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Date: April 23, 2024 Tue
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india
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606 total results foundAuthor: Bhattacharya, Manasi Title: Marital Violence and Women's Employment and Property Status: Evidence from North Indian Villages Summary: This paper draws on testimonies of men and women and data gathered from rural Uttar Pradesh, to examine the effect of women's employment and asset status as measured by their participation in paid work and their ownership of property, respectively, on spousal violence. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2009 Source: IZA Discussion Paper No. 4361 Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Domestic Violence Shelf Number: 116387 |
Author: Shah, Naureen Title: Broken system: dysfunction, abuse, and impunity in the Indian Police. Summary: This report documents a range of human rights violations committed by police, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and extrajudicial killings. The report is based on interviews with more than 80 police officers of varying ranks, 60 victims of police abuses, and numerous discussions with experts and civil society activists. It documents the failings of state police forces that operate outside the law, lack sufficient ethical and professional standards, are overstretched and outmatched by criminal elements, and unable to cope with increasing demands and public expectations. Field research was conducted in 19 police stations in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal, Pradesh, and the capital, Delhi. Details: New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2009 Source: Internet Source Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 116186 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: Resource Book on the Legal Framework on Anti Human Trafficking Summary: Trafficking of women and children is one of the gravest organized crimes and violations of human rights, extending beyond boundaries and jurisdictions. Preventing and combating of human trafficking requires all stakeholders to integrate their responses on prosecution, prevention and protection. Keeping this philosophy in mind, Project IND/S16 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which is a joint initiative of UNODC and Government of India, with support from the US Government, has undertaken several initiatives since its launch in April 2006 in India. This project is focused on "Strengthening the law enforcement response in India against trafficking in persons, through training and capacity building". The major activities in the project are training of police officials and prosecutors, setting up Anti Human Trafficking Units, establishing networks among law enforcement agencies and civil society partners as well as developing appropriate resource tools including Protocols, Manuals, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Compendiums and other training aids. The Resource Book on the Legal Framework on Anti Human Trafficking has been designed to collect, review and analyze the relevant national legislations, international and regional instruments and judicial precedents that bring out the full range of crimes which comprise human trafficking; to analyze the existing legal framework in the light of international and regional legal standards on trafficking; and provide, where necessary, recommendations. This Resource Book for the law enforcement officials and other stakeholders is an attempt to sensitize them regarding the effective role that they can play under the various available laws on trafficking. It is hoped that a proper reading of the law will lead to its better enforcement; victims will be rescued more effectively, appropriate protective measures will be ordered looking to the age of the victims a and they will have a better chance of reintegration in society. This Resource Book has been developed by National Law University of India, Bangalore in association with UNODC and has received valuable inputs from senior judges, prosecutors, police officials and civil society organizations. The document has been prepared in a simple lucid style with cross - references to legal provisions and judicial pronouncements. It is a concise, practical and user friendly tool which will be of use to all stakeholders working in the field of anti human trafficking. Details: New Delhi: United Nations Office on Drugs, Regional Office for South Asia, 2008. 168p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2018 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/India_Training_material/Resource_Book_on_Legal_Framework.pdf Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Child Trafficking Shelf Number: 117090 |
Author: Saha, K.C. Title: Smuggling of Migrants from India to Europe and in Particular to UK: A Study on Tamil Nadu Summary: This field-based research study is a preliminary assessment of the situation of irregular migration from Tamil Nadu, India. As part of the study, an examination of records of relevant government agencies in the public domain, secondary data, as well as focus group studies were untertaken. The study concludes by recommending a number of concrete actions which will help to protect the interests of lawful unskilled labour going overseas for emplyment and minimize opportunities for the exploitation of vulnerable smuggled migrants. Details: New Delhi: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for South Asia, 2009. 60p. Source: Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Human Smuggling Shelf Number: 117368 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: Torture in India 2010 Summary: Torture in police custody remains a widespread and systematic practice in India. This report updates earlier reports in 2008 and 2009, and suggests that victims suffer high risks of torture in the first twenty four hours following detention. There are no safeguards to ensure that a person taken into custody will have their detention recorded, have prompt access to a lawyer or impartial medication examination upon their arrival at the place of detention, or at the time of their release. Details: New Delhi, India: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2010. 93p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Detention (India) Shelf Number: 118590 |
Author: Prasad, Devika Title: Complaints Authority: Police Accountability in Action Summary: In late 2006, the Supreme Court of India ordered the creation of Police Complaints Authorities, along with other directions towards systemic police reform, across the country. This report provides an assessment of the first year of operation of India's newly created Police Complaints Authorities, for the year 2008. Primarily, this report offers a broad analysis of legislative provisions, background information on the Authorities which are functioning on the ground, and highlights weaknesses in legislation and practice. It ends by presenting specific recommendations for the improved functioning of these bodies. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2009. 80p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Police Ethics Shelf Number: 118725 |
Author: Mudhurima Title: Rights Behind Bars: Landmark Judicial Pronouncement and National Human Rights Commission Guidelines Summary: The Constitution of India guarantees fundamental human rights to every individual. It further pledges that the state will safeguard these human rights and protect citizens from any arbitrary infringement upon their liberty, security and privacy. The Supreme Court of India has reiterated this principle many a times in the past 30 years. Over the years, the Supreme Court has on many occasions emphasised the role of the judiciary as a “guardian of their sentences.” To support this, the court has laid down a number of guidelines and directives for the state to follow. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also issued guidelines and written letters to various agencies including the judiciary, the prison department and the state government to ensure that the rights of the prisoners are respected. There is, however, a huge gap between the constitutional promises as enunciated by the judiciary, and the reality of the lives of prison inmates. About 65 per cent of the prisoners are not convicted of any offence but are just awaiting trial. They may continue to be held in prisons for years. A huge majority of these under-trial prisoners are poor. The system fails them at every turn. They are denied bail for want of monetary security. Trials take years. Often, they have no lawyers, live in pathetic conditions, do not have access to adequate medical care, and are likely to be tortured or exploited. They are not aware of their rights. Often, legal aid lawyers and prison officials are also unaware. This compilation seeks to bring together important judicial pronouncements and NHRC guidelines on prisons and prisoners’ rights in a simplified form so that this information is easily accessible to those who are interested. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2009. 89p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Criminal Justice System (India) Shelf Number: 119415 |
Author: Kotwal, Navaz Title: GOA State Police Complaints Authority: Analysing Accountability in Action Summary: In April 2007, the government of Goa announced the setting up of a Police Complaints Authority at the state level. It has little resemblance to what the Supreme Court had directed in terms of its composition or mandate. The Court had envisioned an agency that would be independent of the police and the government with people on it selected carefully through a procedure that was open and transparent and not one that had government nominees. The present report gives a broad and holistic analysis of the functioning of the Goa Police Complaints Authority. The report ends with a set of recommendations for the government as well as the Authority that will help towards the strengthening of the Authority. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2010. 39p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Complaints Against Police Shelf Number: 119443 |
Author: Bharadwaj, Priti Title: Liberty at the Cost of Innocence: A Report on Jail Adalats in India Summary: The most striking characteristic of the Indian prisons is its high under-trial population. India stands at number 14 in the list of 195 countries across the world with the highest number of pre-trial detainees. More than 65 per cent of the prison inmates in India are awaiting trial. The accused can be released on bail if they or a person known to them executes a bond that guarantees their presence at trial. In some cases, bail may be denied if there are cogent reasons to believe that the accused may tamper with evidence or commit other offences while on bail. However, all persons in detention must be tried within a reasonable time period to avoid unnecessary hardship on those who are innocent and yet imprisoned. Policy makers in India have recognised the magnitude of the problem of high percentage of under-trial population in prisons. The legislature and the judiciary have both stepped in to ensure that the bail regime is liberalised, but the practice remains far removed from the intent. Disposal of cases still takes a long time. In fact so much systemic dysfunction has piled up that there is a growing justification for adopting “short-cut” mechanisms – that also dilute the ‘due process rights’ – so that the system can be seen to be functioning. Fast track courts, plea-bargaining, jail adalats are some of the institutionalised examples of this. Others include proposed ideas to allow police to record confessions, reduce the burden of proof from ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ to the ‘subjective satisfaction’ of the judge. Translated literally as prison court, jail adalats see judges holding courts in prisons to dispose off cases of “petty” offenders who are willing to admit guilt. Devised as a strategy to deal with overcrowding and high under-trial population, jail adalats have not been able to address the problem. In fact, many argue that they have themselves become a part of the problem. Jail adalats have received repeated and consistent endorsement from Chief Justices8 of the Supreme Court and the High Courts as well as high powered committees set up by the judiciary. This alone makes a study of the mechanism useful. But combined with both, the complete lack of documentation on the subject and inconsistent procedure and practices, the study is particularly relevant. This study was undertaken to examine how the process is carried out in different states. One of the primary aims of the study was to identify good practices of holding jail adalats and examine whether these could be adopted in other states. This was based on the assumption that even though jail adalats are not the best way to reduce the number of under-trial prisoners, they can be used in the interim period while broader systemic criminal justice reforms are underway. It was assumed that though short on technical procedure, these adalats are perhaps a just way to deal with “petty ” offenders who, if willing to admit guilt, can be released from the prisons after recording a conviction. However, having conducted the study, these assumptions have been reconsidered (as shown by the findings in the report). This report seeks to encourage a debate on the use of short-cut mechanisms in the criminal justice system like the jail adalats. It brings to the fore, the problems that these hastily thought out “solutions” give rise to. The target audience for this report includes the prison and judicial officers who arrange and hold these adalats; the political leaders who may be induced into thinking that these adalats should be given statutory recognition without any further debate; other state agencies like the human rights commissions which recommend their use; and the civil society. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2009. 83p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Bail Shelf Number: 119444 |
Author: Mehta, Swati Title: Maharashtra's Abandoned Prisons: A Study of Sub-Jails. Summary: Sub-jails in India form a majority of prisons (60 per cent) and yet one of their distinguishing features is their limited capacity to hold prisoners (13.5 per cent) compared with other jails. The 115 sub-jails in Maharasthra (of a total of 153 prisons), for example, have an authorised capacity of 1,739 in contrast to the remaining 38 prisons with a capacity to house 19,162 prisoners. There is little information available in the public domain about sub-jails and their functioning. Perhaps because they house fewer prisoners, and that too for a short period compared to the central and district jails, neither the media nor civil society organisations have paid attention to these institutions. CHRI and Voluntary Action for Rehabilitation and Development (VARHAD) studied the sub-jails in Maharashtra to assess their condition and the rights of those who are housed in them. Maharashtra not only has the highest number of jails (153)in the country, but also records the highest number of sub-jails (114). For the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) - the only department that publishes national statistics on prisons - the high number of sub-jails in the state reveals “a well organised prison set-up even at the lower formation.” This report aims to provide a broad overview of the sub-jail system in the state and examine whether the NCRB is correct in inferring that the jail system at the “lower formation” is “well organised”. The sub-jails in the state are not administered by the prison department, but by the revenue department. This study examines the impact of placing the management of prisons in the hands of a department (revenue) that is not trained to administer them. It sheds light on the functioning of sub-jails in Maharashtra by focusing on the: rules and regulations applicable to their functioning; kinds of statistics that are available on these jails; administration of sub-jails in the state; oversight mechanisms like the Prison Visiting System; and general conditions in these jails, including food, clothing, basic amenities, sanitation, hygiene, medical facilities and security arrangements. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Inititaive, 2010. 62p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Correctional Administration Shelf Number: 119506 |
Author: Daruwala, Maja, ed. Title: Silencing the Defenders: Human Rights Defenders in the Commonwealth Summary: First to speak out against the abuse of power and breaches of the rule of law, human rights defenders are a bulwark against the erosion of civil liberties and are advocates of the oppressed and marginalised. By the very nature of their work they further the core principles that the Commonwealth is pledged to uphold. Governments and human rights defenders are therefore natural allies. Yet across the Commonwealth human rights defenders are deliberately suppressed, work under the daily risk of abuse and are the target of both state and non-state actors for nothing more than going about their lawful activities. Many governments continue to see human rights as a brake on their power and the activities of defenders as a defiance of authority. Many would like to silence human rights defenders and many do. The police, taking their cue from signals of the powerful, are often overzealous in the oppression of human rights defenders, and it is their actions that are the most visible. The purpose of the present report is to urge the Commonwealth and its Member States to recognise and value the work of human rights defenders, afford them the space and protection needed for them to engage with those who govern, and put in place practical measures that will assure their ability to serve the cause of good governance, development and rights. These measures include eradicating impunity, ensuring zero-tolerance for abuse of power, proactively putting in place actionable, time bound national human rights plans and articulating clear policies that indicate that defenders will be afforded both space and real protection when they engage in peaceful activities to promote human rights. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiations, International Advisory Commission, 2009. 104p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Human Rights (India) Shelf Number: 104 |
Author: Vidya, S. Title: Unholy Nexus: Male Child Sexual Exploitation in Pilgrim Tourism Sites in India: Andrhra Pradesh, Kerala and Orissa Summary: Public Opinion is on the rise about child sexual exploitation by tourists in India. But, little has been done to study and protect male children from prostitution. This research conducted in 2008, investigates the extent and nature of child sexual exploitation in the pilgrim tourist sites - Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Puri (Orissa) and Guruvayoor (Kerala). The study identifies key actors who are involved in and/or facilitate prostitution of male children. The study documents the causes, circumstances, locations and profile of these children and the context in which such sexual exploitation continues unchecked. While the research focuses on the male child, many of the findings and recommendations are equally applicable to female children in similar context. Details: Bangalore, India: EQUATIONS (Equitable Tourism Option); Bangkok, Thailand: ECPAT International, 2008. 64p. Source: Internet Resource; Accessed August 8, 2010 at http://www.equitabletourism.org/stage/readfull.php?AID=424 Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Child Sex Trafficking Shelf Number: 118315 |
Author: Khan, Salar M. Title: Judicial Delays to Criminal Trials in Delhi Summary: This report contains the findings of a study into the nature and extent of judicial delays in criminal trials in the courts of Delhi. The first two chapters comprise one part, speaking to the law in India as a whole. The remaining three chapters comprise another part, addressing the issues, data and specific case studies found in Delhi, which is the national capital and second most populous city in India. Details: Hong Kong: Asian Legal Resource Centre, 2008. 80p. Source: Internet Resource; Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Vol. 7, no. 2; Accessed August 17, 2010 at: http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0702/316/ Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Criminal Procedure (India) Shelf Number: 113068 |
Author: Kotwal, Navaz Title: Uttarakhand State Police Complaints Authority: Analysing Accountability in action Summary: This report covers complaints made to the Uttarakhand Police Complaints Authority that was set up in January 2007. It presents a broad and holistic analysis of the functioning of the Complaints Authority. The period of analysis comprises complaints received between April 2007 and January 2009. The report attempts to identify the nature of the complaints received, the profile of the complainants, the investigation or inquiry procedure that is adopted by the Authority once it receives a complaint, and the trend of orders or decisions being delivered by the Authority. We have also tried to statistically analyse the complaints and presented the same graphically for easy reference. We have then gone on to categorise the general trends in order to explain the decisions delivered by the Authority. These to some extent illustrate the weaknesses of the Authority and some of the significant challenges it faces in living up to its mandate. We have concluded by giving recommendations that would lend to improved and enhanced functioning of the Authority as well as increasing public confidence in the working of the Authority. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2010. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Better Policing Series - India: Accessed August 19, 2010 at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/police/uttarakhand_police_complaints_authority.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Complaints Against the Police (India) Shelf Number: 119638 |
Author: Joseph, Victor Title: Stolen Lives: Dignity, Forgiveness, Hope, and Future-Mindedness for Victims of Sex Trafficking in India Summary: Trafficking is a particularly pernicious and vicious assault on individual dignity. How do the victims deal with the shame of what has happened to them? How do they forgive, if it is even deemed possible to forgive, those who have trampled on their dignity, and how is it possible for the victims to forgive themselves? How do the victims recover or establish a sense of control of their own lives and destinies? How do they regain hope and belief in the future? What if they had almost no sense of control in the first place? The focus of this study is on seeking to provide the beginnings of some answers to those all important questions. The report focuses on trafficked victims between the ages of 14 and 22 who were sold into brothels in India. Details: West Conshohocken, PA: John Templeton Foundation, 2010. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 10, 2010 at: http://www.templeton.org/sites/default/files/TraffickingReport_Final.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 119776 |
