SANGRAM accused of interfearing in the rescue of Minor girls in Sangli

[Guest guest]

We believe that child prostitution is akin to child sexual abuse,

molestation and child labor and that it exists in a society that is fraught with

crimes of abduction, kidnap, rape, assault and violence against women.[VAMP

statement 1996]

Dear FORUM,

For the last two weeks now, the 'foreign hand' has been trying its utmost to

wreck havoc in the prostitutes' collective in Sangli district. Two foreigners,

members of what we later came to know owe allegiance to an international NGO,

Restore International, have raided Gokul Nagar and sought to 'rescue' the women

and children there. In clear violation of the law of this land, they confined

boarding school children who had come to visit their homes during the summer

vacation, wrongly accusing them of being in prostitution!

This may sound completely far-fetched and unbelievable but the two Mr. Greg

Malstead and his collegue who are allegedly US nationals, got an Indian Mr. Sham

Kamble to file an FIR with local police as they are unable to do so themselves.

Today 10 children are at the Children's Home even as the civil hospital has yet

to certify 4 of them as minors. Younger sisters, who are majors, were set free

whereas their older sisters were confined in the Home as minors!

The drama started on .18/5/2005 when Malstead came to the brothels of Sangli to

conduct a survey. He began distributing chocolates and when women from VAMP, the

collective of women in prostitution, questioned the foreigner he treated them

with disgust and disrespect as child abusers. He also got visibly angry with

Bhimawa [ Director, VAMP] who asked for his credentials.

He then contacted the District Superintendent of Police Mr. Bharambe and told

him he had surveyed the area and that the survey shows that there are minor

girls in the brothels. The police conducted a raid in Gokulnagar Sangli in

plainclothes with a strength of around 200 police personnel, mainly men,

accompanied by Malstead. During the course of the raid, the police picked up two

school going girls who had come home for school holidays. Pleading with the

police only resulted in more accusations.

Further, when one of SANGRAM's workers Mr. Sunil Terdale told the police that

his sister is not in prostitution but lives with their grandmother in His sister

was finally released as a `major' according to the medical examination.

Anyway the raid yielded 13 brothel owners and 35 `minor' girls. The girls were

sent to the remand home in Sangli. The first medical report stated that there

were only 4 minors out of the 35. The embarrassed police went for a re-exam and

the resultant medical report stated that an additional 13 i.e. 17 of them, were

minors ranging from 16-19 years of age!! The eighteen majors were released to

their parents and the 17 sent to the Child Welfare Committee at the instance of

the lawyer from Prerna an NGO in Mumbai.

The CWC then appointed a Probation Officer to investigate and submit a report

regarding the parents of the 17 girls.

SANGRAM pleaded on behalf of the two school going girls who submitted their

school credentials to the CWC. By the time they were released they had been in

remand for 15 days. The International NGO did not come to their rescue much less

make any effort to counsel them about this gross violation of their rights.

Parents of the remaining 15 then appealed to the CWC that they should be given

custody of their children and were also willing to give an undertaking that they

will ensure that their children will not reach the brothels.

They also had school leaving certificates for 12 of the girls

stating that they were 18 and above. The CWC the released 9 girls to their

parents on the basis of the PO report. The PO report of the remaining 6 girls is

yet to be submitted to the CWC. Two of these girls are pregnant and constantly

ill.

Golkulnagar, he was called a liar and even beaten by the police. His

sister was finally released as a `major' according to the medical

examination.

Anyway the raid yielded 13 brothel owners and 35 `minor' girls. The

girls were sent to the remand home in Sangli. The first medical report stated

that there were only 4 minors out of the 35. The embarrassed police went for a

re-exam and the resultant medical report stated that an additional 13 i.e. 17 of

them, were minors ranging from 16-19 years of age!! The eighteen majors were

released to their parents and the 17 sent to the Child Welfare Committee at the

instance of the lawyer from Prerna an NGO in Mumbai. The CWC then appointed a

Probation Officer to investigate and submit a report regarding the parents of

the 17 girls.

SANGRAM pleaded on behalf of the two school going girls who submitted

their school credentials to the CWC. By the time they were released

they had been in remand for 15 days. The International NGO did not

come to their rescue much less make any effort to counsel them about

this gross violation of their rights. Parents of the remaining 15 then appealed

to the CWC that they should be given custody of their

children and were also willing to give an undertaking that they will

ensure that their children will not reach the brothels. They also had

school leaving certificates for 12 of the girls stating that they were 18 and

above.

