NAME OF THE NGO: BHORUKA PUBLIC WELFARE TRUST

TOTAL NO. OF EMPLOYEES: 121

BILATERAL NETWORKING: with different branches of Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust for HIV/AIDS prevention and reproductive and child health. It also works for prevention of girl trafficking. Due to the collective effort made by this network an Indo-Nepal cross border committee has been formed which represents high-level Government officials from both the countries including the officials from law enforcement agencies.

SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES: The NGO networked with other NGOs in Nepal and a committee of high-level Government officials to enforce various laws related to cross-border issues.

MULTILATERAL NETWORKING: With MAITI Nepal; HELP; ABC, Nepal; MOREC; SSB; Nepal Police; Calcutta Samaritans and ATSEC for prevention of cross-border girl trafficking.

SOURCES OF FUNDING: State AIDS Society, West Bengal; Dorabji Tata Trust (DTT); David and Lucile Packard Foundation; UNIFEM, New Delhi and HOPE Foundation.

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS OF OPERATION: The NGO operates in five States of India i.e. West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. 

ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRAFFICKING AND PREVENTION OF CSE DONE BY NGO:

The NGO has undertaken many anti-trafficking programmes. Its activities are given in detail below:

Cross-border areas have a high incidence of alcoholism, sexual abuse of women and gambling. As a consequence, prostitution flourishes in these parts. These areas have a very mobile population with low incomes. Sexual encounters among casual acquaintances are rampant.

To understand the magnitude of the problem and develop a concrete strategy to combat trafficking of girls, Bhoruka conducted a research study in 1999 along the Indo-Nepal border. The study vividly showed that there was a total lack of awareness of the issue on the Indian side, not only at the community level but also among law enforcers.

To combat this menace, a community-based sensitisation program on ‘Prevention Of Trafficking At The Indo-Nepal Border’ was started in December 2000 with the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

The concept was to work within the community and to address the issue, not in isolation, but rather with a focus on its links to other social problems.

Bhoruka runs the program from three centres. The first one in Raxaul (Bihar –Nepal border) covers three panchayats with a total population of 25,166; the second in Panitanki, West Bengal, covers a population of 20,000 in two blocks – Nakshalbari and Kharibari; and the third in Jogbani (Bihar-Nepal border) covers a population of 30,000. The strategy was to initially address the components of Reproductive, Child and Health programmes (like safe motherhood, survival and immunization, family planning, adolescent health, etc.) by holding women’s group meetings and then move on to the different aspects of cross-border girl trafficking.

        Activity profile of the three centres in the last one year:

• Organised 548 women’s group meetings at the community level.
• Organised 41 meetings with local influential individuals and leaders to create a supportive environment in the community.
• Held 8 meetings with law enforcement agencies, which is expected to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement agencies and will create a healthy environment.
• These centres have selected 275 community volunteers. They were imparted training on health as well as on trafficking of women and children related issues in 34 sessions.
• In the last one-year, the volunteers were organised into 24 Mahila Mandals who were later activated into anti-trafficking cells to implement the programmes.
• Organised a joint cross-border meet on 18^th September at Biratnagar, which provided a platform to the Consultative Boards Members, influential individuals and leaders and law enforcement agencies from these three areas in India and from Nepal to share their knowledge and expertise on these issues and to pave the way for better management of these problems.

Call girls’ intervention project

Factors like multiple sexual partners, irregularity in condom usage, lack of preventive measures or awareness of symptoms with regard to STDs/HIV/AIDS, high mobility and the types of sexual practices followed make the call girls (who may be college students, professionals or house wives) extremely vulnerable to disease. Among the contributing factors are myths and misconceptions about ways of contracting diseases. Others factors are tobacco-chewing habits and oral sex.

Bhoruka’s Call Girls Intervention Project was aimed at providing better reproductive health care services and empowering the target group members so that they could cope with their situation in a better way. Bhoruka intervened not only with call girls but also with clients and agents.

From July to December, Bhoruka intervened with approximately 420 call girls, and contacted 167 male and female agents and 129 clients. 127 call girls, 6 male agents, 6 female agents and 47 clients were interviewed to gather information about their age, educational qualifications, socio-economic profiles, parallel profession and about their treatment –seeking behaviour and awareness on RCH issues. It was found that most of the call girls were either housewives or from the theatre and film world. The adolescent group comprised mainly of students, most of them well educated.

Table 4.1 Table showing the percentage wise distribution of call girls according to their age

The table depicts that more than half of the girls are in the age group of 20-30 years.  

Awareness generation: Individual interactions and group meetings played an important part in the intervention. OPD services and counselling were provided for quality health care. At group meetings, advice was given on STDs, HIV/AIDS, the proper use of condoms, contraception and safe abortion, finance, banking and investment, legal issues, etc. In addition, the importance of VCTC (Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres) and immunisation were stressed. Between July and December, 19 group meetings, 4 awareness generation activities and 6 peer educator training sessions in which 466 people participated, were conducted.

Condom promotion: To promote safer sex practices among the target group, the project distributed over 11,000 condoms through call girls to their clients through peer educator and programme place owners.

Peer education: The project has 27 peer educators comprised of 17 calls girls and 8 female agents. All of them participate in group meetings, outreach work and condom promotion activities. Last year, 8 new peer educators were identified and trained. Peer educators organized 9 awareness generation programmes and 4 STD flip chart demos, distributed 1,608 BCC materials and 386 condoms, and conducted 3HIV/VDRL testing camps.

Treatment service: Qualified medical practitioners offered health care treatment for STDs and RCH to the target group. Bhoruka also has referral service to organisations like Marie Stopes and FPAL for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP), legation, IUD insertion and removal, prevention of chronic diseases and care and support for HIV positive individuals. 83 family members of call girls were treated for general diseases. Laboratory investigative services for VDRL, HIV, HbsAg, HCV and routine haematological testing facilities were provided to the target group. Bhoruka conducted 16 HIV and 49 VDRL tests and referred 18 cases for other lab tests.

PANITANKI Anti-girl trafficking project: The main focus of Bhoruka, while working for the last year on the prevention of girl trafficking in Panitanki, Darjeeling district, was on awareness generation and sensitising people in a holistic manner. Skill building helped to empower women economically as well as socially and gave them the confidence to form Mahila Mandals where their problems were identified and addressed. In the month of October, Bhoruka organized a life skill-training programme in Panitanki. Thirty-three women were trained in fruit processing and preservation by trained personnel from the Government of West Bengal, 37 adolescents were trained in handwork and tailoring and 32 members of an adolescent-women’s group got training on papad making.

CALL GIRLS’ INTERVENTION PROJECT, KOLKATA: In July 1999 Bhoruka began a project ‘Pursuit Of Happiness And Its Toll On The Reproductive Health Among Call Girls In Kolkata’ to address women in prostitution.

The intervention program was primarily aimed at call girls. Some clients and other agents involved in the sex trade were also involved. Awareness generation through group/individual interaction and group meetings was an important part of the intervention. Bhoruka provides OPD services and counselling.

For advocacy in this matter it is organising meetings with officials of law enforcement agencies and local influential persons as well as consultations and board meetings with officials at all levels.

Table 4.1 Number of persons intercepted in last five years by the organisation

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

·        It has undertaken Halting AIDS on Highways for Truckers on Indo- Bangladesh border at Petrapole.

·        Care and support for HIV positive people among temporary refugee students at ‘Bholabhasa’.

·        Reproductive and child health program for poor and marginalized sections of the society in Raxual and     Jogabani area of Bihar.

·        It has undertaken a migrant labour welfare project in Kolkata metropolis.

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