Author: Ahmad, Natasha Title: In Search of Dreams: Study on the Situation of the Trafficked Women and Children from Bangladesh and Nepal to India Summary: To enhance better understanding of the dynamics of regional trafficking and to assist victims which will help to develop a regional strategy to prevent trafficking, International Organization for Migration (IOM) initiated a comprehensive research in 1999. The objectives of the research project were to understand the phenomenon of trafficked women, men and children from Bangladesh and Nepal to India, identify possible areas of assistance to the victims of trafficking and to analyse perception of migration realities in order to develop information dissemination strategies for prevention of trafficking. Details: Dhaka, Bangladesh: International Organization for Migratoin, 2001. 47p. Source: Year: 2001 Country: India Keywords: Child Trafficking Shelf Number: 117363 |
Author: Dutta, Mousumi Title: Determinants of Crime Rates: Crime Deterrence and Growth in Post-Liberalized India Summary: Becker’s analysis of crime and punishment has initiated a series of theoretical and empirical works investigating the determinants of crime. However, there is a dearth of literature in the context of developing countries. This paper is an attempt to address this deficiency. The paper investigates the relative impact of deterrence variables (load on police force, arrest rates, charge sheet rates, conviction rates and quick disposal of cases) and socio-economic variables (economic growth, poverty,, urbanization and education) on crime rates in India. State-level data is collected on the above variables for the period 1999 to 2005. Zellner’s SURE model is used to estimate the model. Subsequently, this is extended by introducing endogeneity. The results show that both deterrence and socioeconomic factors are important in explaining crime rates. However, some of their effects are different from that observed in studies for developed countries. Details: Munich: University Library of Munich, 2009. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 21, 2010 at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/14478/1/MPRA_paper_14478.pdf Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Crime Rates Shelf Number: 120039 |
Author: Ahmed, Abrar Title: Imperilled Custodians of the Night: A Study on Illegal Trade, Trapping and Use of Owls in India Summary: Use of owls in black magic and sorcery driven by superstition, totems and taboos is one of the prime drivers of the covert owl trade. This report presents the findings from an investigation into the illegal trade, trapping and utilization of owls in India. The investigation also finds that besides black magic, owls are trapped and traded for use in street performances; killed for taxidermy and for their meat; their parts are used in folk medicines; even their claws and feathers are sometimes used in headgear. Live owls are also used as decoys to catch other bird species. Details: New Delhi, India: TRAFFIC India/WWF-India, 2010. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 8, 2010 at: http://assets.wwf.org.nz/downloads/traffic_species_birds12.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Offenses Against the Environment Shelf Number: 120200 |
Author: Kar, Dev Title: The Drivers and Dynamics of Illicit Financial Flows from India: 1948-2008 Summary: India's underground economy is closely tied to illicit financial outflows. The total present value of India's illicit assets held abroad ($462 billion) accounts for approximately 72 percent of India's underground economy. This means that almost three-quarters of the illicit assets comprising India's underground economy—which has been estimated to account for 50 percent of India's GDP (approximately $640 billion at the end of 2008)—ends up outside of the country. The finding that only 27.8 percent of India's illicit assets are held domestically support arguments that the desire to amass wealth illegally without attracting government attention is one of the primary motivations behind the cross-border transfer of illicit capital. In the post-reform period of 1991-2008, deregulation and trade liberalization accelerated the outflow of illicit money from the Indian economy. Opportunities for trade mispricing grew and expansion of the global shadow financial system—particularly island tax havens—accommodated the increased outflow of India's illicit capital flight. There is a statistical correlation between larger volumes of illicit flows and deteriorating income distribution. Tax evasion is a major component of the underground economy, which in turn is a primary driver of India's illicit outflows. Expanding India's tax base and improving tax collection has high potential to curtail illicit flows. Illicit financial flows cannot be curtailed without the collaborative effort of both developing and developed countries. Economic reforms key to stemming the outflow of illicit money from India and the developing world in general include: •curtail trade mispricing (a widely utilized tax avoidance technique of international businesses); •require country-by-country reporting of sales, profits and taxes paid by multinational corporations; •require confirmation of beneficial ownership in all banking and securities accounts; •require automatic cross-border exchange of tax information on personal and business accounts; and •harmonize predicate offenses under anti-money laundering laws across all countries that cooperate on the Financial Action Task Force. Details: Washington, DC: Global Financial Integrity, 2010. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 6, 2010 at: http://india.gfip.org/ Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Financial Crimes Shelf Number: 120391 |
Author: Nair, P.M. Title: Trafficking Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation: Handbook for Law Enforcement Agencies in India Summary: "Irrefutable is the fact that trafficking of women and children is a grave violation of Human Rights and one of the most serious organized crimes of the day, transcending cultures, geography and time. The response by the agencies concerned in addressing the issues has been far from satisfactory, which has exacerbated the violations and harm to the trafficked persons. No wonder, the vulnerable sections have become more prone to trafficking. The spate of incidents reported from different parts of the country, where thousands of children remain untraced, is a symptom of the serious dimension of trafficking. In order to address this issue, there is a need for empowering the Law Enforcement agencies, i.e., police, prosecutors, judiciary, correctional administrators, development administrators as well as the social activists and the media so that they are fully empowered with knowledge, skills and appropriate attitude. This hand book, carefully drafted after stupendous efforts by Dr P.M.Nair, is an outstanding contribution in empowering each one in addressing human trafficking from a human rights perspective." Details: New Delhi: UNIFEM; UNODC, 2007. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 8, 2010 at: http://ru.unrol.org/files/Handbook_for_Law_Enforcement_Agencies_in_India[1].pdf Year: 2007 Country: India Keywords: Human Rights Shelf Number: 119120 |
Author: Wright, Belinda Title: Simpilal Tiger Reserve; Assessment of Recent Elephant Poaching and Protection Initiatives Summary: Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) is part of one of the largest contiguous tiger and elephant habitats in the world. With a Biosphere Area of over 5,000 sq km, it is one of the most promising landscapes for tigers and their prey species. After a number of elephant deaths were reported in April and May 2010, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) constituted an independent assessment team on 3rd June 2010. The two-team members proceeded immediately to Simlipal to visit the Tiger Reserve from 6 to 11 June 2010. We made the following observations. ! From the evidence, we confirmed seven elephant deaths, all of which have most likely been killed by poachers. ! In some of the cases the field staff were aware of the elephant deaths but chose not to report them; rather they deliberately attempted to conceal the elephant deaths/poaching incidents, by destroying the evidence. ! At least six of the elephant deaths might never have been exposed had it not been for the local informers and two courageous and determined conservationists from Mayurbhanj District. ! Very little animal presence was noted. We did not see a single tusker (for which Simlipal is renowned) or fresh elephant dung, even though we travelled over 100 km a day, at all hours. ! The Forest Staff appeared to be thoroughly unmotivated and demoralized. ! There have been regular incursions of tribal mass-hunting groups of 100 to 200 people entering the Park for over a year. While we were there, at least three such groups entered the Park on 7, 9, and 11 June 2010. ! Forest staff can only try and persuade the hunters to turn back with “folded hands” since they do not have armed support; all arms have been withdrawn in view of the continuing threat from the Maoists. ! After last year’s concerted attack on the forest infrastructure, many of the protection beat houses in the National Park are yet to be re-occupied. ! Due to a new system of dual jurisdiction, by creation of the post of Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF), the Field Director no longer has control over three DFOs that manage1,555 sq km of the Buffer Zone. ! The Park’s senior management has not exercised tight control and supervision over the field staff due to insufficient visits to the Parks. ! There is little interaction with local tribal communities living inside and on the periphery of the Park thereby leading to distrust and lack of support to the Department. We have detailed 25 recommendations, which we have tried to keep as practical and implementable as possible. They include a strong recommendation to implement the advice of a previous NTCA team that visited Simlipal in August 2009. Our recommendations that are considered to be of “Immediate Priority” are: 1. Action against field staff for concealment of elephant deaths and destruction of evidence; 2. An independent monitoring committee should be formed by NTCA; 3. A wildlife crime intelligence gathering system should be started; 4. Special drive to seize country-made guns; 5. Protection Funds should not be re-allocated; 6. Funds to DFOs for enforcement raids; 7. Vacant Deputy Director and 2 ACF posts to be immediately filled; 8. Park management to exercise greater supervision and control; 9. Confidentiality of wireless messages should be maintained; and 10. Enlist local community support from peripheral areas bordering the Park. Details: New Delhi, India: National Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2010. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 2, 2011 at: http://projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/Simlipal%20Report_June%202010_FINAL2.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Poaching Shelf Number: 120678 |
Author: Banks, Debbie Title: Skinning the Cat: Crime and Politics of the Big Cat Skin Trade Summary: The illegal trade in poached skins between India, Nepal and China is the most significant immediate threat to the continued existence of the tiger in the wild. While the importance of the problem has been recognised and plenty of information is already available, the lucrative illegal trade continues. Details: London: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA UK); New Delhi: WPSI India, 2006. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 3, 2011 at: http://www.eia-international.org/cgi/reports/reports.cgi?t=template&a=129 Year: 2006 Country: India Keywords: Illegal Trade Shelf Number: 120692 |
Author: Vindhya, U. Title: Sex Trafficking of Girls and Women: Evidence from Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh Summary: A crucial gap in the trafficking literature from India is the dearth of primary data and micro studies that could be used for vulnerability mapping of the source areas and addressing the identified risk factors. The present paper is a small attempt to contribute to plugging the gap in the context of Andhra Pradesh, identified as a ‘hot spot’ in the trafficking literature. This paper is based on case studies of 78 women who had been trafficked from their places of origin in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh to metropolitan cities across India and who have since returned to their homes. The paper attempted to identify the individual and family circumstances that contribute to the causes of trafficking, to highlight in particular the gendered vulnerabilities that set these women up for trafficking, and to capture the process of the trafficking experience. The findings of the study are located in the dynamic interplay of the social structural context and specificities of the district that contribute to causes of trafficking and the individual circumstances and agency of the women. The case studies reported in this paper are a pointer to the compelling urgency of interventions that will go beyond the forced/ voluntary divide in trafficking and sex work. Details: Hyderabad, India: Centre for Economic and Social Studies, 2010. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. 90: Accessed February 9, 2011 at: www.eaber.org/intranet/documents/26/2355/CESS_Vindhya_2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Child Sex Trafficking Shelf Number: 120730 |
Author: Karnam, Murati Title: Conditions of Detention in the Prisons of Karnataka: 2007-08 Summary: In the sixty years of Indian independence no specific study on Karnataka’s prison conditions has ever been commissioned by any government. The members of the All India Commission on Prison Reforms (1980-83) visited the state’s prisons but did not devote any chapter or part of their report to prisons in Karnataka. CHRI had, by chance, received favourable signals from the then head of the state’s Prison Department, Mr. S. T. Ramesh regarding the possibility of undertaking a study, and approached him with a proposal to study the prison conditions from the perspective of prison visitors. An earlier experience of conducting a study of prisons revealed that “permission” did not always guarantee full or sufficient access on the ground. Governments in the past had granted CHRI limited permission to study certain aspects of prisons after repeated lobbying and recommendation from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), but the permission itself had several restrictions on the purview of the study. This makes any study extremely limited, leaving very little room for analysis or intervention. CHRI began the study in Karnataka by focusing on the assessment of the day-to-day functioning of the prison visiting system. It was discovered that the system was so politicised that it was nearly dysfunctional. Consequently, CHRI expanded its focus to include other important aspects of civil society and government engagement with the prisons. Gradually, we found we were given access without restrictions although this was unexpected. These factors conditioned the nature and purview of this report and the fluid boundaries in terms of time frame and the subject of investigation reflect the gradual and negotiated access granted as the study progressed. The lesson we learnt was that one needs to adopt a step-by-step engagement approach, which to a large extent, conditions civil society interventions in prisons. The members of the All India Commission on Prison Reforms (1980-83) visited the state’s prisons but did not devote any chapter or part of their report to prisons in Karnataka. CHRI had, by chance, received favourable signals from the then head of the state’s Prison Department, Mr. S. T. Ramesh regarding the possibility of undertaking a study, and approached him with a proposal to study the prison conditions from the perspective of prison visitors. An earlier experience of conducting a study of prisons revealed that “permission” did not always guarantee full or sufficient access on the ground. Governments in the past had granted CHRI limited permission to study certain aspects of prisons after repeated lobbying and recommendation from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), but the permission itself had several restrictions on the purview of the study. This makes any study extremely limited, leaving very little room for analysis or intervention. CHRI began the study in Karnataka by focusing on the assessment of the day-to-day functioning of the prison visiting system. It was discovered that the system was so politicised that it was nearly dysfunctional. Consequently, CHRI expanded its focus to include other important aspects of civil society and government engagement with the prisons. Gradually, we found we were given access without restrictions although this was unexpected. These factors conditioned the nature and purview of this report and the fluid boundaries in terms of time frame and the subject of investigation reflect the gradual and negotiated access granted as the study progressed. The lesson we learnt was that one needs to adopt a step-by-step engagement approach, which to a large extent, conditions civil society interventions in prisons. The members of the All India Commission on Prison Reforms (1980-83) visited the state’s prisons but did not devote any chapter or part of their report to prisons in Karnataka. CHRI had, by chance, received favourable signals from the then head of the state’s Prison Department, Mr. S. T. Ramesh regarding the possibility of undertaking a study, and approached him with a proposal to study the prison conditions from the perspective of prison visitors. An earlier experience of conducting a study of prisons revealed that “permission” did not always guarantee full or sufficient access on the ground. Governments in the past had granted CHRI limited permission to study certain aspects of prisons after repeated lobbying and recommendation from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), but the permission itself had several restrictions on the purview of the study. This makes any study extremely limited, leaving very little room for analysis or intervention. CHRI began the study in Karnataka by focusing on the assessment of the day-to-day functioning of the prison visiting system. It was discovered that the system was so politicised that it was nearly dysfunctional. Consequently, CHRI expanded its focus to include other important aspects of civil society and government engagement with the prisons. Gradually, we found we were given access without restrictions although this was unexpected. These factors conditioned the nature and purview of this report and the fluid boundaries in terms of time frame and the subject of investigation reflect the gradual and negotiated access granted as the study progressed. The lesson we learnt was that one needs to adopt a step-by-step engagement approach, which to a large extent, conditions civil society interventions in prisons. The CHRI team familiarised itself with the basic features of different categories of prisons and jails and tried to study every segment in order to arrive at a comprehensive picture of their functioning. As on 15 January 2008, only 83 out of 99 institutions were functioning, which were under the general supervision of the Prison Department. Of the remaining institutions, the oldest ones were closed owing to defects in the buildings, such as leaking roofs and clogged drainage systems; while the newly built ones were not open due to a shortage of staff. The team visited 39 institutions of various categories. These included all seven central prisons; seven of the eleven functioning district prisons; three of the four district headquarter sub-jails; seven of the 30 taluka sub-jails under the Prison Department; 12 of the 28 taluka sub-jails under the control of the Revenue Department; and one of the two special sub-jails. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2010. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 11, 2011 at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/prisons/conditions_of_detention_in_the_prisons_of_karnataka.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Correctional Institutions (India) Shelf Number: 120747 |
Author: Amnesty International Title: A 'Lawless Law': Detentions Under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act Summary: Hundreds of people are locked up on spurious grounds under the Public Safety Act in Jammu and Kashmir every year. they are held without charge or trial in administrative or “preventive” detention on vague allegations of acting against “the security of the State” or against “the maintenance of public order”. detainees are mainly political activists and suspected members or supporters of armed groups, sometimes including children. Before their formal detention, they are often held illegally, denied access to a lawyer, the courts and their families, and may be tortured during interrogation. The Jammu and Kashmir authorities can hold detainees without charging or prosecuting them for up to two years at a time. Detention orders are often repeated and habeas corpus orders ignored, meaning that detainees are held for much longer than the maximum two-year period provided. This report exposes a catalogue of human rights violations associated with the use of administrative detention under the Public Safety Act. It highlights how these run counter to India’s obligations under international human rights law. If India is serious about meeting these obligations, then it must ensure that the Public Safety Act is repealed and that detainees are released immediately or tried in a court of law. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2011. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2011 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/001/2011/en/cee7e82a-f6a1-4410-acfc-769d794991b1/asa200012011en.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Detention (India) Shelf Number: 121104 |
Author: Iyer, Lakshmi Title: The Power of Political Voice: Women’s Political Representation and Crime in India Summary: Using state-level variation in the timing of political reforms, we find that an increase in female representation in local government induces a large and significant rise in documented crimes against women in India. Our evidence suggests that this increase is good news, as it is driven primarily by greater reporting rather than greater incidence of such crimes. In contrast, we find no increase in crimes against men or gender-neutral crimes. We also examine the effectiveness of alternative forms of political representation: Large scale membership of women in local councils affects crime against them more than their presence in higher-level leadership positions. Details: Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School, 2011. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 11-092: Accessed April 14, 2011 at: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-092.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Female Victims (India) Shelf Number: 121347 |
