Sex trafficking: 'A third of victims rescued in Goa were from Maharashtra' | Goa News

Panaji: Nearly a third of sex trafficking victims rescued in Goa over the past decade were from neighboring Maharashtra. A total of 463 women were rescued, including 158 from Maharashtra, 93 from West Bengal and 44 from Delhi.

Arun Pandey of Arz (Anyay Rahit Zindagi), an organization that fights sex trafficking, said, “A study conducted by Arz in Goa identified 15 districts in Maharashtra as vulnerable to sex trafficking, with victims being pushed to Goa. » Thane district ranks second after Mumbai, he said.

Pandey said the sex trafficking from Thane to Goa was a well-organised operation. “The victims of Thane trafficking are from Maharashtra, West Bengal and even Bangladesh,” he said. “The Bangladeshi women are brought to Thane, transported to Gujarat and then sent to Goa.”

Money generated from sex trafficking in Thane is sent to Bangladesh via hawala, Pandey said.

According to Pandey, factors that make some women easy targets for sex traffickers include child marriage, domestic violence and health crises. A few dance bars and beauty parlours in Thane are among the hunting grounds of sex traffickers who seek out vulnerable women for the flesh trade in Goa, Pandey added.

Arz said buses, trains and planes were used for traffic. “Women from the red-light district of Bhiwandi in Maharashtra are also being trafficked to Goa,” Pandey said.

Support from government agencies and NGOs in Thane is needed, Arz said, to prevent sex trafficking from Thane to Goa and to rehabilitate women rescued in Goa.

A day-long consultation was organized by Arz in collaboration with the department of women and child development, Thane, to discuss ways to prevent sex trafficking from Maharashtra to Goa.

“According to our study, Maharashtra is the top source state for sex trafficking to Goa,” Arz said.

Pandey said Arz intends to continue these consultations in different districts of Maharashtra to prevent sex trafficking to Goa and ensure proper rehabilitation services for victims rescued in Goa.

Goa police even busted an international sex trafficking ring and rescued foreign nationals from African countries. The police also helped them return to their country of origin.