Bhubaneswar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed Odisha Chief Secretary PK Jena and the DGP, to submit a detailed report on the preventive, punitive, reformative and rehabilitation measures taken by the government on the issues related to the plight of sex workers within eight weeks.
Acting on a petition filed by human rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy and a response received from the authorities, the NHRC has passed the order recently. The petitioner pointed out the plight of the girls and women working as sex workers in brothels in Master Canteen/Mali Sahi and other areas of the Odisha capital.
Most of these girls/women are victims of human trafficking, the petitioner said. Tripathy in his plea also said that during the World Cup hockey tournament, some of the sex workers were rendered homeless by the police without minimum life support. Even if there are anti-traffic units in police stations, those do not work, Tripathy said and added that the police don’t take sincere steps to prohibit the recurrence of sex trade.
Tripathy alleged that the Statutory Institution, set up under Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1956, is not functional. He pointed out that victims have been deprived of benefits under various social welfare programmes like Anganwadi scheme and integrated child development scheme (ICDS). The Supreme Court judgement about the rights of the sex workers has not been complied with by the state government, Tripathy alleged.
PNN