Author: Black, Maggie Title: Women in Ritual Slavery: Devadasi, Jogini and Mathamma in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Southern India Summary: This report looks at the ritual slavery practices of Devadasi, Jogini and Mathamma in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in southern India. These practices involve the dedication of young girls to a deity and their subsequent sexual exploitation by one or many men from the community. The report analyses the problem and considers responses to the problem to date and what more needs to be done. Details: London: Anti-Slvery International, 2007. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 19, 2011 at: http://www.antislavery.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2009/w/women_in_ritual_slavery2007.pdf Year: 2007 Country: India Keywords: Forced Marriage (Deity) Shelf Number: 121757 |
Author: Silva, Romesh, Jasmine Marwaha & Jeff Klingner, Title: Violent Deaths and Enforced Disappearances During the Counterinsurgency in Punjab, India Romesh Silva Jasmine Marwaha Jeff Klingner A Preliminary Quantitative Analysis Summary: This report analyzes reported fatal violence across Punjab during a period of conflict from 1984 to 1995. This preliminary, descriptive statistical analysis uses systematic and verifiable quantitative research to interrogate the Indian government’s portrayal of the Punjab counterinsurgency as a successful campaign with isolated human rights violations. The empirical findings indicate that the intensification of coordinated counterinsurgency operations in the early 1990s was accompanied by a shift in state violence from targeted enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions to large-scale and systematic lethal human rights violations, accompanied by mass “illegal cremations.” Details: Palo Alto, CA: Benetech's Human Rights Data Analysis Group; Fremont, CA: Ensaaf, Inc., 2009. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 20, 2011 at: http://www.ensaaf.org/publications/reports/descriptiveanalysis/ Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Disappearances Shelf Number: 121774 |
Author: Bhattacharya, Ilona Title: Vulnerability of Children Living in the Red Light Areas of Kolkata, India: A Youth-Led Study Summary: Prostitution in India has always raised lot of questions in this country. Almost all women have been trafficked and those who have joined knowingly have joined due to lack of option in life. The stigma of prostitution has made the children of the locality more vulnerable. School drop outs, child marriage, sexual abuse are some of the everyday realities. Female children have run away to get away and male children have been left with no options and lot of vulnerabilities. This youth-led study was conducted in an effort to develop a greater understanding of the realities faced by children living and growing up in the four largest red light areas in Kolkata, India: Kalighat, Bowbazar, Tollygunge, and Khidderpur. This unique initiative has been led by youth from the outset; youth surveyors from 16-22 years of age both developed the initial concept for and undertook the practical research involved. Youth members of SANLAAP involved in the Youth Partnership Project in South Asia (YPP-SA) have been actively taking leadership roles in their communities. These roles were further reinforced and strengthened by their involvement in undertaking and completing this study. The study aimed to delve deeper into the lives of children living in the complex world of Kolkata’s red light areas. In trying to understand the vulnerabilities faced by these children, effort was made to explore potential measures for improving the protection of the children living in these areas. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations from this study will provide a stronger platform from which to advocate for greater action and meaningful policy change to ensure better living conditions and essential child protection mechanisms within communities located in red light areas. This study does not claim to be an exhaustive or comprehensive assessment of the vulnerabilities faced by children in red light areas. It will fall short of the expectations of academic research conducted with a significantly larger sample size and more stringent methodologies and data analysis. The attempt of this study, however, has been to conduct action research led by young people in their own environment and communities. In this way, the young people now hope to address some of the issues that have come to the forefront through the numerous interviews and discussions conducted with children and families, within the scope of available resources and opportunities. Details: Kolkata: SANLAAP, 2010. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 12, 2011 at: http://www.ecpat.net/ei/Publications/CYP/YPP_Research_indial.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Child Abuse Shelf Number: 122030 |
Author: Shah, Svati P. Title: Sex Work and Women's Movements Summary: This paper places the development of sex workers’ movements over the past two decades within the historical context of feminist discourses on violence against women. The paper discusses the importance of the discourse on violence against women in framing contemporary abolitionist campaigns that seek to criminalize sex work. It goes on to discuss the contemporary context, including the status of alliances and dialogue between women’s, LGBTQ, and sex workers’ movements, focusing on India. The history of responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the question of agency are also discussed. The paper ultimately calls into question the effects of using a liberal framework to craft interventions in the governance of sexual commerce. The argument presented here is derived from the author’s research on sex work in India, and from participation in LGBTQ, feminist, and sex workers’ movements in India and in the U.S. This paper traces the relationship between sex workers’ and feminist movements in India in order to identify and explore insights in some of the most dynamic and controversial areas for advocacy and policy making within the growing intersections of sexuality and human rights. In so doing, the paper marks the current moment of change between and among women’s and sex workers’ movements, and explores what the significance of sex worker-led activism might be for sexuality-related research and jurisprudence. Given that feminist and sex workers’ movements address issues of gender based inequality, the state, and health, the paper marks this moment by asking why these movements have developed distinctly from one another? In particular, why have mainstream feminist organizations historically eschewed individual sex workers as feminist contemporaries and comrades, in favor of either regarding sex workers as objects of rescue, or as adversaries in the aim of achieving gender equality? To be sure, the evolution of sex worker movements is distinct from that of ‘feminist’ or ‘women’s’ movements. Details: New Delhi: CREA India, 2011. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2011 at: http://web.creaworld.org/files/f2.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Feminist Movement Shelf Number: 122302 |
Author: Subramanian, K.S. Title: Are the Indian Police A Law Unto Themselves? Summary: ‘Are the India Police Law unto Themselves?’, looks into the functions of the police institutions from human right perspective. It reports that superiors “constantly converted” subordinate police officers into instruments of human rights violation and torture. The report also envisages clear separation of the investigation function from law and order, importance of gender training and the tackling of caste biases of cops. The NSW report is also critical of the Central and State governments for their lack of enthusiasm in implementing Supreme Court directives on human rights. The report also recommends improved working conditions, training and equipment; creating a work culture that rewards respect for human rights and professional conduct; a system to investigate complaints of police abuse; a law against torture; and repeal of laws that enable police to function with impunity. Details: New Delhi: National Social Watch Coalition, 2011. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2011 at: http://socialwatchindia.net/publications/perspective-papers/social-watch-india-perspective-series-vol.-3/view Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Complaints Against Police Shelf Number: 122573 |
Author: Kohli, Anil Title: Mapping Murder: The Geography of Indian Firearm Fatalities Summary: Rates of murder, and firearms murder in particular, vary dramatically across India's 28 states and seven union territories, as well 35 cities with over one million residents. National statistics and autopsy findings reveal the range of variation between states and cities. Murder and firearms death are declining in many regions, but much of the country still faces extreme problems. This Issue Brief identifies those areas worst affected and those most immune. Access to illegal firearms is a major element in this variation. Details: New Delhi: India Armed Violence Assessment, 2011. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Issue Brief No. 2: Accessed September 21, 2011 at: http://www.india-ava.org/fileadmin/docs/pubs/IAVA-IB2-mapping-murder.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Firearms and Crime Shelf Number: 122803 |
Author: Acharya, Arabinda Title: India’s States of Armed Violence Assessing the Human Cost and Political Priorities Summary: Some forms of violence get more attention than others. Terrorism and insurgency have effects which go far beyond the direct deaths and injuries that they cause, undermining security and economic development. But for sheer numbers of lives destroyed, criminal violence and suicide deserve more attention. All forms of armed violence require more attention, and more holistic policy. Institutional cooperation — between ministries, the central and state governments, and between government and civil society — is only beginning to occur. Details: New Delhi: India Armed Violence Assessment, 2011. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Issue Brief No. 1: Accessed September 21, 2011 at: http://www.india-ava.org/fileadmin/docs/pubs/IAVA-IB1-states-of-armed-violence.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Armed Violence Shelf Number: 122804 |
Author: Kotwal, Navaz Title: State Security Commissions: Reform Derailed Summary: A major cause of poor policing lies in the blurring of lines between the political executive and the police establishment. The overstepping intrusions of elected politicians and bureaucrats into the everyday management and functioning of the police weakens its leadership, creates uncertainty of direction, breaks chains of command, obscures accountability, destroys discipline and divides loyalties all down the line. Fine policing – policing that is unbiased honest and capable of providing genuine safety and security to the population at large – requires the overall policy and performance parameters to be laid down by the political executive while operational responsibility to deliver good policing is left squarely in the hands of the police leadership. The State Security Commissions are designed to achieve this separation of power and function. They are intended to be an aid to political authority. Its presence neither derogates from the pre-eminence of the elected representative nor diminishes civilian control and supervision over police machinery. Instead its presence is meant to give definition to the relationship between police and political executive and establish transparent rules of engagement between the two. To be true to its functions security commissions must itself be authoritative, timely and disciplined in its approach; and composed of the constitutional supervisors of the police, complemented by diverse expertise and representation of the kind that will bring in thoughtful, impartial and balanced assistance and fulfil expectations of lawful policing. All this has long been understood by the rulers of this country. Committees and commissions from the 1979 National Police Commission through the Riberio and Padmanabhaiah and the Model Police Act of the Soli Sorabjee Committee have consistently recommended the creation of a body that insulates everyday policing from political overreach and unwarranted interference. Finally in 2006 the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case directed that such bodies be set up in each state and at the Centre within three months. Five years on, this report assesses the extent to which states have complied with the Court’s directives: whether the entities that have been created are fit for purpose and whether in fact they are active and diligent in performance. Sadly the evidence indicates that none of the commissions that have been set up have the design, composition, power and functioning for success. Nor have they proved to be of use to improving police functioning. This begs the question of intention: are the commissions one more cosmetic devise to overcome the Supreme Court’s directions or intended as a genuine effort to wean the police from the politics of the day? Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2011. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Better Policing Series - India: Accessed October 31, 2011 at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/police/sscrd.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Police Administration Shelf Number: 123181 |
Author: Bharadwaj, Priti Title: Pre-trial Detention and Access to Justice in Orissa Summary: Under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, prisons come under the State List. These custodial institutions are governed by the Prisons Act of 1894 and the rules prepared by the state governments and the governments of the union territories. Each state has its own prison manual with detailed rules for administration and management, regulating every aspect of prison life, both for prisoners as well as prison staff. India has 3,76,396 prisoners in its 1,276 prisons. Of these prisoners, only 31.9 per cent have been proved guilty. The remaining 68.1 per cent are undertrials, detained but innocent in the eyes of the law. Orissa has the ninth highest prison population in the country with 15,368 prisoners. The undertrial population towers at 72 per cent which is higher than the average undertrial population of India. Undertrial prisoners are accused for offences ranging from petty offences such as ticket-less railway travel to higher gravity offences such as murder. “The primary reason for incarcerating people presumed to be innocent, therefore lies in the requirement to ensure the availability of the accused to meet the criminal charges against them.” They are among the most vulnerable sections in the prisons, whose right to liberty has been curtailed before their conviction. With imprisonment, a radical transformation comes over a prisoner, which can be described as prisonisation. He loses his identity. He is known by a number. He loses personal possessions. He has no personal relationships. Psychological problems result from loss of freedom, status, possessions, dignity and autonomy of personal life. Most undertrial prisoners are first-time offenders and their initial encounter with the harsh realities of our justice delivery system makes them disconcerted. It leaves an indelible mark not only on the prisoner’s personal and professional life, but also on those dependent on him/her. Since they are oblivious of their fundamental rights, it is the state’s responsibility to ensure that the inmates are made aware of their rights and the process of the delivery of justice. The Prison Reforms Programme of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has established its presence in various states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, to name a few. This study is our first intervention in Orissa and hence it is intended to be a focused one. CHRI commenced this study to assess the implementation of Sections 436 and 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 for the release of those undertrial prisoners who have been detained for an undue length of time. The study also aims to examine whether the prisons in Orissa house undertrial prisoners under the Preventive Detention Sections 107, 109 and 110 of the CrPC. It further seeks to identify the existing systemic provisions which, if revived, could facilitate the implementation of the above mentioned CrPC amendments. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) defines an undertrial prisoner as “a person kept in prison (judicial custody) while the charges against him are being tried”. It also defines another category – detenues as those “in prison on the orders of competent authority under the relevant preventive detention law”. For the purposes of this study, undertrial prisoners comprise both these categories and denote all those un-convicted prisoners, who have been detained in prison during the period of investigation, inquiry or trial for the offences they are accused to have committed. The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase it focused primarily on those undertrial prisoners who would fall under the purview of Sections 436 and 436A of the CrPC as well as those under the Preventive Sections across two circle jails. On completion of the first phase, we felt the need to expand the scope of the study to include other types of prisons. To substantiate our findings and to be able to generalise it to the rest of the prisons in the state, CHRI designed Phase II of the study. In Phase II, we expanded our study to cover several other districts and obtained data from all categories of prisons, viz. circle jails, district jails, sub-jails, special jails and special sub-jails. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2010. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 31, 2011 at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/prisons/pre_trial_detention_&atj_in_orissa.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Pretrial Detention (India) Shelf Number: 123183 |
Author: Bandyopadhyay, Nandinee Title: Streetwalkers Show the Way: Reframing the Global Debate on Trafficking from Sex Workers’ Perspectives Summary: This paper documents action research and discussions on trafficking by Durbar, a network of 60,000 female, male and transgender sex workers in India. Durbar finds that the realities of trafficking as experienced by sex workers are very different from the myths. Durbar’s research found that while most of the sex workers they interviewed were poor and lacked options, they left home by their own choice, in search of better livelihoods, to escape violence or drudgery, or to seek love. Numerous agents, many of them known to the trafficked individuals, facilitated their subsequent travels and entry into sex work. Many of those trafficked into sex work were able to negotiate better terms within a year or two, after which they were free to leave but stayed in the industry because of the economic incentives, and because returning to their families was no longer an option due to the stigma associated with sex work. Durbar concludes that the fundamental cause of trafficking is the persistent demand for using trafficked workers who can be made to work without being provided fair wages or safe working conditions, thereby hiking the profit margins of the employers. Thus Durbar sees as most urgent the need to establish better labour standards in sex work, and support individual sex workers tackling exploitative situations. This includes supporting unwilling and underage sex workers by helping them decide what to do, rather than handing them over to the police where they are likely to face more harassment. Durbar has done this effectively through setting up ‘Self Regulatory Boards’ in sex work sites. To date Durbar has rescued a total of 560 unwilling women and underage girls. And in sites where Durbar works, the proportion of sex workers under 18 years old declined from 25.3 per cent in 1992 to 3.1 per cent in 2001. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2008. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 309: Accessed January 18, 2012 at: http://www.ntd.co.uk/idsbookshop/details.asp?id=940 Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Human Trafficking (India) Shelf Number: 123650 |
Author: Justino, Patricia Title: Carrot or Stick? Redistributive Transfers versus Policing in Contexts of Civil Unrest Summary: Recurrent episodes of civil unrest significantly reduce the potential for economic growth and poverty reduction. Yet the economics literature offers little understanding of what triggers civil unrest in society and how to prevent it. This paper provides a theoretical analysis in a dynamic setting of the merits of redistributive transfers in preventing the onset of (and reducing) civil unrest and compare it with policies of more direct intervention such as the use of police. We present empirical evidence for a panel of Indian states, where conflict, transfers and policing are treated as endogenous variables. Our empirical results show, in the medium-term, redistributive transfers are both a more successful and cost-effective means to reduce civil unrest. Policing is at best a short-term strategy. In the longer term, it may trigger further social discontent. Details: London: Conflict, Violence and Development Research Center, Institute of Development Studies, 2011. 29p. Source: IDS Working Paper, Volume 2011 No. 382: Internet Resource: Accessed February 18, 2012 at Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Conflict and Violence Shelf Number: 124167 |
Author: Bharadwaj, Priti, ed. Title: Community Participation in Prisons: A civil society perspective Summary: Prison administration in India is still governed by the archaic Prisons Act of 1894. Systemic reforms in prisons in India are long overdue. Defenders of prisoners' rights and those working on prison reforms are few and scattered over various disciplines across India. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) along with Prayas (Mumbai) realised that though there are several key players in the field of prison reforms across India, there has not been any effort in bringing them together to share their successes or failures, or build a broad lobby group. Concerned over the lack of collective civil society movement to precipitate prison reforms, it was decided to harness and further strengthen existing human resources on prison related issues. This book is an effort to initiate and achieve sustained systemic prison reforms. This one of its kind compendium attempts to document the resource pool of NGOs, faith based groups, and associations like rotary but it does not include individuals or state authorities or those created by the state such as human rights commissions or legal aid bodies It accounts the institutions specific concerns, strategies, capacity building requirements, and achievements on prison reform and prisoner's rights. The compendium describes the factors that have influenced their evolution, patterns of growth, problems and constraints as well as gaps, challenges and opportunities We believe that, identifying the persons/organisations key to engendering change in prisons, and collecting information on their skills and capacities, will not only catalyse change and collaborative action but more importantly create momentum needed to address the ailing Criminal Justice System of India. Details: New Dehli, India: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2008. 258p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2012 at http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/prisons/community_participation_in_prisons.pdf Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Community Participation Shelf Number: 124303 |