The CWC the released 9 girls to their parents on the basis of the PO

report. The PO report of the remaining 6 girls is yet to be submitted

to the CWC. Two of these girls are pregnant and constantly ill.

Meanwhile, Restore International came back to Sangli with a three-pronged

attack:

1. To challenge the decision of the CWC to release the girls to their parents in

the session's court.

2. To get Uttamnagar, Miraj [twin town to Sangli] raided that has yielded 4

girls [yet to be medically examined]. Local newspapers reported that Malstead

himself participated in the raid, kicking the doors of the brothels viciously,

to get the girls out. A reporter had to intervene and ask him to stop.

3. To counsel the six girls in the remand home to accept rehabilitation and an

alternative lifestyle.

SANGRAM has also been asked to counsel the girls and are being accused by

Restore International that we are asking them to remain in prostitution!

But the drama didn't end there. The foreigner, Malstead, returned to Sangli on

14/6/2005. The news spread like wild fire and the community of women in

prostitution rushed to the remand home where he was sitting with his team.

As soon as we got a call to the effect we first called the Police Inspector to

rush to the remand home. We were worried that mass anger would result in some

kind of harm to the foreigner and his team. When I arrived at the remand home I

found two foreigners [men] with two Indian women and around four Indian men in

the courtyard. The community started surging forward and we were trying to keep

them at bay.

In the meanwhile one of the white men brushed past me, deliberately walking

between me and my colleague Mr.Prashant Bhosale, while we were having a

conversation. I was furious at his discourteous and rude behavior.

Being white and male does not give anyone the right to behave in this manner. I

quickly turned around and asked him not to threaten me by this rudeness wherein

he replied that it was not his

intention to do so. I said well, do not even try it. I am still amazed at this

rudeness.

Unconcerned, he put out his hand and literally barked at me without caring to

identify himself first: " What is your name? " I did not like this abrupt manner

that smacked of a very patronizing attitude. I said to him, " I do not shake the

hands of a person like you " , preferring to do a namaste instead. I left the

premises.

I felt he was deliberately trying to intimidate me and instead of

introducing himself, thought he could demand my name instead! I am yet to figure

out if this is just male behavior towards a woman activist or worsened by the

additional dimension of colour (white male behavior to any woman) or class (the

rich white man from the global north vs poor woman from the global south)!

Even as this incident occurred, women from the VAMP collective were ranged

outside the remand home and police were unable to push them back from the gates.

They held chappals in their hands and shouted slogans against the team of

Indians and foreigners but it was only on my personal intervention (after the

local police officer. Mr. Chogule requested me to do so) that the women stepped

back and allowed the team to leave.

But Malstead preferred to ignore his own behavior, focusing instead on my

refusal to shake hands with him. He petulantly got his organization, Restore

International to complain to our international supporters that I was rude

because I did not shake hands with him or take kindly to his rude behavior!

Our position on young girls in the trade and on raids

I feel it is necessary to put out what we believe and why we are opposed to

raids as a method to stop young girls from entering the trade. Prostitution is a

system that exists in a society fraught with inequalities. Gender inequalities,

economic inequalities, caste, class and race contribute to a social fabric that

is abusive of women's rights and the right of the girl child, and to a culture

that does not value the girl child. The girl child is thus sacrificed at the

altar of male dominated patriarchal systems that

believes they exist to be molded to accept a sexuality that is actually

detrimental to their health. Abject poverty,drought, famine, and economic

inequalities complete the picture. While these structural issues are not the

purview of this plea, they need to be kept in mind while we search for a

solution that is best for the `child in need of care and protection'.

What is the best solution for a 'girl child in need of care and protection'?

A simplistic solution - such as raid and rescue- only offers patchwork relief,

and takes away the rights of the girl child by inflicting untold violence on her

in the process. The 'raid, rescue and rehabilitation' modelblames the community,

pushing it to a corner of no return. Such strategies that have violated the

rights of the women in prostitution have not yielded good results for

generations.

We need solutions that are long term and those that can be implemented

effectively. We need strategies that will strengthen women to resist being

pushed into those corners and build the will to reject the unacceptable and

illegal violation and sexual abuse of the girl child. The collectivization of

women in prostitution, which is a rights based approach, is one such strategy.

