PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar here on Tuesday called for legislation on human trafficking to prevent the exploitation of women and children, the most vulnerable segments of society.

The event was organised by the End Violence Against Women and Girls Alliance (EVAWGA), a civil society organisation, at the Peshawar Press Club, where activists of various civil society organisations were in attendance.

Noted among speakers were co-chairman of Evaw for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas Fida Jan, law expert Akbar Ali, senior journalist Faridullah Khan and civil society activist Saifur Rehman Durrani, who expressed concern about the increasing incidence of human trafficking, especially that of women and girls, in the name of marriage, employment and other activities.

Faridullah Khan said the cases of human trafficking were reported across the country but most of them came from Fata and KP, which had been troubled regions for around 40 years due to armed clashes.

Speakers at seminar say most people trafficked belong to KP, Fata

He added that thousands of women had become widows and children orphans in the two regions and that there was no source of income for them and therefore, human traffickers could exploit them in the name of wedding and employment.

The journalist said the data compiled by the government agencies showed that 368 women and girls had fallen victim to human trafficking in KP from 2015 to 2017 and that 126 travelling agencies were also involved in those illegal activities.

He added that had there been a law, human traffickers would have not dared deceive people, especially girls and children, for fear of crackdown.

Advocate Akbar Khan said according to the definition of trafficking, which had already been defined the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance, if the consent of a person was taken under coercion, fraud and influence, the ultimate purpose would be exploitation.

He said those showing sympathy to the people, especially women and children, should be checked to prevent possible attempts of human smuggling.

The law expert said such definition was already provided under the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance, 2002, but it addresses only the victim of external trafficking and therefore, there was a dire need for a law, which prevented internal issues of exploitation.

He said in the absence of that definition, the victim of trafficking might not be redressed under any law.

Mr Fida said in the absence of any law for the prevention of internal human trafficking, there was no authentic data on the menace.

He said human trafficking issues had increased alarmingly.

The speakers urged the provincial government to legislate to prevent human trafficking and said if such legislation was made, then KP would be the first province to do so.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2018