Trafficking in persons is the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index released by Australia-based human rights group Walk Free Foundation, today, an estimated 45.8 million people, including women and children, are subject to some form of modern slavery in the world. The report said India has the highest absolute numbers of people trapped in slavery with 18.35 million slaves among its 1.3 billion population. Around 1.4% of the total population in the country is living under conditions of modern day slavery. A lot of work is being done in India and across the world to counter human trafficking and to abolish these various forms of modern day slavery. But lot more needs to be done, and a lot faster!

To counter human trafficking and abolish modern day slavery it is critical to: - Forge and strengthen partnerships and other forms of collaboration among the civil society organizations, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, government officials and the media to counter trafficking in persons. - Enhance training and build capacity of stakeholders, including civil society, law enforcement, judiciary, government officials and media to increase identification of victims. - Promote public awareness about modern day slavery - including one’s legal rights, the warning signs of exploitation, and where/how victims can seek support.

On occasion of World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the U.S. Consulate General in Hyderabad has organized a panel discussion on July 30, 2016 (Saturday) to discuss the impact of collaboration on countering trafficking in persons. The panelists are experts representing the civil society, media, law enforcement and the judiciary. The focus of the panel discussion will be:

•  The current situation – statistics, demographics of the victims (gender, age-group, rural/urban), surprising/unusual trends
  

•  Models of partnership and collaboration that exist and the success stories
  

•  The role of media in the fight against human trafficking
  

•  The judiciary – the recent anti-trafficking draft bill, the current and upcoming policies to counter human trafficking, the journey from creating policies to implementing these
  

•  The challenges in rehabilitating survivors and helping them reintegrate with the mainstream society
  

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Mamatha Achanta (Founder – Tharuni), and the panel will comprise of Ms. Meera Raghavendra (Founder – Women’s Initiatives), Mr. Mohammad Ahammad Ali (Director, Economic Rehabilitation Program – Prajwala), and Mr. Sudhakar Reddy (Bureau Chief, Andhra Pradesh & Hyderabad – Deccan Chronicle).

About the panelists:

Dr. Mamatha Achanta is the founder and Executive Director of Tharuni, an organization that works for the empowerment of women in general and adolescent girls in particular. Since its formation in 2000, Tharuni has contributed immensely to the protection of girl child rights by organizing awareness building programs and by initiating several campaigns against child marriage and HIV/AIDS. Mamatha has also organized many sensitization workshops for state government officials. In 2015, Mamatha launched the Network of International Legal Activists (NILA) for Women & Child Rights. This network aspires to bring together legal activists to ensure that the human rights of vulnerable groups that are subjected to marginalization, such as women and children are addressed in the context of crime prevention and criminal justice reform. The network is international in scope to make justice accessible to all despite migration of women and children from one part of the world to another. NILA aims to increase the access to judicial and other legal mechanisms, extend assistance to victims by ensuring legal counselling and aid, offering physical and psychological support and therapy, and create an environment for their rehabilitation. Tharuni is also the technical partner to Hyderabad City Police for their recently established Bharosa Center, a one-stop crisis center for women and children, under which integrated assistance is provided through police, medical, legal and prosecution services along with psycho therapeutic counselling and relief and rehabilitation. Dr. Achanta participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program on Trafficking in Persons in 2009.

Ms. Meera Raghavendra founded Women's Initiatives (WINS) in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh in 1994, an organization committed to address and counter the violation of basic rights of marginalized women and children including victims of sex and labor trafficking, and the LGBT community. WINS recognizes that to empower communities, it is important to understand the perception of societal systems and structures that form the basis of gender inequality, and that addressing issues related to gender and sexuality should be at the core of their programming. Meera has worked extensively for and with marginalized groups, including sex workers, migrant laborers, and also transgendered people. Through the efforts of WINS, women’s groups have been formed in Andhra Pradesh, empowering the victims of gender based violence to deepen and develop their agency, to advocate for their basic human rights and dignity, and to represent themselves at district, national forums to bring about changes in law. WINS opened its first counselling center for vulnerable women in Tirupati in 2002 with the support of the state government and has linked it with home and community based care referral services, throughout the District. The goal was to provide immediate poverty needs, strengthening ethical resource generation, imparting life skills education. Meera strongly believes in bringing together various progressive movements working with marginalized communities to build strong coalitions to extend solidarity. WINS has successfully joined hands with Dalit rights groups, child rights groups and has been a part of Alliance of the Poor at the local and state level work. Meera has participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program in 2002, organized by the U.S. Government on Trafficking of Women and Children.

Mr. Mohammad Ahammad Ali has been working in Prajwala, a prominent anti-trafficking organization based in Hyderabad, since 2006. He leads Prajwala’s Economic Rehabilitation Program. Under this program, survivors have access to shelter homes, counselling, and medical intervention as well as access to training in five different trades that can become a source of income. Ali has also been instrumental in establishing two crisis counseling centers in collaboration with the Hyderabad City Police. These centers located inside the police stations identify vulnerable women and children in high-volume venues such as railway stations, bus stations and rescue them. These centers also counsel older women in prostitution to prevent them from becoming perpetrators. Prior to this he was the Director of Prajwala’s Rescue and Restoration program. In this role as the countrywide lead for rescues he has led operations in India, Dubai, and Uzbekistan. He has led six major inter-state rescues in in which over 85 traffickers were arrested. He also has a principal role in Prajwala’s Community Based Prevention Program. His leadership role places him in a position where he can not only influence efforts and attitudes, but also coach and educate members of Prajwala, other NGOs and police officers about issues concerning trafficking, and thus have a greater impact on his community. Ali has participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program in 2013, organized by the U.S. Government on Combating Trafficking in Persons.

Mr. Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Bureau Chief in Andhra Pradesh (AP) and the City Editor in Hyderabad of the Deccan Chronicle, one of the largest circulating English newspapers in South India. Sudhakar began his career at Eenadu, the largest circulating Telugu newspaper in India, and later moved to English print media, where he rapidly rose through the ranks to his current position. With a journalism career that spans 16 years, Sudhakar is one of the most dynamic investigative journalists in South India. He has won wide acclaim for reporting on trafficking, sexism, and female infanticide in urban and rural parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Sudhakar’s incisive and well researched articles on the trafficking of homeless minors in Hyderabad helped law enforcement agencies with vital leads in getting hold of the traffickers. Sudhakar also has several reports to his credit chronicling the many efforts law enforcement agencies make to take action against traffickers and prostitution rackets in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Sudhakar has participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program in 2016, organized by the U.S. Government on Investigative Journalism.