Between You and Me – We Can

by Sahadev Komaragiri

There is an urgent need to address the national shame that cannot be ignored any more. There are people who have taken the initiative to help the millions of neglected women and children. They are working day in and day out to ensure that innocent women and children are not trapped into forced slavery and prostitution. They are doing amazing work to provide a new light of hope. They are ready to prove that the problem is not insurmountable. Solving the problem requires sincere application of mind and resources. Any great problem cannot be solved by just a few. If they do not receive adequate help and support from all concerned, their efforts will not fructify.

Between you and me…

we are in a unique position to help. I am able to write and highlight about the problem and you are able to read this as a concerned person. You are probably thousands of miles away from where I am at. We both are probably miles away both physically as well as in our understanding of the problems faced by these women in despair. But it is a given that we both know that the problem is real and persisting and that it requires urgent attention. We both are deeply concerned. Together we can help.

I may not know you that well. I am not sure how you reacted, but I was very moved by the efforts put in by Bhartiya Patita Uddhar Sabha, Odanadi and Prajwala. Just by browsing through their web pages I was able to realize the magnitude of the problem and the collective feeble attempt by the rest of the humanity to address the problem head on. Whether you and I are in it or not, the brave individuals behind these impressive organizations will continue to work tirelessly. If you and I join them in their efforts, they will be delighted. If we refuse to help life goes on for them. They are in it not because of you and me. They are in it because they cannot stand it when women and children are being used in flesh trade in unspeakable ways and then discarded in utter contempt against humanity. They took upon the national shame as their own. They had to act and they did. They studied the problem thoroughly and asked a simple question…

Why?

Why should so many women and children go through such horrendous crimes? Is it because they are weaker of the two sexes? Is it because they cannot easily fight back in a society dominated by men? Is it because the criminals concluded that the rest of humans do not care what happens to their fellow beings?

It is estimated(http://www.bhartiyapatitauddharsabha.org/mission.htm) that there are nearly 5 million children in over 1100 red light areas. Another estimate(http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/11/india.prostitution.children/index.html) shows that there are 1.2 million children engaged in prostitution in India. They have no future unless someone intervenes. There are hundreds or perhaps thousands more getting added each day. There may be myriad reasons why these crimes are perpetuated and go unpunished. As far as I am concerned I am able to find only one reason. It is because people like you and me have remained silent for too long. It is about time we did something. It is not just you and me, but our friends, our relatives, our siblings and everyone else that we can count on and some more. We need a lot of support until we reach a…

Tipping point…

We need more and more people to start talking about it. Start acting on it. There will arrive a tipping point where there will be vast numbers of people supporting the cause and voicing their concern. There will be more widespread awareness. This will in turn make our political and police security systems amend their attitudes. The punishments will be swift and appropriate. This will make it extremely costly for criminals to commit crimes against women and children. It is at this point that we will see a reversal in the number of women and children being exploited. When countries acted tough on drug trafficking, criminals found safe havens in human trafficking. If they act tough on human trafficking, the criminals will have to find something else, and the women and children of our nation will be a lot safer. The numbers in human trafficking is very low or nearly zero in most of the developed countries. So, it is indeed possible to do the same in our country too – it is just that people like you and I should start making a difference in our own small ways. But…

How exactly can you and I help?
The internet provides us a unique opportunity to help. We can help in several ways. Here are a few:

  • We can help by raising awareness about the issue among our friends, relatives and the communities we live in. Young girls are lured into the profession under the guise of great jobs in the cities and in the film industry. The internet has generated its own tech savvy criminals who target young girls who surf the net unattended. Educate the young ones on such perils.
  • Many of these organizations are looking for volunteers to help them. If you are someone who can spare some time, please try and volunteer with them.
  • Money plays a crucial role in sustaining these organizations. See if you can visit their websites and contribute in whatever ways you can.
  • Wherever possible we must ensure that kids get educated especially those from the vulnerable sections of the society. An educated child is unlikely to be targeted than an uneducated one. If we pay for one child’s education, it is possible that we may be saving an entire family and its subsequent generations.

Please join me in praying for all those who endure untold suffering.

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