighting the problem of human trafficking will be displayed in the Consulate’s visa waiting room. Also, the Consular section is distributing brochures and pamphlets to visa applicants, containing information on the nature of the problem. The brochures also contain contact details of help lines in both USA and India so that people going to the USA can get help in case they are forced into prostitution or servitude.

“A victim of crime in the US has right to get assistance such as counseling, emergency shelter and legal aid. There are laws to help you regardless of your immigration status,” stated the brochure. It also states that victims of abuse or violence can also contact the National Women’s Health Information Center at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

In fact, the US has a special visa category - T Visa - to bail out victims who have been forced to commit such crimes and have been arrested.

“This is a special case where the US law sees you first as a “victim” than a criminal. So, even if a person is arrested for, say prostitution, but it turns out that she has been forced into it, she will not be deported unlike the normal procedure,” said Deborah A Miller, Consul at the US Consulate in Kolkata.

Ruchira Gupta, the founder president of “Apne Aap” recalls how she came across to at least three women from Kolkata in USA, who had been subjected to physical and mental torture by their husbands.

The USA has also launched a special drive in which the law enforcement agencies keep a record of finger-prints of the migrants who have been convicted for crimes there.