Author: Banerjee, Abhijit Title: Can Institutions be Reformed From Within? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment with the Rajasthan Police Summary: Institutions in developing countries, particularly those inherited from the colonial period, are often thought to be subject to strong inertia. This study presents the results of a unique randomized trial testing whether these institutions can be reformed through incremental administrative change. The police department of the state of Rajasthan, India collaborated with researchers at US and Indian universities to design and implement four interventions to improve police performance and the public’s perception of the police in 162 police stations (covering over one-fifth of the State’s police stations and personnel): (1) placing community observers in police stations; (2) a freeze on transfers of police staff; (3) in‐service training to update skills; and (4) weekly duty rotation with a guaranteed day off per week. These reforms were evaluated using data collected through two rounds of surveys including police interviews, decoy visits to police stations, and a large-scale public opinion and crime victimization survey—the first of its kind in India. The results illustrate that two of the reform interventions, the freeze on transfers and the training, improved police effectiveness and public and crime victims’ satisfaction. The decoy visits also led to an improvement in police performance. The other reforms showed no robust effects. This may be due to constraints on local implementation: The three successful interventions did not require the sustained cooperation of the communities or the local authorities (the station heads) and they were robustly implemented throughout the project. In contrast, the two unsuccessful interventions, which required local implementation, were not systematically implemented. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2012. 53p. Source: NBER Working Paper 17912: Internet Resource: Accessed March 24, 2012 at http://www.nber.org/papers/w17912.pdf?new_window=1 Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Experimental Methods Shelf Number: 124731 |
Author: Sahni, Rohini Title: The First Pan-India Survey of Sex Workers: A Summary of Preliminary Findings Summary: This summary, written under the aegis of the Center for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalisation (CASAM), presents the preliminary results of the first pan-India survey on sex workers. These preliminary findings have been developed for an event in Mumbai on 30 April 2011. Over two years a sample of 3000 female and 1355 male and trans persons in sex work was drawn from fourteen states1 and one Union Territory through the coordinated effort of a number of organisations. The male and trans sex worker data is yet to be analysed and will be presented in the next phase. The survey pools a national sample divided by geographies, languages, sites of operation, migratory patterns, incomes, and cultures amongst other variables. Only sex workers beyond collectivised/organised (and therefore politically active) spaces were surveyed in order to bring forth the voices of a hitherto silent section of sex workers. „Women in prostitution‟ have always been the object of research, although they have not always been seen as „sex workers‟. They have often been seen as slaves and as trafficked women. Both sex trafficking and sex work are, “emotive issues about which much has been written with more passion than objectivity because they touch the core of our beliefs about morality, justice, gender and human rights.” (George, Vindhya and Ray, 2010) In the wake of HIV, there has been a renewed engagement with sex workers as subjects of research. However this research has been carried out to fulfil a range of purposes beyond those of interest to sex workers and findings have not always reflected the lives of sex workers, about which there are many assumptions. Studies of sex workers often reduce complex lives into simplistic binaries, most commonly: an understanding of female sex workers as freely engaging in, or forced into sex work. This is both inaccurate and insufficient. Much relevant information is ignored such as family and social-economic background, caste and religious segregations, sexual identities, marital status, not to mention work identities other than and in addition to sex work. This survey uses multiple variables to understand how their lives get constructed prior to and in sex work. While a growing number of first-person accounts have been articulated by sex workers and sex workers right activists, it is not entirely clear how representative their voices are. This report provides preliminary results of empirical research of a survey administered amongst sex workers nationally and has objectivity of assessment as one of its underlying aims. The survey allowed sex workers to express their work identities, both in sex work and out of it, providing flexibility to assert multiple work identities. What this study reveals is that in describing their working lives, a significant number of females move quite fluidly between other occupations and sex work. For example, a street vendor may search for customers while selling vegetables and a dancer at marriages may also take clients. It is not easy to demarcate women‟s work into neatly segregated compartments. Sex work and other work come together in ways that challenge the differentiation of sex work as an unusual and isolated activity. The survey pools together a sufficiently large national-level sample of females divided by geographies, languages, sites of operation, migratory patterns, incomes, cultures, to mention just a few of the variables. Rather than reducing the women to clichéd stereotypes we seek to bring to the surface their non sex-work histories, either alongside or prior to engaging with sex work. In doing so, we address some of the realities surrounding sex work in the country and demystify some of the polarised and often simplistic narratives, which paint such work in opaquely value-laden terms. Details: Maharashtra, India: Center for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalisation, 2011. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 3, 2012 at: http://sangram.org/Download/Pan-India-Survey-of-Sex-workers.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Prostitutes (India) Shelf Number: 124808 |
Author: Center for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalization (CASAM) Title: Beyond Vice and Victimhood: Content Analysis of Media Coverage on the Issues of Sex Workers Summary: This monograph is an attempt to examine the representation of sex workers and presentation of issues related to sex work and sex workers in the English print media through a micro-study of 1059 English-language newspaper/periodical clippings from a little over a decade starting in 1990. It comprises three in-depth analyses based on the extent of, the trends surrounding, and the nature of coverage of sex workers and their issues. The study explores the nature of presentation as well as representation and patterns over the years with reference to sex workers in print media in general and the English-language press in particular. The aim of the study was to examine media coverage of sex work to seek some clarity on the amount, extent, quality, and depth of this coverage and work towards improving the reportage on sex workers’ issues in print media. The clippings were obtained from Aalochana, a Pune-based women’s research and documentation centre. Details: Sangli, Maharashta, India: Sampada Gramin Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), 2008. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Monograph Series 1: Accessed April 4, 2012 at: http://sangram.org/Download/D2.pdf Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Media Shelf Number: 124818 |
Author: Ernst & Young Title: Fraud in insurance on rise: Survey 2010-11 Summary: India, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, has a burgeoning middle class and has witnessed a significant rise in the demand for insurance products. Over the last 10 years, the insurance industry has grown at a capital annual compounded growth rate (CAGR) of around 20%. However, with the exponential growth in the industry, there has also been an increased incidence of frauds in the country. Insurance fraud encompasses a wide range of illicit practices and illegal acts involving intentional deception or misrepresentation. The industry has witnessed an increase in the number of fraud cases in the last one year. Organizations are waking up to the fact that frauds are driving up the overall costs of insurers and premiums for policyholders, which may threaten their viability and also have a bearing on their profitability. Hence, companies need a more vigorous fraud management framework. Although this survey focuses on retail insurance, frauds related to commercial insurance claims and third-party claims are also on the rise. The sophistication of fraudsters in the area of commercial insurance claims and third-party claims makes it all the more difficult for organizations to detect and control fraud in time. Fraud impacts organizations in several areas including financially, operationally and psychologically. While the monetary loss due to fraud is significant, its full impact of fraud on an organization can be staggering. Its loss of reputation, goodwill and customer relations can be devastating. As fraud can be perpetrated by any employee within an organization or by those outside it, it is important for companies to have an effective fraud management program in place to safeguard their assests and reputation. This survey is an attempt to provide a definitive insight into the antecedents of insurance fraud, its aftermath and measures to help safeguard against them. The findings presented in this report are derived from reponses to a questionnaire sent to individuals representing India's largest public and private insurance companies, both life and non-life. The questionnaire sought the views and opinions of the top management of these companies on various issues ranging from identification of fraud areas, the impact of fraud, areas that needed anti-fraud regulations to methods of fraud detection in the industry. Our report highlights and summarizes the key findings of the survey, which establishes the fact that fighting fraud and mitigating fraud risk are gaining importance for organizations across all sectors and industries. Details: Kolkata, India: Ernst & Young, 2011. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2012 at http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Fraud_in_insurance_on_rise/$FILE/Fraud_in_insurance.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Insurance Fraud (India) Shelf Number: 125038 |
Author: Malviya, Aditya Title: Child Marriage: Robbing Children of Innocence - Good Practices in Preventing Child Marriage, Bihar Summary: Save the Children Sweden’s report “Child Marriage: Robbing Children of Innocence” documents the good practices and challenges in addressing child marriages from the experience of Save the Children India in the State of Bihar. The report highlights key learnings and gives recommendations that would make it possible to reduce child marriage significantly if government, INGOs and civil society organizations undertake appropriate measures and programmes to combat child marriage at national and community level. Details: Kathmandu, Nepal: Save the Children, Regional Office for South and Central Asia, 2010. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2012 at http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.se/rb?q=cmis/browser&id=workspace://SpacesStore/ae933eec-514c-4441-90e0-d0d53cbfc262/1.11 Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Child Marriage Shelf Number: 125083 |
Author: Pradhan, Kanhu Charan Title: Violent Crimes in Megacities Summary: This note presents the situation of violent crimes in Indian megacities (35 megacities with more than ten lakh population in 2001) based on the information published in “Crime in India” by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) . Details: Munich: MPRA Munich Personal RePEc Archive, 2011. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: MPRA Paper No. 35274: Accessed May 3, 2012 at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/35274/1/MPRA_paper_35274.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Cities and Crime Shelf Number: 125140 |
Author: Das, Pushpita Title: Drug Trafficking in India: A Case for Border Security Summary: Proximity to the largest producers of heroin and hashish-the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent [Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran] - has made India's Pborder vulnerable to drug trafficking. Indigenous production of low grade heroin as well as various psychotropic and prescription drugs and their growing demand in the neighbouring countries and international market have added a new dimension to the problem of drug trafficking. Trends and patterns of drug trafficking in the country demonstrate that there is a gradual shift from traditional/natural drugs towards synthetic drugs that are being trafficked. Trafficking of drugs takes place overwhelmingly through land borders followed by sea and air routes. Given the vulnerability of the borders to drug trafficking, India has tried to tackle the problem through the strategy of drug supply and demand reduction, which involves enacting laws, co-operating with voluntary organisations, securing its borders and coasts by increasing surveillance, as well as seeking the active cooperation of its neighbours and the international community. Details: New Delhi: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, 2012. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: IDSA Occasional Paper No. 24: Accessed June 27, 2012 at: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/IDSA_ACaseforBorderSecurity.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Border Security Shelf Number: 125412 |
Author: Niraj, Shekhar Kumar Title: Sustainable Development, Poaching, and Illegal Wildlife Trade in India Summary: Wildlife poaching is directly associated with illegal wildlife trade. Although poaching is recognized as a major threat to wildlife in India, it has not been analyzed quantitatively, because of a lack of data. Thus, the understanding of poaching or illegal wildlife trade and its true implications on conservation has not been considered by policy makers. The deficiency of data on poaching in the public domain also hampered scientific research on poaching. The lack of a scientific approach to analyze poaching creates a gap between reality and an effective solution to reduce its implications on wildlife conservation. Poaching has also been affected by fast economic development in India and the region, which has given rise to increased demand of wildlife. Protected areas, created to conserve wildlife, face pressure from poaching and demographic growth. Economic developments affect poaching and demographic changes and affect conservation. Analyzing this trend at the country and the global level can help predict future scenarios and develop effective strategies to reduce loss to biodiversity. We examined stakeholders’ perspectives on wildlife policy development in India (Part 1) and analyzed poaching and other emerging threats to 3 different protected areas in India (Part 2). This analysis is based on the perceptions of the village communities living inside and on the fringe of the protected areas. We also conducted a temporal and spatial analysis of poaching in India from 1992-2006 (Part 3). This period sees the transformation of Indian economy following an economic liberalization process, which increased the development process. Finally, we analyzed the relationship between growth in the economy and wildlife conservation in India from a historical and statistical perspective (Part 4). This part also develops system feedback loop diagrams to determine possible relationships between variables that are connected to conservation. The relationships are then assessed at the global level to understand the impact of economic growth on wildlife conservation and understand how it influences the endangered mammals and birds. Details: Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona, 2009. 318p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://gradworks.umi.com/3354621.pdf Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 125469 |
Author: Abrahamn, Vinoj Title: The Deteriorating Labour Market Conditions and Crime: An Analysis of Indian States during 2001-2008 Summary: Incidence of crime in India has been mounting at a fast pace , especially during the last decade. Moreover, crime on body seems to be increasing in comparison to crime on property. Economics and Sociology literature on crime attributes labour market as a transmitting institution for crime. This paper is an attempt to understand the issue of crime in India as a socio-economic problem with particular reference to the Indian labour market. I argue that the poor labour market conditions in the Indian economy that has been developing in the recent past may be a prime factor in explaining the spate of rise in crime rates recently. Panel data analysis of Indian states during the period 2001- 2008 show that unemployment and wage inequality are key variables that explains the crime rate in India, especially crime on body. Education similarly seems to reduce property crime rate. Crime also seem to be deterred by an efficient judicial delivery system, however the role of police as a deterrent is ambiguous. Details: Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies, 2011. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: MPRA Paper No. 31387: Accessed July 24, 2012 at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/31387/2/MPRA_paper_31387.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Crime Rates Shelf Number: 125759 |
Author: Small Arms Survey Title: A Heavy Hand: The Use of Force by India’s Police Summary: India has approximately 2.4 million men and women in official policing, and their use of force is regulated both by the laws of the country and by internal rules and procedures. But there is growing consensus within India about the need for police reform. A Heavy Hand: The Use of Force by India’s Police—a new Issue Brief from the Small Arms Survey’s India Armed Violence Assessment project (IAVA)—examines the laws governing police use of force, the situations in which force is employed, the cultural factors that affect policing, lethal violence, and the prospects for effective reform. The Issue Brief’s findings include: Police are not sufficiently trained to deal with violence and challenges to their authority. Their salaries are low, with few perks, which helps foster a culture of corruption. Reported incidents of police firing on civilians rose from 791 in 2004 to 1,421 in 2010. The number of civilians killed in these incidents fell, but reported injuries grew. Indian law grants extraordinary discretionary powers of arrest to police officers. 'Encounter killings' by police—in which faked confrontations are used to justify extra-judiciary killings—are often perceived as an acceptable response to crime or terrorism. Incidents of excessive use of force by police are unlikely to be addressed until major reforms in the criminal justice system are put in place. Details: Geneva: Small Arms Survey, 2012. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: India Armed Violence Assessment, Issue Brief, No. 3: Accessed August 13, 2012 at: http://www.india-ava.org/fileadmin/docs/pubs/IAVA-IB3-A-Heavy-Hand.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Armed Violence (India) Shelf Number: 125996 |
Author: Nag, Diya Title: Police Complaints Authorities Reform Resisted Summary: The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has monitored and reported on Police Complaints Authorities in India, following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Prakash Singh case that ordered their creation in 2006. In 2009, CHRI published its first national-level report on the Authorities, providing information on the legal framework, the number of functioning Authorities, a brief description of inquiry procedures adopted by them, and pointed to gaps in both legislation and practice. CHRI observed that there were functional Authorities in only seven states – Assam, Chandigarh, Goa, Haryana, Kerala, Tripura and Uttarakhand; while fifteen other states had constituted Authorities only on paper, either as provisions within a new state Police Act or in a Government Order. The 2009 report found that the functioning Authorities seriously failed their mandates and suggested numerous recommendations aimed towards strengthening them. The current report is the second national-level report, and focuses on Police Complaints Authorities in India during 2010. It provides a national picture of the functioning of these Authorities and assesses how they fared in their operations, with a strong focus on the handling of complaints. Going a step further from the previous report, this report highlights the accessibility and responsiveness of select Authorities, from the perspective of the complainants. CHRI conducted interviews with complainants in two states where Authorities are well established – Goa and Uttarakhand. The findings and analysis presented here are largely based on the personal experiences of complainants through all the stages of an Authority’s inquiry. This report subsequently examines in depth, the pattern of police misconduct that emerges from an analysis of the complaints received. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2011. 104p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2012 at http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/police/PoliceComplaintsAuthorities_ReformResisted.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Complaints Against the Police (India) Shelf Number: 126160 |
