An inefficient legal system and a patriarchal society are responsible for the trafficking of women, and the scourge cannot be prevented unless there is a ‘massive public movement’ against it, the head of the West Bengal Commission for Women said Sunday.
‘It is the faulty system and the patriarchal society that is making the trafficking business fertile. Women are considered as a liability, which adds to their vulnerability. Traffickers are always on the lookout for such women,’ commission chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee said at an interactive session on trafficking organised by NGO Sanlaap.
‘Unfortunately, there is no effective remedy in sight. Powerful and influential people are all involved. The laws are neither effective, nor implemented properly. Unless and until there is a massive public movement, things will stay as they are,’ she added.
Mukherjee also added that the evil was more rampant in the bordering areas of the state.‘It is just not believable that the police do not have prior information. They just do not want to act on their own. If they do, things can be different,’ she said.
Newly elected lawmaker and Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s Mayor-in-Council member, Shashi Panja, blamed the legal system for the continuing menace.
‘Our legal system needs to embrace urgent reforms in this regard. The girls who are rescued have to stay at shelter homes until the pending cases are concluded, while the offenders roam freely. At times, the girls have to stay in these homes for years as the legal battle continues,’ Panja said.
Panja also called for the setting up of a special anti-trafficking cell in all police stations, to be headed by a woman officer, as well as fast track courts for speedy trail of trafficking cases.