It creates a space for women in prostitution to collectively look for solutions

to their problems. It helps them to access information and education about

rights and to take informed decisions.

Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha, [sANGRAM] is a feminist organization that is

working with women in prostitution for the past 12 years. The HIV/AIDS

programme, which is a peer-based intervention with women in prostitution, has

been accepted as a best practice by NACO, UNAIDS and UNESCO. The intervention

led to the formation of a collective of women in prostitution called Veshya AIDS

Muquabla Parishad [VAMP] registerd in 1996. This collective of women has mohalla

comities in each red light area, which is made up of key stakeholders in the

area. They help the women to take decisions about any injustice in the area and

also advice women on issues

related to health, education of youth, the law related to Prostitution.

The collectives have been able to stem the transmission of HIV and have proved

to be the best educators of their male clients.

The collective renamed itself Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad [VAMP] when it

realized that collective strength could be used against goondas and other

anti-social elements who were exploiting them. Lately, the VAMP mohalla

committee also tackled brothel owners who are abusive and who extort money from

the girls. This has been a slow process and has taken a long time to implement.

a.. The strategy to stop young girls/minors from entering prostitution is to

strengthen and educate women in prostitution to stop child sexual abuse.

b.. Use of force, only pushes them underground and does not allow social workers

to outreach them and educate them about the law.

c.. To build collectives that will teach them dignity and strengthen them to

stop the menace of child trafficking and child sexual abuse.

d.. Communities should be taken into confidence to ensure that minors do not

replace the ones rescued by the police.

e.. To help collectives appoint mohalla committees to watch over such women who

break the law and pressurize them to remain within the law.

f.. To work with the police to keep anti-social elements outside the

communities.

g.. To teach women their rights and help them fight for the same.

The issue of minor girls at present is one fraught with problems.

a.. The girls should be asked what they would like to be done with them

b.. If the girls want to return to their parents and the court is

convinced that the persons present are indeed their parents and not the agents

they should be given to their parents.

c.. Family as an institution is the best institution for minors.

d.. No state institution can take the place of the family and its extended

support systems from birth to death.

inequalities. Gender inequalities, economic inequalities, caste, class and race

contribute to a social fabric that is abusive of women's rights and the right

of the girl child, and to a culture that does not value the girl child. The girl

child is thus sacrificed at the altar of male dominated patriarchal systems that

believes they exist to be molded to accept a sexuality that is actually

detrimental to their health. Abject poverty, drought, famine, and economic

inequalities complete the picture. While

these structural issues are not the purview of this plea, they need to be kept

in mind while we search for a solution that is best for the `child in need of

care and protection'.

What is the best solution for a 'girl child in need of care and

protection'? A simplistic solution - such as raid and rescue- only offers

patchwork relief, and takes away the rights of the girl child by inflicting

untold violence on her in the process.

The 'raid, rescue and rehabilitation' model blames the community, pushing it to

a corner of no return. Such strategies that have violated the rights of the

women in prostitution have not yielded

good results for generations.

We need solutions that are long term and those that can be implemented

effectively. We need strategies that will strengthen women to resist being

pushed into those corners and build the will to reject the unacceptable and

illegal violation and sexual abuse of the girl child. The collectivization of

women in prostitution, which is a rights based approach, is one such strategy.

It creates a space for women in prostitution to collectively look for solutions

to their problems. It helps them to access information and education about

rights and to take informed decisions.

Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha, [sANGRAM] is a feminist organization

that is working with women in prostitution for the past 12 years. The

HIV/AIDS programme, which is a peer-based intervention with women in

prostitution, has been accepted as a best practice by UNAIDS and

UNESCO.[annexure]

The intervention led to the formation of a collective of women in

In 1991 before VAMP was formed and before SANGAM worked in this area, every

brothel had minor girls in prostitution. Today, 'police and this organization

found 35 of whom 31 are in dispute. Why is it that organizations that work for

the rights of women in prostitution and sex work are considered pro trafficking,

which is a criminal offence or pro minors in prostitution when it is clearly

child sexual abuse.

In solidarity,

Meena Saraswathi Seshu

SANGRAM/VAMP

E-mail: <san_meena@...