Author: Gupte, Jaideep Title: Households Amidst Urban Riots: The Economic Consequences of Civil Violence in India Summary: The objective of this paper is to uncover the determinants of riot victimization in India. The analysis is based on a unique survey collected by the authors in March-May 2010 in Maharashtra. We adopt a multilevel framework that allows neighborhood and district effects to randomly influence household victimization. The main results are that households that (i) are economically vulnerable, (ii) live in the vicinity of a crime-prone area, and (iii) are not able to rely on community support are considerably more prone to suffer from riots than other households. All else equal, income per capita increases victimization, presumably through an opportunity cost mechanism. We find further that relatively affluent neighborhoods and those characterized by large caste fragmentation are more riot-prone than disfranchised and homogeneous ones. Victimization is more common in neighborhoods with weaker social interactions, but some evidence suggests that weak social interactions may also be a consequence of rioting. Details: Brighton, U.K.: Households in Conflict Network, The Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, 2012. 38p. Source: HiCN Working Paper 126: Internet Resource: Accessed November 3, 2012 at http://www.hicn.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/HiCN-WP-126.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Neighborhoods and Crime (India) Shelf Number: 126871 |
Author: Raza, Rashid H. Title: Illuminating the Blind Spot: A Study on Illegal Trade in Leopard Parts in India (2001-2010) Summary: The Leopard is a widespread species in India. It is protected by national law ( and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, listed inAppendix I). However illegal trade in Leopard body parts (skin, bones, and claws) continues to threaten the survival of the species in the wild. Even though the Leopard is found all across the country there is no reliable estimate of its population. A review of literature regarding population densities of Leopard in Asia indicates that although the species may have a wide geographical range, it is unlikely to occur in relatively high abundance. Leopard-human conflict is a serious problem in India and the subcontinent and is another cause of significant mortality of Leopards. A database of seizures of Leopard body parts in India was compiled from newspaper records, supplemented by records of the State Forest departments for the years 2001-2010. The date and location of seizure, and type and quantity of Leopard parts seized were recorded. No other record of mortality, either natural or due to conflict with people was included. However, it is acknowledged that Leopards killed in conflict may end up in illegal trade. Conflict is a significant cause of mortality of Leopards and its linkages to illegal trade need to be studied in greater detail. During 2001-2010, a total of 420 incidents of seizures of Leopard body parts were reported from 209 localities in 21 out of 35 territories in India (27 States, 7 Union territories and 1 National capital territory of Delhi). Most of the States (20 out of 27) have reported seizure incidents, 123 out of 593 (21%) of districts have reported one or more seizures during the past 10 years. Another key finding is that Leopard skins dominate the illegal market of Leopard body parts: 371 (88.3%) seizure incidents involved only skins. An additional 23 (5.5%) incidents involved skins with other parts such as claws, bones or skulls. Seizures of bones are a very minor fraction whether alone or with other body parts. However, these data only reflect the trade which was detected. In order to estimate the ‘undetected’part of the trade ‘Mark-Recapture open population models*’were used. Panthera pardus Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972) Thus this database exclusively reflects reported incidents of illegal trade of Leopard body parts and probable minimum number of Leopards killed and in illegal trade. These reported seizures account for at least 1127 Leopards poached and in illegal trade. This translates to a recorded seizure of 2.2 Leopards every week. TRAFFIC undertook a study on the illegal trade in Leopard parts in India with an aim to provide, firstly, indicators of the severity of the trade in Leopard parts in India, and secondly, to identify regions where effective and enhanced enforcement measures will help to have a significant impact in curbing this trade. Details: New Delhi: TRAFFIC India, 2012. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 28, 2012 at: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/12_Illuminating_the_Blind_Spot.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 127023 |
Author: Gupte, Jaideep Title: What's Civil About Intergroup Violence? Five Inadequacies of Communal and Ethnic Constructs of Urban Riots Summary: The term ‘communal violence’ is commonly used in the South Asian context to refer to inter-group or ethnic violence. I contend that understanding intergroup violence purely within an inter-community or inter-ethnic framework is inadequate, in that it does not fully capture the processes of perpetration, impacts or mitigation of such violence. I suggests five areas where the categories of ‘communal’ and ‘ethnic’ fall short: in their historical precision, in their scale, in their partial conceptualization of agency, in their ability to engage with the gendered modalities of violence, and in their ability to explain individuals’ motivations for physically perpetrating intergroup violence. The arguments are based on primary data gathered through in-depth interviews with victims, perpetrators and witnesses of incidents of intergroup violence in India, as well as a review of relevant studies of intergroup violence from across the world. The terminology of ‘civil violence’, which expressly accommodates a micro-perspective and awards agency to individuals, is highlighted as a more accurate and appropriate framework to understand violence categorized as ‘communal’ in contemporary India. These arguments also have implications on how we conceptualize the ‘ethnic riot’, and how state and society formulate responses to intergroup violence, elsewhere in the developing world. Details: Brighton, UK: MICROCON: A Micro Level Analysis of Violent Conflict, Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, 2012. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: MICROCON Research Working Paper 62,: Accessed January 22, 2013 at: http://www.microconflict.eu/publications/RWP62_JGupte.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Communal Violence Shelf Number: 127351 |
Author: Menon, Vivek Title: Under Siege: Poaching and Protection of Greater One-Horned Rhinoceroses in India Summary: The report presents information on the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros population in India. It documents the extent of poaching and trade in and use of rhinoceros horn. Details: New Delhi: TRAFFIC India, 1996. 114p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 20, 2013 at: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/Traf-025.pdf Year: 1996 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128054 |
Author: Malik, Iqbal Title: Wildlife Trade in Nilgiri Bio Reserve Summary: Though there have been very many reports on illegal trade, this is the probably the first on Trade in Nilgiri Bio Reserve Area. It is the result of an extensive study conducted at odd hours for Six months. Challenge no word of this report as Vatavaran has photographic proof of the illegal trade in NBR. Details: New Delhi: Vatavaran, 2008. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://re.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/reports-documents/wildlife-trade-nilgiri-bio-reserve Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 128097 |
Author: Misra, Manoj Kumar Title: Enhancing Our Heritage: Improving Protection and Building Capacity of Staff At Kaziranga National Park Summary: The main objective of this study in Kaziranga National Park (Assam) was two fold: 1) Review of protection strategies and suggestion to enhance their effectiveness and 2) Development of a comprehensive capacity building plan for frontline staff in their efforts to prevent wildlife crime, habitat destruction, etc. Details: Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2005. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Technical Report No. 04: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/activities/documents/activity-331-12.pdf Year: 2005 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128100 |
Author: Wright, Belinda Title: Simlipal Tiger Reserve; Assessment of Recent Elephants Poaching and Protection Initiatives Summary: Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) is part of one of the largest contiguous tiger and elephant habitats in the world. With a Biosphere Area of over 5,000 sq km, it is one of the most promising landscapes for tigers and their prey species. After a number of elephant deaths were reported in April and May 2010, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) constituted an independent assessment team on 3rd June 2010. The two-team members proceeded immediately to Simlipal to visit the Tiger Reserve from 6 to 11 June 2010. We made the following observations. ! From the evidence, we confirmed seven elephant deaths, all of which have most likely been killed by poachers. ! In some of the cases the field staff were aware of the elephant deaths but chose not to report them; rather they deliberately attempted to conceal the elephant deaths/poaching incidents, by destroying the evidence. ! At least six of the elephant deaths might never have been exposed had it not been for the local informers and two courageous and determined conservationists from Mayurbhanj District. ! Very little animal presence was noted. We did not see a single tusker (for which Simlipal is renowned) or fresh elephant dung, even though we travelled over 100 km a day, at all hours. ! The Forest Staff appeared to be thoroughly unmotivated and demoralized. ! There have been regular incursions of tribal mass-hunting groups of 100 to 200 people entering the Park for over a year. While we were there, at least three such groups entered the Park on 7, 9, and 11 June 2010. ! Forest staff can only try and persuade the hunters to turn back with “folded hands” since they do not have armed support; all arms have been withdrawn in view of the continuing threat from the Maoists. ! After last year’s concerted attack on the forest infrastructure, many of the protection beat houses in the National Park are yet to be re-occupied. ! Due to a new system of dual jurisdiction, by creation of the post of Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF), the Field Director no longer has control over three DFOs that manage1,555 sq km of the Buffer Zone. ! The Park’s senior management has not exercised tight control and supervision over the field staff due to insufficient visits to the Parks. ! There is little interaction with local tribal communities living inside and on the periphery of the Park thereby leading to distrust and lack of support to the Department. We have detailed 25 recommendations, which we have tried to keep as practical and implementable as possible. They include a strong recommendation to implement the advice of a previous NTCA team that visited Simlipal in August 2009. Our recommendations that are considered to be of “Immediate Priority” are: 1. Action against field staff for concealment of elephant deaths and destruction of evidence; 2. An independent monitoring committee should be formed by NTCA; 3. A wildlife crime intelligence gathering system should be started; 4. Special drive to seize country-made guns; 5. Protection Funds should not be re-allocated; 6. Funds to DFOs for enforcement raids; 7. Vacant Deputy Director and 2 ACF posts to be immediately filled; 8. Park management to exercise greater supervision and control; 9. Confidentiality of wireless messages should be maintained; and 10. Enlist local community support from peripheral areas bordering the Park. Details: National Tiger Conservation Authority, 2010. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://projecttiger.nic.in/whtsnew/Simlipal_Report_June_2010_FINAL2.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128101 |
Author: India. Ministry of Environment and Forests Title: Committee Constituted to Holistically Address the Issue of Poaching in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Report Summary: 1. Biodiversity of Andaman and Nicobar Islands: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are very rich in biodiversity, harbouring unique endemic life forms. The islands have both rich terrestrial as well as marine ecosystems, such as mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds. The marine biodiversity includes marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, dugong; marine turtles; estuarine or salt water crocodile; fishes; prawns and lobsters; corals; sea shells including rare and endangered Trochus species and Giant Clam Shells and numerous other marine life forms including coelenterates and echinoderms etc. 2. Reasons for threat to biodiversity: Economically also, many of the above species are highly valuable and some of them such as sea cucumbers, sea-shells, sharks, marine turtles, salt water crocodiles etc. are under severe pressure of over exploitation from illegal foreign fishing boats and poachers. Historically, these species had been exploited by people from neighbouring countries, mainly due to the low protective cover and low priority accorded to conservation of the marine biodiversity in general by the enforcement agencies of the country. 3. Legal measures for protection of biodiversity in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Several legal measures have been in place for protection of the marine biodiversity of the region. The Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels Act, 1981, Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991 (last amended in 2011), Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, etc. coupled with establishment of 9 National Parks and 96 Wildlife Sanctuaries for a more focused conservation initiative, have all strengthened the enforcement regime in the region. Besides, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has also taken measures for protecting the flora and fauna of the islands. Some of these National Parks are exclusively for the protection of the marine species. These include Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, Rani Jhansi Marine National Park, etc. As on date, an area of 1619.786 sq. kms has been covered under the Protected Area network in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 4. Management of biodiversity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Forest Department-The Wildlife Wing of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration, responsible for the protection of the biodiversity of the islands, is headed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, in the rank of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and has four divisions under his control. In addition to this, there are six territorial Divisions that carry out protection duties outside the designated Protected Area network. Coastal Police- Twenty Coastal Police Stations have also been established on the islands to upgrade regulatory and law enforcement regime in the coastal waters. The Coastal Police Stations are being equipped with latest infrastructural communication and patrolling equipments. Coast Guard: The Coast Guard has been assisting the Forest Department in apprehending the poachers in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as well as along the coast. 5. Issues that require attention: (a) Issue of foreign poachers: Despite the concerted efforts by various departments and agencies, the very availability of rich marine resources attracts foreign poachers to Indian territorial waters. Although, the enforcement agencies routinely apprehend several foreign poachers, it is believed that a large number of them get away undetected. Most of the poachers are habitual offenders and had been in Indian prisons several times. It has been observed that the western part of the Andaman Islands was the most vulnerable to poaching and also that the volume of the poaching has considerably increased over the years inspite of the best efforts by the Administration to contain the problem. Further, it is also believed that the problem of foreign poachers in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has a long history, and there are a large number of ethnic people of Myanmar origin settled in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These people are believed to be often conniving with the poachers. (b) Issue of Trochus and Sea cucumbers: It has been observed that although there was good population of Sea Cucumbers in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, there were contradicting reports of the status of the species as a whole in the country’s waters. Therefore, there is need for carrying out detailed scientific study on the population status of Sea Cucumbers. The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), who has the required wherewithal for carrying out such scientific studies, is being requested for undertaking the study. The report of ZSI would be dovetailed with this report, as soon as the same is received from ZSI. A similar study on Trochus niloticus, would also be taken up. (c) Issue of livelihood: The reduction in forestry operations has reduced the employment opportunities considerably for the local people of islands. It may be added that this sector was one of the biggest local employers for the last five decades. Subsequent ban on certain marine species after their inclusion in the Scheduled lists of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 has also adversely affected the livelihoods of the fishers community in the last decade. Strategy and measures suggested for improvement: In order to reach the desired goal, a three pronged strategy has been suggested which, inter alia, includes tightening and improving the protection regime for conservation of marine resources, taking care of the livelihoods of local fisher folk, both qualitatively and quantitatively so as to increase their stake in conservation of marine biodiversity, and to open a diplomatic channel with the Government of Myanmar to address the issue of ingress of its illegal fishers (poachers) into the waters and shores of A&N Islands with a view to finding a solution to this problem and stop the illegal practice jointly. The report concludes with a number of recommendations to address the various issues. Details: New Delhi: Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2011. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/report-on-andaman-and-nicobar-islands-poaching-issue.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128105 |
Author: India. Tiger Task Force Title: Joining the Dots: The Report of the Tiger Task Force Summary: The Tiger Task Force report begins by placing itself in context (see: The assessment, p 1-20). There is an immediate context to this report: the widely reported and discussed event of the disappearance of tigers in Sariska. There is also a larger context: the discourse and practice of tiger conservation in India. In terms of the immediate context, the Sariska debacle, the Task Force investigated the affair. The report presents the conclusions (see: The Sariska shock, p 14-20). The protection system there has completely collapsed. While officials were busy misreporting the record of tiger numbers, poachers roamed about and cleaned the reserve out. A powerful mining lobby, keen to carry out mining operations in the reserve fringe, is thrilled. Local politicians now want the protected area denotified: “What is there to protect?” they ask. Villagers here regard the tiger, and the park administration, as their common enemy no 1: they live sandwiched between the two, and are bitter about their desperately wretched existence and continued harassment. The park management talks about relocation, but has done little. In the meantime, even the one village that had been moved out has come back into the reserve. There is unease all around. In this situation, protection cannot and does not work. In terms of the larger context (see: Conserving the tiger, p 2-13), the report finds important, but forgotten, moments in the recent history of official conservation planning. The report of the 1972 task force headed by Karan Singh, Project Tiger: a planning proposal for preservation of tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in India, inaugurated the tiger conservation programme in India (and official conservation as well). It is a remarkable blueprint. It gave the programme a promising start. If “people versus parks” — and its inevitable corollary, “people versus tigers” — is one contentious point of the debate around conservation in India today, the report finds extremely sensitive deliberations upon this issue in the past. It is obvious that some, among those that have given direction to official conservation policy, were horribly aware that in India, forests are not unpopulated tracts of wilderness. The 1983 Eliciting public support for wildlife conservation — report of the task force, by a committee headed by Madhavrao Scindia, focuses on the dependence of rural people on forests: “In their precarious existence, enforcement of restriction in wildlife reserves triggers antagonism”. This report wanted development programmes and funds for villages located in the periphery of conservation zones. It calls these zones “islands of conservation”. “If the land surrounding such effort continues to deteriorate in productivity affecting the availability of resources for communities, these islands are bound to succumb one day to the community’s demands”. In the 1990s, a furious storm breaks, reminiscent of today. The tiger is in deep trouble. Project Tiger, India’s flagship conservation programme, is in deep trouble. Conservation itself is in deep trouble. This was an opportunity to change directions. But what emerges is: One, the conservation regime rededicates itself to a command-and-control mode of wildlife preservation. Two, it becomes no longer necessary to refer to or think of “people” while speaking of or planning for conservation. The Sariska debacle is irrevocably because of this direction we chose. It is incumbent upon the Tiger Task Force to look to the future. The Task Force realises that, so far as conservation policy and practice are concerned, any such blueprint must be predicated upon three unavoidable variables (see: A paradigm change, p 21-26). As the report puts it, “The protection of the tiger is inseparable from the protection of the forests it roams in. But the protection of these forests is itself inseparable from the fortunes of people who, in India, inhabit forest areas”. There is the tiger. There is the forest. There are the people, living inside these forests and on the fringes of these forests. Details: New Delhi: Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (Project Tiger), 2006. 217p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 23, 2013 at: http://projecttiger.nic.in/TTF2005/pdf/full_report.pdf Year: 2006 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128109 |
