Every day, children and women are being trapped by traffickers posing as placement agents, forcing them into conditions of modern slavery. It's time to call on the Delhi government to help end human trafficking by enacting the law to regulate placement agencies.
"Every time I look into the mirror I regret the day I decided to go to Delhi."* - a 15-year-old girl rescued from domestic slavery.
Trafficked into Delhi, she was physically tortured and psychologically traumatised. But there are thousands more like her who are less fortunate - hidden behind closed doors in affluent households of the capital city, trapped into a life of modern slavery.
Trafficking for forced labour is common across India. There are innumerable children and women who go missing from Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam and other states every year. With rising poverty and natural disasters, more and more children are dropping out of school. Lack of support from authorities makes them more vulnerable to being lured by fake placement agencies in search of a better life.
Thankfully, the High Court has asked the government of Delhi to draft a law regulating placement agencies. This regulation can be instrumental in identifying traffickers posing as placement agents, and will be a big step towards ending trafficking of people into Delhi for domestic slavery.
Ask Delhi’s Chief Minister to form legislation and help stop trafficking of people into domestic servitude.
*Times of India, October 2013
Dear Chief Minister Kejriwal,
Children and women go missing in India every day. Many of them are being duped and sold in Delhi for domestic slavery.
I request you to help stop human trafficking by enacting the Delhi Private Placement Agency (Regulation) Bill, 2012 that will:
- define rights of a domestic worker
- register all placement agencies
- form a committee to verify credentials of all placement agencies
- ban employment of children by placement agencies
- set up complaint redressal forums
- make provisions to perform surprise checks on placement agencies
- guarantee minimum wage
- make provisions to provide legal aid, welfare mechanisms, social security benefits to domestic workers
- ensure placement agencies implement the social security scheme
[Your comments here]
Please act now to help end trafficking for domestic servitude.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
