Post CAA & NRC what will be the status of Indian and foreign nationals who are victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation?

Panaji,December 22-As the controversy over discriminating Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens(NRC) is hotting up,yet another dimension of the issue is coming into debate.
What will be the status of Indian and foreign nationals who are victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation(CSE)?
As the issue is very serious in the context of Goa,a State considered a major destination for trafficking of women/girls for CSE from States within India as well as from Nepal and other source countries, we here reproduce the views of Mr. Arun Pandey, Director of Goa-based ARZ,NGO which spearheads the cause of rehabilitation of trafficked women and  children and works over the issue of curbing the CSE across the country by regularly engaging stakeholders from source States and countries including police.Generates awareness among stakeholders of tourism to alert them to the menace of trafficking for CSE:

I am one of the members of the panel constituted under section 17(5) of the panel constituted under Immoral Prevention Act, 1956,in Goa. The girls rescued from CSE by the police are produced before the panel for inquiry, to decide their custody, release and rehabilitation.
Recently, a 26-year-old girl (Muslim by birth & Hindu by practice) was produced before the panel who was rescued by the Goa police from CSE. She shared with the panel that she was born in Bangladesh and after the death of her mother,when she was around 14 years old her father brought her to Mumbai in India and sold her in a brothel.
In India, while she was being commercially sexually exploited she was given a Hindu name. She was commercially sexually exploited for around 10 years in different parts of the country and three years back when she was trafficked to Goa she was rescued by the Goa police and admitted to a State protective home. She was later repatriated to Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh she did not know anyone. Her father had died. She was given in the custody of an NGO, who after taking her custody from India authority, handed her to a distant relative. The relative forcibly got her married. After few days of her marriage her husband brought her to Mumbai and sold her for commercial sexual activity(CSA) in Mumbai and returned to Bangladesh.
In India, when she was sent by her pimp from Mumbai to Goa for CSA,she was again rescued by the police and admitted at the Protective home and produced before the panel.
When she appeared before the panel, she pleaded to the panel that she should not be sent to Bangladesh as her life will be at risk and she will be again retrafficked. She requested to be allowed to stay in India and provided rehabilitation.
As a panel member it is not uncommon to meet such victims and receive requests from them not to be repatriated to their home country as their life will be at risk once they return to their country of birth.
What happens to such victims post CAA? Will they be provided citizenship in India?
The situation of the victims who are Indian nationals is no different.  It is generally found that they do not have birth certificate, or identity proof document's such as aadhar card, voting card, ration card, passport. As a result they are unable to avail any kind of benefits provided for the socio-economic upliftment of persons below poverty or government schemes. They are unable to even claim the compensation as a victim of CSE. It will not be wrong to say that they are "personna non granta".
Now what happens to such victims? How do they prove that they are citizens of India under NRC?
Under CAA & NRC, there is a fear that the victim of CSE:
-will not approach the law enforcement agency for assistance against exploitation from pimps, due to fear of being prosecuted?
-treated as Offender instead of Victim?
-admitted to detention centre instead of rehabilitation Center?

Arun Pande,
Arz (anyay rahit zindagi),
NGO.

Goa's Morjim Sea Turtle Festival educates and sensitises stakeholders on significance of turtle nesting beach

Prakash Kamat
Panaji, December 10-Morjim Sea Turtle Festival 2019-2020, which began on November 28 2019 will continue till February 28 2020.

The Sea Turtle Festival is an awareness and outreach project by Mumbai-based Sagarshakti- Coastal and Marine research division of Vanashakti and the Goa Forest Department,in Morjim coastal village of North Goa, which prides of a fertile nesting beach for Sea Turtles.
"The festival’s end deliverable is to connect the stakeholders, locals and visitors on the beach to the prevalent importance and significance of a turtle nesting beach,"says Sarita Fernandes,co-ordinator.

The festival includes workshops on sea turtle habitat, their nesting behaviours on Morjim and other turtle nesting beaches of Goa and awareness on the on-ground conservation efforts in Morjim's nesting site.
The festival also includes screenings of sea-turtle nesting and hatching documentations and interactive sessions with tourists and like-minded souls who wish to contribute through their participation to the awareness of this marvellous marine wildlife on Morjim Beach.
Beach clean ups involving local schools and communities in the surrounding villages are organised every weekend as part of the outreach drive.