Author: Upadhyay, Sanjay Title: Conserving Protected Areas and Wildlife: A Judicial Journey Summary: The Centre for Environment Law (CEL) – WWF India was formally launched in 1993 and soon developed into an active centre for legal action through out the country. The Bhitarkanika case to protect the Olive Ridleys against an ecologically flawed jetty construction in Kendrapara, Orissa; the Narayan Sarovar Case against the Sanghi Cements Giant to save the Chinkara in the Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary in Gujarat and then an intervention in the Delhi ridge case in the early 90s have put CEL-WWF India at the forefront of fighting legal battles on wildlife conservation. The TRAFFIC India was equally active on fighting legal battles on specific illegal wildlife trade issues. It was around this time that the M.C. Mehta cases on various aspects of environment including river pollution, coastal areas, urban development were also at the peak of its judicial activism. It was then thought1 that a piece meal approach may not be the most appropriate manner to tackle wildlife conservation from the legal perspective. A preliminary research brought out that in most of the National Parks and Sanctuaries, the implementation of provisions as envisaged in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (WLPA) is incomplete and therefore, it would be prudent to approach the Apex Court to ensure that the State Governments which were nodally responsible for managing the Protected Areas (PAs), expedite the process and inform the correct position of the Protected Area management in India. It was also felt that the status quo on this integral process is not benefiting either the conservation objectives or the social objectives. It is on this premise that the Civil Writ Petition No. 337 of 1995 was filed by CEL –WWF India in May, 1995 in the Supreme Court of India for the protection and development of the National Parks and Sanctuaries in India. The main prayer was for directions to the concerned authorities (Central Government, State Governments and the District Collectors) to: a) discharge their statutory functions provided under Sections 19-25 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and b) enquire into and determine the existence, nature and extant of the rights of any persons in or over the land comprised with the limits of the National Parks and Sanctuaries In addition to the above contentions, a number of other ancillary issues pertaining to the preservation and protection of wildlife were also raised by the petitioners subsequently after more than one year later in October, 1996. Although, procedurally this seemed awkward, the additional reliefs sought by the petitioner brought to the fore the issues of Tiger Conservation2, meeting of the Indian Board of Wildlife3 which had not met since eight preceding years, constitution of Wildlife Advisory Boards and nomination of members such as Wildlife Wardens as contemplated under Section 6 of the WLPA, appointment of Honorary Wildlife Wardens in each district in accordance with Section 4 of the WLPA and to take appropriate measures to enforce the recommendations4 mentioned by the petitioner through a survey conducted on 16 Tiger Reserves in the country. It was a strategic move to broad base the petition that further covered the entire gamut of implementation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Whether the strategies worked or not will be clear in the subsequent sections, which analyses the impact of Court orders not only at the national level but also the trends that emerged or are emerging at the States’ level. The analysis does not question the merit of the Court’s observations but attempts to capture the trends as well as make an assessment of the raison de etre’ of the case and whether it had achieved what it set out to do or not as yet! The Court upon hearing the petition admitted the case and issued notices to various State Governments and to the Union of India in February, 1997 5 i.e. two years after the petition was filed. While carefully scrutinizing the case it can be seen how time and again the Court has used several strategies including contempt notices to the Union and the States to adhere to its orders for implementing the relevant provisions of the Act. The current analysis follows two broad patterns. The analysis of orders which have national implications and those which have State implications. The attempt is also to capture the trend that is emerging within each State and the seriousness with which each State has responded on the fast depleting wildlife in the country. Details: New Delhi: Enviro Legal Defence Firm and World Wildlife Fund For Nature, 2009. 289p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 25, 2013 at: http://awsassets.wwfindia.org/downloads/conserving_protected_areas_and_wildlife_1.pdf Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Wildlife Conservation Shelf Number: 128111 |
Author: Rangarajan, Mahesh Title: Gajah: Securing the Future for Elephants in India. The Report of the Elephant Task Force Summary: Securing a future for the elephant in India, its continued survival in the wild and its humane care in captivity constitute a major challenge. They call for drawing on the best in our communities of knowledge and governance. The Task Force is crystal clear on one point. India can secure the future for Gajah and its forest home. It will be a challenge but one we possess the ability to surmount, provided we have the will, demonstrate the wisdom and deploy the means necessary. It is not immediate extinction as much as attrition of living spaces and the tense conditions of the human-elephant encounter on the ground that require redress. As a long lived and sociable animal familiar to all of us since childhood, elephants may seem to require little help. But the shrinking of habitat and the selective killing off of tuskers in key populations by ivory poachers are cause for grave concern. Elephants in captivity are close to our hearts but there are times standards fall short of the humane treatment and welfare they are surely entitled to. Their care givers, Mahouts and veterinary doctors too need recognition and better amenities. Project Elephant has, since 1992, done much commendable work. But its successes notwithstanding, it needs more than an accretion of resources. Elephant habitats are under immense pressure. Rapid economic expansion and development pressures require far more attention to land use plans from an ecological perspective. New knowledge needs to be brought to bear in population and habitat assessment. Above all, systems of mitigation to alleviate human-elephant conflict need to re-energise and be made much more accountable. To accomplish this requires administrative overhaul and better machinery. The Task Force strongly favours new institutions and mechanisms to achieve these wider objectives. We need a new National Elephant Conservation Authority (NECA) on the lines of the structure for tiger conservation. Nestled with it will be a new Consortium of Elephant Research and Estimation (CERE) who will develop and apply the best methods for enumeration. Transparency of methods and results will uphold standards and inculcate a scientific temper. Along with similar changes at the state level, there will be a new category of Elephant Landscapes. These, ten in number will include the existing and proposed 32 Elephant Reserves. While no new reserves are proposed, there will be a consolidation of the existing reserves. Over 40 per cent of the Elephant Reserves is not under Protected Area or government forest. The Task Force favours Ecologically Sensitive Area status under the Environment Protection Act to regulate activity that may be ecologically negative. Elephant Corridors that link critical populations had already been identified prior to the Task Force by scientists, administrators and reputed voluntary organizations. We have now ranked the Elephant Corridors according to priority and feasibility for action. Our main emphasis is on innovative methods to secure habitats beyond the Protected Areas. These could include Community or Conservation Reserves, Ecosystem Services payments and conservation easements. Protected Area expansion can also be considered but so too can other measures. These will forge partnerships and reinforce alliances for conservation at ground level. It is vital to stress that elephant conservation is about combining quality of land use. While securing viable habitats, there has to be accommodation in other zones, to enable wildlife and people to be compatible. The increased financial outlay of Rs. 600 crore over the 12th Five Year Plan period has sound logic to back it up. A third of the allocation will be to secure vital habitats that serve as links between populations that may be cut off. Rather than land acquisition which is often conflict prone, we propose a range of other instruments from conservation easements to Community Reserves. Similarly, human-elephant conflict requires urgent redress, and not only for making good loss of crops or homes. It requires preventive measures that can be monitored, verified and held accountable. One sixth of resources asked for are earmarked for conflict issues. The Task Force favours a permanent and continuing mission in high conflict zones, with innovative methods to alleviate tragic loss of life of both humans and animals. Conflict Management Task Forces can commence work in known zones of high conflict. These will include experienced foresters, scientists, wildlife vets, and social scientists. Elephant human conflict is a wider phenomenon than these foci of high conflict. Mandatory taluka-level hearings at different times in the sowing and harvesting season in all conflict areas can bring together affected citizens, officials and elected representatives. Given the Elephant Reserves cover 65,000 square kilometres and that this is a vital input into larger land use planning, the proposed outlay is necessary and justifiable. The Task Force appreciates need for transparency. 50 Crores is for research, monitoring and study vital for sound policy. It has suggested specific ways to bring elected representatives and those with domain knowledge in close and continuing contact with local citizens through appropriate forum. Elephant Reserve Committees will enable redress, consultation and transparency. Bringing science, administration and applied social science together is the key. Protection in the wild with conflict management to help both humans and elephants will demand Herculean effort. So will upgrading care of elephants in captivity, with Citizens Elephant Welfare Committees. Assuring Gajah a future for tomorrow will require resources today, whether living space or funds, the application of the best of technical and scientific knowledge or the fashioning of responses that makes partners of citizens who live in proximity with the species. science with humane administration. A mobile mega herbivore, Elephas maximus is often in sharp indirect or direct conflict with our own patterns Details: Delhi: Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2010. 187p. Source: Internet Resource: Accesssed March 25, 2013 at: http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/ETF_REPORT_FINAL.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128112 |
Author: India. Ministry of Environment and Forests (Project Tiger) Title: Evaluation Reports of Tiger Reserves in India Summary: Project Tiger was launched in 1973, covering 9 Tiger Reserves. Today there are 28 reserves spread over 17 States. The project has saved the endangered tiger from extinction by fostering a path of recovery. Over the years, the increase in biotic pressure on account of firewood, pasture, and timber along with diverse land uses in the forested landscape have adversely affected the tiger bearing forests. The illegal international demands for the body parts of tiger have increased the pressure of poaching. Despite these limitations, the ecological status of Tiger Reserves is relatively better and harbour source populations of tiger, copredators and prey animals. Project Tiger is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to promote tiger conservation in the designated Tiger Reserves, considering its significance which transcend State boundaries. Traditionally, management of forests and wildlife is the responsibility of States. The field implementation of the project, protection and management in the designated reserves is done by project States, which also provide the matching grant to recurring items of expenditure, field staff / officers and their salaries. The Project Tiger Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Forests is mandated with the task of providing technical guidance, funding support and overall coordination. The achievement of physical and financial targets under the project is monitored through utilization certificates received from States, apart from supervisory visits and review. However, monitoring the “impact” of investment vis-à-vis the goals of the project necessitated a more systematic approach by independent experts, with prescribed parameters. It should be appreciated that the Project Tiger is a holistic, ecosystem project where most of the results are intangible, not falling in the category of “target driven” projects. All of the 28 Tiger Reserves were evaluated. The evaluation report of individual Tiger Reserves are presented in this report along with the 'Results at a Glance' in the form of graphics. Details: New Delhi: Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2006 244p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 25, 2013 at: http://projecttiger.nic.in/Report-2_EvaluationReportsofTRinIndia.pdf Year: 2006 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128113 |
Author: Choudhury, Sujoy Title: Predator Alert: Attacks on humans by leopards and Asiatic black bear in the Kashmir valley - Analysis of case studies and spatial patterns of elevated conflict Summary: The sudden increase in human-wild animal conflict in Jammu and Kashmir has caused immense loss to human life and property which has translated into a public outcry. The government on its part has been concerned and instituted a study conducted jointly by the Wildlife Trust of India and the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu and Kashmir. The purpose of this study was to suggest measures which could be employed to reduce this conflict. The study was mainly centered in the Kashmir valley although surveys were also conducted in the Poonch- Rajouri region of Jammu. Over 200 victims were interviewed and over a hundred locations visited and inspected. The purpose of this exercise was an attempt to understand the underlying causes of this conflict and then suggest prescriptions for its mitigation. 1. The data suggested a seasonal pattern in attacks with bear attacks appearing more in autumn, coinciding with the fruit ripening season while leopard attacks were more common in the winter-spring seasons. Most attacks occurred in daylight hours. 2. Most current attacks by bear occurred in agricultural fields (including orchards) while 52% of all leopard attacks occurred close to habitations. 3. The majority of bear attacks occurred in the southeast of the valley (Tral and Khrew) with some attacks occurring in Kulgam area also. Leopard attacks are higher in concentration in the Kupwara, Handawara areas (north Kashmir) with some dispersed in Khrew-Khonmoh and Shangus areas also. 4. The bear conflict areas were significantly correlated to patch density, total edge length and the juxtaposition of patches of forests. In case of leopards, strong positive associations were found with mean temperatures and annual precipitation, and a lower mean distance to forest edges. The report made the following recommendations: ØIt is also proposed to re-align the current compensatory mechanism. As a first step, it is suggested that the term 'compensation' be dropped in favor of 'ex gratia payments'. A floating pool of funds should be made available at the level of the Wildlife Warden from which immediate payment of Rs.5,000/- to the victim/next-of-kin should be made. Inter-sectoral cooperation from the State's Department of Health is suggested, such that the victim of the attack need not spend the ex gratia payment on treatment. To prevent the considerable social opportunity costs often borne by victims who have been permanently disabled, it is suggested that mechanisms for their rehabilitation be developed in consultation with other Government Departments (e.g. the Department of Social Welfare) and the non-government sector. ØAwareness programs, targeted at conflict mitigation need to be conducted at all levels – from community levels at the grassroots, through frontline staff and higher echelons of the DWLP and Forest Department. Sensitization programs at all levels targeting decision makers, the legislature, bureaucracy, the Police and Security Forces need to be conducted. Training in trapping and tranquilization techniques, research and monitoring (pug mark, signs, scrapes recognition etc), and on data entry, analysis and reporting need to be introduced at all levels of the DWLP and FD. The Police and the Civil Administration can also play a significant role in helping to manage conflict, and their active participation should be sought. They should be encouraged to attend training programs on dealing with conflict situations. ØThe establishment of a Central Conflict Mitigation Command Center (CMCC) to facilitate the 24/7 availability of a telephone number which communities can call to report any incident involving wildlife (sighting, crop raiding, livestock lifting or attacks on people) would form the first step in the process. o The development of community-level Primary Reaction Teams (PRTs) should be encour a ged, compr i s ing of e i t he r paid/volunteer local members whose primary responsibilities would include isolation of animals involved in conflict and more importantly, in crowd control, to ensure that local communities do not attempt to tackle dangerous animals without supervision. o The creation of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to deal with conflict is essential, requiring both training and investment in specialized equipment. separate RRTs be c re a t ed should b e e s t a b l i shed a t Divisional/Regional levels to deal with distinct but complimentary aspects of conflict management. ØAs the majority of incidents recorded have occurred outside of Protected Area jurisdictions, the DWLP is already at a considerable disadvantage - the primary felt need is thus to improve the manpower resources available to the DWLP. Poor mobility and communications facilities available to the frontline staff which hampers prompt response to conflict incidents should be addressed at the earliest. At Regional level, mobile animal intervention vans, capable of transporting animals, should be made immediately available. One Wildlife Veterinary officer should also be appointed to each region Active involvement of the frontline staff of the Territorial Forest Department, Social Forestry Department, SMC Department and other Government agencies would go a long way which calls for both inter-sectoral cooperation, as well as the need for awareness and training programs for frontline staff beyond just the DWLP. ØIt is critical that the DWLP establish a monitoring and evaluation system. Such a system will help in terms of conservation management where decisions on the fate of individual animals cannot be taken without a thorough understanding of factors like the density, distribution and dynamics of the surrounding population. There are three distinct means of collecting, processing and analyzing the data necessary for detailed research into these issues: o develop and maintain capacity of the DWLP and Forest Department; o establish linkages with local educational/ research establishments; and o contract the work to agencies external to the State. ØLong-term measures that should also be considered include habitat improvements/ restoration. However, these would need to be carefully considered as any improvement should only be applied in areas where populations of the carnivore in question can be safely augmented rather than by random application. Details: Uttar Pradesh, India: Wildlife Trust of India, 2008. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 26, 2013 at: http://199.79.62.14/~wtior33y/publications/predator-alert.pdf Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Asiatic Black Bear Shelf Number: 128144 |
