ABKT's press release: Government must take steps to stop trafficking of women and girls

Press Release

Islamabad

November 27, 2014

Subject:   Government must take steps to stop trafficking of women and girls

The case of 26 girls’ children recovered by local authorities in Karachi should be an eye opener for all those interested in stopping the trafficking of women and girls, especially from conflict hit areas as they are more vulnerable.  The problem of trafficking in persons has a regional and global dimension yet Pakistan has failed to take effective steps to eliminate the rackets of traffickers. The four-decade-old conflict in Afghanistan and the recent one-decade conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have further compounded the problem of trafficking in persons in Pakistan both internally within the country as well as outside Pakistan. The government must take immediate steps to strengthen the legal framework against trafficking in persons, as well build the capacities of state institutions to fight this menace. ABKT impress upon the government that there is a need of concrete steps to stop the trafficking of persons as poverty and lack of information of parents in the rural areas of Pakistan provide a feeding ground for traffickers. The government must direct the district authorities to establish vigilance committees in each district at village and Tehsil levels and verify the credentials of outsiders who acquire women and girls either in fake marriages or in the name of religious education. The media has a responsibility to aware the public about the trafficking issue within in Pakistan as well as globally. 

Shad Begum

Executive Director                   

Association for Behaviour & Knowledge Transformation (ABKT)

Ph: +92-(0)51-210 08 53   Cell: +92-(0)345- 900 27 68

Email: shadbegum@gmail.com    

Web:  www.abkt.org

Blog: http://shadbegum.blogspot.co.uk/

(ABKT is a non-governmental organization that support sustainable development in Pakistan through the right based approach & potential of local communities to decide upon & manage their own development process)