Arz, a Goa-based NGO working to combat human trafficking was recently mentioned in Parliament for its unique model of work which gives sustainable employment to rescued sex workers
Jay Joshi
The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 was recently discussed in Parliament, and during the discussion, the name of Arz, a Goa-based NGO working in human trafficking was mentioned. The NGO has been working in the area since 1997, and the hallmark of its work has been a model that gives employment to people rescued from flash trade, explains the NGO’s director, Arunendra Pandey. “We work on three levels,” says the director and further adds “First, prevent women from being forced into flash trade, second, we rescue those who are caught into this business, and third, we get the traffickers and pimps prosecuted”.
Elaborating on the origins of Arz, Pandey states that the NGO was born out of his experience as a student at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. “Back in 1993, I was posted in Kamathipura for field work, and witnessed for the first time, the conditions of victims of flash trade are forced to endure. After graduation, I conducted a national study on prostitution. This study also covered Goa. During this three-year study, we found that prostitution is not a social problem but an organised crime,” says Pandey. Underlining the magnitude of the problem, Arz director notes that 70-80% of the girls are aged 16-17 when they enter into flash trade. “Then they have to entertain at least 10 clients per day. These clients too must be having their own physical or mental issues, otherwise why would anyone visit a prostitute? So, these girls experience many dark things and need psychological counselling, which we offer them.”
When one disrupts the flash trade, one is bound to incur the wrath of the antisocial elements involved in this business and it is speculated that they will not hesitate to use money and muscle power to keep the business going. How does Arz protect itself from such a threat?
“We have considered that angle, and we work in close cooperation with the police and state authorities.” Pandey informs. Arz has been appointed as nodal NGO of the anti-human trafficking unit by the Goa police. They have not encountered any physical harm so far.
The NGO specifically chose to work in Goa as it felt that its rescue-model had a better chance of succeeding if it started first in a small place. For Arz, work does not end once the victims are rescued and sent to shelters. Pandey feels that more needs to be done to rehabilitate them into the society. Since the last 15 years, we have been offering counselling to victims at the shelters, documenting them, and repatriating them,” informs Pandey “and in 2006, we implemented the idea of giving employment to flash-trade victims with the ‘Swift Wash’ laundry.”
Rescued prostitutes now work as salaried employees at the establishment. “Honourable MP Supriya Sule noted in the Parliament that Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 is weak in that it discusses only shelter-based rehabilitation. She stated that our model which gives alternative employment to prostitution victims is better, and called for this model to be implemented across all states,” explains Pandey. According to observations made by Pandey, the victims feel that prosecuting the perpetrators of flash trade isn’t enough. The victims have expressed desire for non-shelter-based rehabilitation that offers them employment, salaries, pensions, houses, and security.
