DATA COLLECTED FROM POLICE STATION, SONAGACHI, BURTOLLA

The police conduct around 350-360 raids in a year in the brothel areas. The table below shows the number of raids conducted to rescue minors only.

Table: 3.6 Number of Raids conducted in brothel areas to rescue minors

Years	Raids in Numbers
1998	112
1999	79
2000	60
2001	67
2002	130

Table: 3.7 Statistics on rescued trafficked victims from brothels

Years	Women	Girls below 18 years	Total
1998		13	13
1999		8	8
2000		4	4
2001	1	7	8
2002		16	16

In 2002, 130 raids were conducted in the red light areas of Sonagachi, in which 16 children were rescuedThe police officials interviewed, said that more than 90% of the girls rescued are illiterate.The Police Department does not maintain details regarding the mode of recruitment and socio-cultural background of the victims. However, as mentioned earlier, the police officials interviewed felt that most of the victims of trafficking were found to be involved in prostitution. They come from economically deprived backgrounds and are mostly illiterate.

Return to Trafficking Page