Author: Barlow, Adam C.D. Title: The Sundarbans Tiger: Adaptation, Population Status, and Conflict Management Summary: The Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh is the only mangrove in the world where tigers still live. The Sundarbans is of relatively recent origin and has gone through substantial changes over time, driven by sea level changes, sedimentation, neotectonics, climate change, and human use. The area is of great economic value, provides essential ecosystem services, and is deeply embedded in the culture of the region. The Sundarbans has been under various forms of management for about 2,000 years, and is classified as a Tiger Conservation Landscape of Global Priority. Little is known about the Sundarbans tigers, which are threatened by habitat destruction, prey depletion, and direct tiger loss. This goal of this study was to increase understanding of tiger evolution, population status, and human-tiger conflict. Skulls and body weights of Sundarbans tigers were found to be distinct from other subspecies, indicating that they may have adapted to the unique conditions of the mangrove habitat. Female home ranges, recorded using Global Positioning System collars, were some of the smallest recorded for tigers, indicating that the Bangladesh Sundarbans could have one of the highest densities and largest populations of tigers anywhere in the world. A survey based on tiger track frequency along creek banks in the Bangladesh Sundarbans showed that tigers are still present throughout the landscape, but that abundance is variable. A monitoring program based on this technique has a reasonable power to detect future change in tiger abundance. A review of human-tiger conflict data showed that the number of tiger and human deaths has declined in recent decades. A management framework was developed to support activity selection for the mitigation of human-carnivore conflict, and was applied to human-tiger conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. Collaring problem tigers and creating teams to respond to tiger attacks were identified as the most cost-effective means to reducing the conflict. The monitoring program allows managers to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation strategies. The activity selection framework supports decision-making for the mitigation of human-carnivore conflict. This study highlights the Sundarbans as a high priority area for tiger conservation, and the information collected has been used to help create a national tiger action plan. Details: Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 2009. 205p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 27, 2013 at: http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/barlow_2009_phd.pdf Year: 2009 Country: India Keywords: Human-Animal Conflict Shelf Number: 128150 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: State of Juvenile Justice in Mizoram Summary: Children constitute 17.34 per cent of Mizoram’s total population. Mizoram may be a small state in terms of population and area, but the percentage of both child abuse and crimes committed by juveniles is quite high. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India in its “Study on Child Abuse: INDIA 2007” ranked Mizoram second in child abuse amongst the 13 states of India covered under the study. The study found that “in four of these states, the percentage of physical abuse was alarmingly high, above 80%. These states were Assam (84.65%), Mizoram (84.64%), Delhi (83.12%) and Uttar Pradesh (82.77%).” A “Study of Child Abuse in Mizoram” prepared by the Social Welfare Department and Aizawl-based NGO, Human Rights & Law Network (HLRN) on 27 October 2012 revealed that children are not safe anywhere in the state as most cases of child sexual abuse were committed by relatives, friends and teachers of the victims. The study revealed that Mizoram recorded 630 cases of child sexual abuse during the period of 2003 to 2009. Of these, 248 cases were registered by the Criminal Investigation Department of Mizoram Police, 240 cases by district police stations, 124 cases by the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and 18 cases by the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl, Mizoram’s apex women body. Juvenile delinquency equally remains high. During the last decade from 2002 to 2011, the National Crime Records Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs recorded a total of 1,699 cases of “juvenile delinquency” in Mizoram. These include 1,258 cases registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 441 cases under the Special and Local Laws (SLL) in Mizoram. According to official records, 89 cases of child abuse and 35 cases of juvenile crimes were registered in the state during January to March 2012. This included 76 cases of physical abuse and 13 cases of sexual abuse against minors registered by the Social Welfare Department, and 35 cases of juvenile crimes recorded by the Juvenile Justice Boards. Yet, Mizoram has failed to show interest in the proper implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2000 (amended in 2006) [hereinafter referred to as “JJ (C&PC) Act”]. Although the JJ(C&PC) Act has been enacted more than a decade ago, the statutory support services namely the Juvenile Justice Boards and the Child Welfare Committees in Mizoram have been set up in all the eight districts only during 2010-11. Details: New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2013. 83p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/JJ-Mizoram-2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Juvenile Delinquency Shelf Number: 128442 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: Assam: The State of Juvenile Justice Summary: The State of Assam has been consistently ranking top in juvenile delinquency among the eight north eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. In 2011, Assam topped the list with 405 cases (402 of IPC1 crimes and 3 SLL2 crimes), followed by Meghalaya with 98 IPC crimes, Arunachal Pradesh with 78 IPC crimes, Tripura with 73 IPC crimes, Sikkim with 63 IPC crimes, and Mizoram with 58 IPC crimes. Figures of Manipur were not available in the 2011 NCRB report. At the same time, Assam also topped the list of States in India as per the ‘Study on Child Abuse India 2007’ carried out in 13 states by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India. Assam with 84.65% had the highest prevalence of physical abuse of children who faced one or more forms of physical abuse. While 56.37% children in institutions across the country were subjected to physical abuse by staff members of the institutions, in Assam the study reported 90.20% of physical abuse of children in institutional care homes i.e. juvenile homes. Assam with 57.27% had the highest percentage of sexual abuse of those children who faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. The administration of juvenile justice remains equally deplorable. There is acute shortage of homes for juveniles in conflict with the law as well as children in need of care and protection. Assam with 27 districts is the second largest but the most populated state in the north east India but there are only 4 Observation Homes and 3 Children Homes run by the state. These homes are confined to Kamrup, Nagaon and Jorhat district while the shelter homes run by NGOs are located in Guwahati. While the Jorhat Observation Home set up in 1987 caters to over 11 districts — Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sivasagar, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Udalguri and Sonitpur. Trafficking prone districts like Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Bongaigaon etc do not have any home. Assam’s negligence of juvenile justice is astounding. It failed to set up 7 new Open Shelters during 2011 despite availability of funds under the ICPS! Because of this failure the PAB declined to accept the request for grants for 3 existing Open Shelters at the 45th PAB meeting on 11th July 2012 under the ICPS. Instead, the PAB advised Assam to submit separate proposal for additional Open Shelters based on the findings/recommendations of the survey on street children that it had carried across Assam through Jayaprakash Institute of Social Change, a Kolkata based technical resource agency. The Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) constituted in all 27 districts of the state remain highly non-functional. Out of the 596 cases registered in 18 districts of Assam during 1st January 2011-31st December 2011, 347 cases were pending. The State Child Protection Society (SCPS), Assam failed to specifically provide the total number of reviews done by the State Government on the pendency of cases before each of the CWCs since their constitution. The SCPS only stated that State level review is being done from time to time. Assam has constituted Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in all 27 districts of Assam9 but their functioning remains seriously problematic. At the latest i.e. the 45th Project Approval Board (PAB) Meeting under Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) held on 11th July 2012, the PAB expressed concern about the high pendency (1,635) at the JJB and suggested to increasing the sittings of the JJBs. Information received under the RTI revealed that percentage of pendency of cases before the JJBs range from minimum 33.3% in Udalguri district to maximum of 100% in Dhemaji and Morigaon district followed by 90.2% in Goalpara district and 79.3% in Darrang district and requires serious consideration. The problem is compounded by the lack of review of the pendency of cases of the JJBs by the Chief Judicial Magistrate or CMM as required under section 14(2) of the JJ (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2006. Replies received from JJBs under the RTI stated that not a single review of the pendency of cases before the JJBs has been conducted by the CMM or CJM in Kokrajhar district; Dibrugarh district; Darrang district; Lakhimpur district; Udalguri district; Dhubri district; Goalpara district; Barpeta district; Golaghat district; Morigaon district; Chirang district; Dhemaji district and Nagaon district from date of their constitution till 30th March 2012. It has been observed that there is complete lack of enforcement of penal provisions in the JJ(C&P) Act, 2000 (as amended in 2006) in Assam. Sections 23-27 of the JJ(C&P) Act, 2000 provides for protections to Juvenile in the form of penalties and punishments to perpetrators accused of cruelty and exploitation against the juvenile or child. Information obtained by ACHR under the RTI Act, 2005 revealed that none of these protective provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act has been enforced in most districts of Assam. Not a single case under any of the above provisions of the JJ (C&P) Act, 2000 (as amended in 200) has been registered in these districts. Details: New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2012. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/JJ-Assam-2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Child Protection Shelf Number: 128493 |
Author: Ahmed, Abrar Title: Live Bird Trade in Northern India Summary: In 1991, trade in live birds in India was totally banned in India. However, illegal activities have continued and it is alarming indeed that several endangered bird species are found in trade. TRAFFIC-India was set up in 1992. One of its priorities has been to undertake a countrywide survey of the bird trade in India and examine the ramification of the legal ban. This report is part of the detailed countrywide study. It accounts for more than 300 species, including some exotics, in trade. Details: New Delhi: TRAFFIC-India, 1997. 113p. Source: Accessed April 25, 2013 at: http://www.traffic.org/birds/ Year: 1997 Country: India Keywords: Birds Shelf Number: 128499 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: India’s Hell Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes Summary: Sexual offences against children in India have reached an epidemic proportion and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) is unlikely to be able to address the menace unless the Government of India and the State Governments take effective measures for proper implementation of the same. A total of 48,338 child rape cases was recorded from 2001 to 2011. These include 7,112 cases in 2011; 5,484 cases in 2010; 5,368 cases in 2009; 5,446 cases in 2008; 5,045 cases in 2007; 4,721 cases during 2006; 4,026 cases during 2005; 3,542 during 2004; 2949 cases during 2003, 2,532 cases during 2002 and 2,113 cases during 2001.1 The registration of cases of child rape have been consistently increasing and India saw an increase of 336% of child rape cases from 2001 (2,113 cases) to 2011 (7,112 cases). These are only the tip of the iceberg as the large majority of the cases of child rape are not reported to the police while children regularly become victims of other forms of sexual assault too. Many of the child rape cases take place in juvenile justice homes2 i.e. observation home, special home, or children’s home or shelter home set up, certified or recognized and registered respectively under sections 8, 9, 34, sub-section (3) of section 34 and section 37 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act [JJ(C&P) C Act]. At the end of financial year 2011-2012, about 733 juvenile justice homes in India had received grants under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It will not be an understatement to state that juvenile justice homes, established to provide care and protection as well as re-integration, rehabilitation and restoration of the juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, have become India’s hell holes where inmates are subjected to sexual assault and exploitation, torture and ill treatment apart from being forced to live in inhuman conditions. The girls remain the most vulnerable. It matters little whether the juvenile justice homes are situated in the capital Delhi or in the mofussil towns. This report highlights 39 emblematic cases of systematic and often repeated sexual assault on children in juvenile justice homes. Out of the 39 cases, 11 cases were reported from government-run juvenile justice homes such as observation homes, children homes, shelter homes and orphanages, while in one case a CWC member was accused of sexual harassment during counseling sessions. The remaining 27 cases were reported from privately/NGO run juvenile justice homes such as shelter homes, orphanages, children homes, destitute homes, etc. Majority of privately/NGO run homes are not registered under Section 34(3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (as amended in 2006) which provides that “Without prejudice to anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, all institutions, whether State Government run or those run by voluntary organisations for children in need of care and protection shall, within a period of six months from the date of commencement of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2006, be registered under this Act in such manner as may be prescribed.” In the case of government-run juvenile justice homes, the perpetrators were staffs including the caretakers, security guards, cooks and other Class IV employees, and the senior inmates. In two cases, the sexual abuses were committed by the senior inmates in collusion with the staff. With respect to the privately/NGO-run juvenile justice homes, the perpetrators include managers/directors/owners/founders and their relatives and friends, staff members such as caretakers, wardens, cooks, drivers, security guards, gatekeepers, senior inmates and outsiders including security forces. Out of the 27 cases in privately/NGO-run homes, inmates were responsible for the offences in five cases and out of these, in one case offence was committed in collusion with the staff. In most cases, sexual assault in the juvenile justice homes continues for a long period as the victims are not able to protest and suffer silently in the absence of any inspection by the authorities under the JJ(C&PC) Act. While authorities are the main predators, the absence of separate facilities, in many cases for boys and girls, and in most cases as per age i.e. for boys and girls up to 12 years, 13-15 years and 16 years and above as provided under Rule 40 of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Rules 2007 facilitates sexual assault on the minor inmates by the senior inmates. The sexual assault on children the juvenile justice homes continues unabated as the Government of India i.e. the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the State Governments have failed to implement the JJ(C&PC)Act in letter and spirit. It failed to address four critical areas indispensable for addressing child sexual abuse in juvenile justice institutions i.e. functional Inspection Committees, registration of all juvenile justice homes, effective and functional Child Welfare Committees and separation of inmates on the basis of the nature of the offences, sex and age. Details: New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2013. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/IndiasHellHoles2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Child Protection Shelf Number: 128667 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: Nobody’s Children: Juveniles of Conflict Affected Districts of India Summary: In the wake of the gruesome rape of a young woman on 16th December 2012 in Delhi, a heated debate has been raging at national level with respect to lowering the age of juveniles to 16 years. However, there are 184 districts (58 districts notified as “disturbed” under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and 106 districts declared as Left Wing Extremism affected, the edifice of juvenile justice do not exist. In 140 out of the 184 districts i.e. 76% of the total conflict afflicted districts do not have Observation Homes and Special Homes implying that juveniles who are taken into custody are kept in police lock up or camps of the army and para-military forces in clear violation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 [JJ(C&PC) Act] and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Juvenile Justice Boards exist only paper as funds are siphoned off. In the meanwhile, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, and sexual assault on the girls continue unabated. Details: New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2013. 83p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 6, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/JJ-Nobodys_Children2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Child Maltreatment Shelf Number: 128668 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: The Brus of Mizoram: Unequal, Unwanted and Unwelcome. A fact finding report on exodus of the Brus in November 2009 Summary: From 13 to 17 November 2009, about 500 houses in 11 villages belonging to the indigenous Bru minorities, also known as Reangs, were burnt down by persons whom the officials of the State government of Mizoram termed as “miscreants” and “anti-social elements”. The attacks were carried out in retaliation of the murder of a Mizo youth identified as Mr Zarzokima (17 years) in the morning of 13 November 2009 by alleged Bru Revolutionary Union (BRU) cadres at Bungthuam village under Lokicherra police station in Mamit district. On 20 November 2009, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) condemned the violence against the minority Brus. On 22 November 2009, Mizoram Home Minister Mr R Lalzirliana called a press conference to refute the allegations of ACHR and stated that “ACHR representatives are most welcome to come to Mizoram and see the facts and ground realities by themselves.” On 1st December 2009, the State of Mizoram accepted the proposal of ACHR to allow its team to visit Mizoram and agreed to provide adequate security. The Terms of Reference of the Fact Finding Team are the following: 1. Investigate the causes of the displacement of the Brus in November 2009; 2. Examine the scale of destruction/damages/properties lost since November 2009; 3. Examine the scale of displacement and efforts of relief and rehabilitation of those displaced in November 2009; 4. Examine the responsibility of the State (government) to protect and discharge constitutional responsibilities; 5. Examine the efforts of resolving the Bru crisis since 1997; 6. Examine the respect for the directions of the judicial and quasi-judicial bodies; and 7. Provide the findings along with appropriate recommendations. Details: New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2010. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 6, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/BRUS2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Human Rights Abuses (India) Shelf Number: 128669 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: India’s Child Soldiers: Government defends officially designated terror groups’ record on the recruitment of child soldiers before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Summary: This report is the first comprehensive report on the recruitment and involvement of children in India’s burgeoning internal armed conflicts which currently afflicts 197 out of 640 districts. It has been prepared for submission as a shadow report to the Periodic Report of the Government of India on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. India had submitted its Periodic Report in 2011 and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is scheduled to consider it during its 66th pre-sessional working group to be held in Geneva from 7-11 October 2013. Apart from the field research, this report has been prepared based on the “Technical Seminar on Preparation of the Shadow Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict” organised by Asian Centre for Human Rights on 23-24 March 2013 in New Delhi. The participants included mainly activists from the conflict affected areas and their names are being kept confidential as disclosure may put them at risk of reprisals from the armed opposition groups (AOGs) which have been recruiting children. This report also includes India’s periodic report, proceedings before the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on recruitment of children as boy orderlies under the Madhya Pradesh Police Regulation, India’s surrender and rehabilitation policies on the AOGs, and finally, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict for awareness raising in India. Details: New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2013. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 30, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/JJ-IndiasChildSoldiers2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Child Protection Shelf Number: 128857 |
Author: Sahni, Rohini Title: Sex Work and its Linkages with Informal Labour Markets in India Summary: Based on the results of the First Pan India Survey of Female Sex Workers (n=3000), this paper positions sex work within the broader spectrum of informal labour markets that women engage with in India. It puts forth an important dimension missing so far in sex work studies in India – of sex workers with prior or simultaneous labour market work experience. Informal labour markets act as important sites/junctures linking poverty with sex work. For a substantial proportion of respondents, sex work was not their first experience of paid work. In the face of poverty and an early quest for livelihoods, they were pushed into informal labour activities, characterised by low, sticky wages and imminent possibilities of abuse. Placed in this context, their later entry into sex work emerges with a strong economic rationale and agency, as a deliberate, calculated choice offering higher incomes. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2013. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Working Paper Volume 2013, No. 416: Accessed July 6, 2013 at: http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/Wp416.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Poverty Shelf Number: 126264 |
Author: Rodgers, Dennis Title: Understanding the Tipping Point of Urban Conflict: The Case of Patna, India Summary: This report synthesizes the results of research into the dynamics of urban violence in Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar. It contributes to a broader comparative research project on “Understanding the Tipping Point of Urban Conflict: Violence, Cities, and Poverty Reduction in the Developing World”, funded by a grant from the ESRC/DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International Development, and based at the University of Manchester, UK. The “Urban Tipping Point” (UTP) project is made up of four city case studies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America: Nairobi in Kenya, Dili in Timor Leste, Patna in India, and Santiago in Chile. These cities were chosen partly because the broader existing literature on urban violence suggests that it is a phenomenon that can be linked to the presence of certain specific factors in cities. In particular, high levels of persistent urban poverty, youth bulges, political exclusion, and gender-based insecurity have all been widely put forward as such factors in recent years, and the four cities chosen for the UTP study are each paradigmatically associated with one of these factors – Nairobi with political exclusion, Dili with youth bulges, Patna with poverty, and Santiago with gender-based insecurity. At the same time, the four cities were also chosen because their levels of violence vary significantly, with Nairobi and Dili displaying high levels of violence, Santiago reporting high levels of violence against women within the context of generally low levels of violence, while Patna is reputed to have witnessed a significant decline in violence. This mix of fully and partially positive and negative cases was deemed ideal to explore the multiple ways in which a given factor might or might not lead to violence. This report comprises four sections. The first provides a brief overview of the general UTP conceptual framework, establishing the basic research premises and explaining how Patna fits as a case study within the broader project. The second section is a “city profile” offering basic background information concerning Patna’s historical, spatial, demographic, social, economic, and political dynamics. It also offers an overview of the city’s violence trends, focusing specifically on crime, and drawing on media reports as well as official government and Patna Police statistics. The third section details the results of local-level mixed qualitative and quantitative primary research carried out in four different slums in Patna between April and July 2011. It begins by laying out the logic of case study selection within the city, as well as the general methodological approach adopted. Background information on the four research sites selected is then provided, followed by a general consideration of key trends concerning the dynamics of conflict and violence in Patna. Details: Manchester, UK: Urban Tipping Point, University of Manchester, 2012. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper #5: Accessed July 10, 2013 at: http://www.urbantippingpoint.org/documents/Working%20Papers/WP5_Patna.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Poverty Shelf Number: 129350 |