WORKSHOPS
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Goa, Subhashchandra, Range Forest Officer Vuvek Gaonkar and others have addressed the participants at a workshop, Morjim Turtle Festival 2019.
Workshops for the month of December are set into four themes of sea turtle conservation.
Week 1: Marine wildlife documentary week where filmmaker Gautam Pandey screened a short film on baby hatchlings and drift nets and conducted a session on the journey of documenting sea turtles and aiding in it’s conservation in India.
Week 2: Marine wildlife advocacy week where Mr. Stalin Dayanand would be sharing his insights on marine wildlife habitat and species conservation in India under policy and law.
Week 3: Sustainable tourism and Conservation, where we would be spending the week along with school children, responsible tourists, activists and locals to aid us in conducting sensitisation sessions on single-use plastic pollution, sound-light pollution and vehicular disturbances with the 11 beach shacks the turtle nesting beach shares.
Week 4: Challenges of Sea Turtle Conservation in Morjim and the journey so far by Sarita Fernandes. The workshop will be addressing the importance of making oneself aware of the existence of a turtle nesting beach and the global importance and significance such a biodiverse coastal area has and how one can contribute even in the smallest possible way to conservation.
BEACH CLEAN-UPS
Beach clean ups are held every weekend for three months of the festival. The presence of
single-use plastic is staggeringly high in the olive ridley nesting site along with non-degradable ghost-drift nets that are a serious threat to mother turtles and hatchlings nesting and hatching from the beach(eom)

Goa Women's Collective demands justice to victims of rape in Goa

Prakash Kamat
Panaji,December 1- As yet another gruesome rape and murder of a young girl in Telangana has drawn national outrage,Goa-based women's collective,Bailancho Saad,on Sunday condemned the incident and also expressed solidarity with all the rape survivors, their families and friends struggling for justice.
Simultaneously, convenor of Bailancho Saad Sabina Martins took the opportunity on Sunday to highlight  a shocking trend in Goa,where, according to her,complainants of rape have been harassed by the police by filing false cases, in two separate  incidents.
In one incident,a mother complained of rape against her minor daughter. The accused family started attacking them to withdraw the case. The police help line number did not respond to her till Bailancho Saad intervened.
"The partisan attitude of the police was so evident, when a 10 year old boy who was recording the verbal abuse against the rape survivor was called to the police station and admonished and police made sure that the video recording was deleted. Shockingly, the police have registered a chapter case against the rape complainant and she has to go through trial at the Deputy Collectors office,"said Ms. Martins.
In another incident when the rape survivor went to the police station to enquire, she was beaten, arrested and a false case was registered against her,alleged Ms. Martins.
What was shocking was that the police did not give her medical certificate under Right to Information Act, which incidentally clearly stated police assault,said Ms. Martins.
The police did not register a case for five months despite complaint to Directir Geneeal of Police.The CD which showed assault by the police and incidents of police violating her dignity and human rights were not given to the survivor and she had to go to High Court to quash the false case. Police Officers who are supposed to assist the complainant turned a blind eye,alleges women's collective.
When the woman sought an appointment with the Chief Minister she was not given an audience. The Heads of the Human Rights Commission and State Police Complaints Authority are not appointed hence derailing  justice delivery.
The victim compensation scheme for rape survivors is not made available when the aggrieved girl/woman needs the most. Rape survivors are made to run from pillar to post to fill forms and get the required documents. Even after the forms are filled with the requisite documents, approval obtained, the money is not given.
Bailancho Saad demands that
1. The false cases registered by the police against the rape complainants be withdrawn immediately.
2. The Heads of the State Human Rights Commission and the State Police Complaints  Authority be appointed immediately.
3 The various systems which have been put in place by the struggles of women’s movement have to be made effective by providing resources, infrastructure, personel, training and monitoring done
4 A serious intent be shown  to implement the various suggestions made to stop crimes and a follow up on the progress  be done without stopping at tokenism
Bailancho Saad is observing a fortnight from  25th November, International day for Elimination of violence against women till 10th December Human Rights Day to take stock of crimes against women and plan strategies.
"Challenging the wrongs of the executive, judiciary and political class is an arduous and expensive task which poor and vulnerable women cannot afford,"said Ms. Martin's,and urged the civil society to support them to expose the wrongs and deliver justice to the victims,which is very crucial in these times.(eom)

Prakash Kamat
Panaji