Author: Banerjee, Paramita Title: Where Have All the Flowers Gone? An Evidence-Based Research Into Sex Trafficking of Girls Summary: Is human trafficking an issue of crime or development? Most would argue – both. Domestic and international legal instruments define it as a trans-national organised crime, in recognition of the complex criminal nexus that is involved in profiteering from it. Many argue that defining trafficking as a crime alone is a blinkered approach, whereby the context of victims of trafficking, context of socio-economic and political forces that creates vulnerability for victims are ignored, reparation is substituted by prosecution alone. And therefore, rather than welfare, policing has become the centre-stage of action. The focus on the developmental context and responsive welfare measures has taken a backseat. This research draws its learnings from the implementation of an anti-trafficking case management programme – the objectives of which are to identify cases of children disconnected from their families and assist families to recover traces of their missing children. This programme shows that if the assistance begins from the source areas/ victims’ homes, then victims are often recovered even before they are sold off into brothels; traffickers in the source areas (first procurers) can be arrested and evidence from destination points can be used to strengthen the case against the first procurers. And this has a significant impact on prevention – because the crime gets visibilised to the community at large. But, project implementation experiences also showed that survivors’ contexts (family, community and the context of rural India at large) were desperate and gloomy. And there is very little attention paid to this context – so, even after all the ‘assistance’ of recovering prostituted girls and women, the context they were returning to raises serious questions in the wisdom of survivors returning to situations of deprivation and abuse. And therefore, it seemed necessary to learn, from these experiences, more closely, more in detail, on what is not working, what interventions seem to create dents in the system and could be scaled up and learn, from the researchers’ perspectives, what are the questions that are to be asked for its answers to be found. This research, in its present form, should be useful for development practitioners at national and international levels, researchers and academics and policy makers and influencers. In particular, this research should influence welfare policies targeting the poor in India, adolescents and children in particular, with a bias towards girls and women. Details: West Bengal, India: Sanjog, 2010. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 13, 2013 at: http://lastradainternational.org/lsidocs/where%20have%20all%20the%20flowers%20gone.pdf Year: 2010 Country: India Keywords: Child Pornography Shelf Number: 129395 |
Author: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: The State of Death Penalty in India 2013: Discriminatory treatment amongst the death row convicts Summary: Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) opposes death penalty by any State and for any crime. The execution of Afzal Guru who was convicted for the 13th December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament at Tihar Jail, New Delhi on 9th February 2013 has exposed the discriminatory acts of the Government of India with respect to the treatment of death-row convicts. The circumvention of the Prison Manual by the Ministry of Home Affairs by the effective failure to inform the family members prior to the execution and subsequent imposition of curfew and ban on the right to freedom of association and assembly in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir since 9th February 2013 once again call for abolition of death penalty in India. As ACHR goes to the press, President Pranab Mukhejee has rejected mercy petitions pending of four accused namely Gnanprakasham, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran who were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in January 2004 in connection with the killing of 21 policemen in a landmine blast at Palar in Karnataka in 1993. These convicts were given life imprisonment but the government had moved the Supreme Court, which awarded them the death sentence. It appears that the Government of India in its attempt to address political fallout of the botched up execution of Afzal Guru and the expressed position of the members of the United Progressive Alliance government on death penalty in certain cases will carry out further executions of death row convicts not connected with political sensitivities. According to the National Crimes Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, a total of 1,455 convicts or an average of 132.27 convicts per year were given death penalty during 2001 to 2011. This also implies that on average one convict is awarded death penalty in less than every third day in India. During this period, the highest number of death penalty has been imposed in Uttar Pradesh (370) followed by Bihar (132), Maharashtra (125), Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (95 each), Madhya Pradesh (87), Jharkhand (81), West Bengal (79), Delhi (71), Gujarat (57), Rajasthan (38), Kerala (34), Odisha (33), Haryana (31) etc. During the same period i.e. 2001 to 2011, sentences for 4,321 convicts were commuted from death penalty to life imprisonment. This clearly indicates that thousands of convicts remain on death row. The highest number of capital punishment commuted to life imprisonment was in Delhi (2462), Uttar Pradesh (458), Bihar (343), Jharkhand (300), Maharashtra (175), West Bengal (98), Assam (97), Odisha (68), Madhya Pradesh (62), Uttaranchal (46), Rajasthan (33), Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Chhattisgarh (24 each), Haryana and Kerala (23 each), Jammu and Kashmir (18) etc. Asian Centre for Human Rights urges the Government of India to abolish death penalty, among others, for the following reasons: First, there is no scientific or empirical basis to suggest that death penalty acts as a deterrent against any crime. The execution of Nathuram Vinayak Godse for assassination of none other than the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, has not acted as a deterrent against assassination of many prominent political leaders including former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, former Chief Minister Beant Singh, Member of Parliament Lalit Maken and many other prominent political leaders. On the other hand, though no execution had been carried out since the execution of Dhananjoy Chatterjee on 14 August 2004, the number of murder cases have been reducing. According to the National Crimes Record Bureau, in 2001 a total of 36,202 murder cases were registered in India. Though the population of India increased from 1.028 billion in 2001 to 1.21 billion in 2011, the murder cases indeed reduced to 34,305 in 2011.1 Second, death penalty is irreversible and irrevocable. Judges are human beings and to err is human. India is replete with erred judgements. Therefore, death penalty must be abolished to ensure that no innocent person is executed. Third, as Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye will leave everyone blind.” Justice must not be seen to be retributive. Fourth, justice is meant for reform. Death penalty denies the opportunity to reform. Fifth, justice is not synonymous of death penalty, and death penalty cannot be the only means or form of justice. Sixth, about 140 countries have abolished the death penalty by 2012. These countries have not become more vulnerable than India or any other country which retains death penalty. Finally and most importantly, India must follow its own civilisational values. Mythologies of India are full of stories of criminals being reformed. Valmiki, the author of the epic Ramayana, was a highway robber known as Ratnakara until he came under the influence of Maharshi Narada to leave the paths of sin. Similarly, according to Buddhist literature, Daku Angulimala (“dacoit who wears finger necklace/garland”) was a ruthless killer who was redeemed by a sincere conversion to Buddhism. Details: New Delhi: ACHR, 2013. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/IndiaDeathPenaltyReport2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Capital Punishment Shelf Number: 129415 |
Author: Iyer, Lakshmi Title: Poverty and Crime: Evidence from Rainfall and Trade Shocks in India Summary: Does poverty lead to crime? We shed light on this question using two independent and exogenous shocks to household income in rural India: the dramatic reduction in import tariffs in the early 1990s and rainfall variations. We find that trade shocks, previously shown to raise relative poverty, also increased the incidence of violent crimes and property crimes. The relationship between trade shocks and crime is similar to the observed relationship between rainfall shocks and crime. Our results thus identify a causal effect of poverty on crime. They also lend credence to a large literature on the effects of weather shocks on crime and conflict, which has usually assumed that the income channel is the most relevant one. Details: Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School, 2014. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 14-067: Accessed April 22, 2014 at: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/14-067_525b58b8-81b0-4f2a-8c09-3770d1ab44bd.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Climate Shelf Number: 132106 |
Author: Martensson, Ebba Title: Rape and Reform: India's Changing Attitudes Summary: It has been just over a year since the Delhi rape case in which a female student was raped and died from her injuries. In its wake, massive protests and a media campaign ensured the perpetrators were sent to trial with amendments also consequently being made to Indian criminal law. However, in spite of welcome reforms and shifting attitudes toward rape, the handling and prosecution of such crimes within the Indian judicial system and police force remains slow and cumbersome. Details: Nacka, Sweden: Institute for Security and Development Policy, 2014. 2p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief No. 142: Accessed January 31, 2014 at: http://www.isdp.eu/images/stories/isdp-main-pdf/2014-martensson-rape-and-reform-indias-changing-attitudes.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Rape (India) Shelf Number: 132170 |
Author: Gupte, Jaideep Title: The Agency and Governance of Urban Battlefields: How Riots Alter Our Understanding of Adequate Urban Summary: For the first time in close to 100 years, India reports higher population growth in its urbanised areas than across its vast rural landscape. However, a confluence of vast urbanisation and scarcity of resources has implied heightened levels of localised violence, centred in and around already impoverished neighbourhoods. This therefore has a disproportionate impact in further marginalising poor communities, and is at odds with the notion that cities are incontestably and inevitably the context of sustained poverty eradication. And yet, we know relatively little about the mechanics of security provisioning in Indian cities at large. The central argument in this paper is that violent urban spaces have a profound impact on how safety and security are understood by the state as well as the urban poor, thereby redefining the parameters of adequate urban living. I look in detail at how the 1992-1993 riots in Mumbai unfolded in a group of inner-city neighbourhoods, and find that specific acts of brutality and violence during the riots continue to shape current understandings of the "safe city‟. In doing so, I also find that the nature and form of informal urban space affects the mechanics by which the state endeavours to control violence, while individual acts of public violence function as markers that legitimate the use of, and reliance on, extralegal forms of security provision. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, 2012. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Households in Conflict Network Working Paper 122: Accessed July 11, 2014 at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/TheagencyandgovernanceofurbanbattlefieldsHowriotsalterourunderstandingofadequateurbanliving.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Neighborhoods and Crime (India) Shelf Number: 132643 |
Author: Prakash, Nishith Title: Girls for Sale? Child Sex Ratio and Girls Trafficking in India Summary: Illegal trafficking of women is a result of their disadvantageous position in the society that is often reflected in increasing preference for son and neglect for daughters. Multiple reports point to India as country confronted with both higher levels of illegal trafficking of girls and abnormal child sex ratios in favor of boys. In this paper we examine if a skewed sex ratio and shortage of girls is associated with their illegal trafficking in India. Using panel data of 29 Indian states from 1980-2011, we find that 100 unit increase in child sex ratio is associated with 0.635% increase in illegal trafficking of girls. We find the association to be heterogeneous by female empowerment, crime against women and party rule in the state. We find that association between child sex ratio and illegal trafficking of girls is stronger and larger in magnitude in states with greater female empowerment. Overall, it appears that the results are driven by both greater reporting and greater incidence of illegal girls trafficking. Contrary to popular belief, the results do not vary differentially by states with larger share of schedule tribe population or states bordering Nepal and Bangladesh. Our results survive variety of robustness checks. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2014. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 8293: Accessed July 11, 2014 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8293.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Child Trafficking (India) Shelf Number: 132661 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Current Status of Victim Service Providers and Criminal Justice Actors in India on Anti Human Trafficking Summary: UNODC has commissioned a country assessment of service providers and criminal justice actors who deal with victims of human trafficking in India. The report is the result of consultations with officers of anti-human trafficking units, key ministries and civil society, as well as government and NGO-run victim shelter homes. It also provides a brief situational analysis of 13 forms of human trafficking, such as trafficking for organs, forced marriages and adoption rackets, and highlights broad trends across the country. The report, made possible with support from the European Union, details initiatives taken by the national, as well as 21 state-level governments in India, to counter trafficking; lays out constitutional and legal provisions, including landmark judgements; and describes government-sponsored protection schemes. Data from the National Crimes Record Bureau of India on missing persons are also presented. In addition, the report identifies key areas that require attention and concerted action to strengthen services for trafficking survivors, such as the provision of special juvenile police units and victim shelters. The assessment was carried to assist officials, service providers and stakeholders to develop a comprehensive response for victim assistance and protection services in the area of human trafficking in the country. Protecting the identity and rights of human trafficking survivors not only helps convict traffickers but also guards against re-trafficking. To ensure a victim-centred and human rights approach to the crime of trafficking in persons, there is a need to improve mechanisms for the identification of victims and the establishment of adequate referral procedures for institutions providing support, assistance and reintegration. Details: New Delhi: UNODC, Regional Office for South Asia, 2013. 219p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2014 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southasia//reports/Human_Trafficking-10-05-13.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Adoption Rackets Shelf Number: 129904 |
Author: Jejeebhoy, Shireen J. Title: Gender-based violence: A qualitative exploration of norms, experiences and positive deviance." Summary: India has articulated its commitment to eliminating violence against women and girls through numerous policies, laws and programmes (for example, the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women 2001, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, and the strategies outlined in the XIth Five-Year Plan). However, violence against women remains widespread. Nationally, one in three (35%) women aged 15-49 has experienced physical or sexual violence, in general, increasing to 56 percent among women in Bihar (International Institute for Population Sciences and Macro International, 2007). The key challenge underlying the gap between policy and programme commitments and realities is the limited evidence on both what drives violence against women and girls, and effective programme strategies that reduce such violence. With support from UK aid, the Population Council undertook formative research in the district of Patna to better understand the context of violence-physical, emotional and sexual-against women and girls, and notably, the prevailing norms about what constitutes acceptable violence in terms of severity and provocation, and gender norms about men's entitlement and women's acquiescence to violence. It compares the perceptions of women and girls with those of men and boys, respectively, with regard to the prevalence, severity and acceptability of violence committed against women and girls by husbands/boyfriends, family and community members, and looks into the likely factors that precipitate such violence. It also explores factors that may be associated with positive deviance, that is, the characteristics and motivations of nonviolent men. Finally, it explores the extent to which study participants were aware of programmes and entitlements intended to address violence against women and girls, and the obstacles they face in seeking help, and concludes with their recommendations regarding action that may be undertaken to reduce violence against women and girls in their community. Details: New Delhi: Population Council, 2013. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2014 at: http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/pdf/outputs/ORIE/Qualitative_report_Formative_Study_VAWG_Bihar_DFID_India.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect Shelf Number: 133461 |
Author: World Wildlife Fund Title: Illegal Wildlife Trade in India Summary: Illegal wildlife trade has evolved into a complex activity, estimated to be worth at least USD15 billion per year globally. The PANDA Special Issue on Illegal Wildlife Trade in India highlights the different aspects of this terrible for species depleting trade. Illegal wildlife trade is one of WWF-India's major concerns and along with its wildlife crime monitoring division of TRAFFIC India. WWF-India has been working closely with the national and the state governments as well as other enforcement agencies to help study, monitor and influence action to curb illegal wildlife trade in the country. India is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Its porous borders allow for a wide range of products such as mongoose hair, snake skins, rhino horn, tiger and leopard claws, bones, skins, whiskers, elephant tusks, deer antlers, shahtoosh shawl, turtle shells, musk pods, bear bile, medicinal plants, timber and caged birds such as parakeets, mynahs, munias to be trafficked. This is endangering many of its species, including the iconic tiger, the rhino and smaller species such as the pangolin and otters. India has a strong legal and policy framework to regulate and restrict wildlife trade. Trade in over 1800 species of wild animals, plants and their derivatives, is prohibited under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. While government and other enforcement agencies are well-positioned to act, WWF-India through TRAFFIC India engages in training and building capacity of its frontline staff to quell this trade. Challenges in the field faced by conservationists, including our own teams, bring to light experiences that other agencies can act on. This will not only prove effective in combating illegal wildlife trade which is in need of scaling up, but also be able to curb the wildlife crime nexus. In keeping with the overall objective of WWF-India, this issue of the PANDA alerts its readers to the plight these animals are subjected to and calls for mass public awareness in order to sensitize its readers to the issue of wildlife crime and lead to a call for action. Details: New Delhi: World Wildlife Fund - India, 2014. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Panda Newsletter Special Issue: Accessed October 17, 2014 at: http://awsassets.wwfindia.org/downloads/traffic_panda_8_oct.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 133733 |
Author: Nanda, Priya Title: Masculinity, Intimate Partner Violence and Son Preference in India Summary: In-depth research on gender, power and masculinity and various programmatic efforts to engage men have made it abundantly clear that men and boys must be an integral part of efforts to promote gender equality. This is especially relevant in India, where caste, class and linguistic ethnicity have tremendous influence on how men construct their sense of masculinity and define what it means to be a real man or what is expected of them. Recent research suggests that mens attitudes and more broadly, masculinity, perpetuate son preference and to some extent, intimate partner violence in India. With this in mind, ICRW conducted research, surveying a total of 9,205 men and 3,158 women, aged 18-49 in the following seven states across India: Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. The study findings emphasize that in India, masculinity, i.e., mens controlling behavior and gender inequitable attitudes, strongly determines mens preference for sons over daughters as well as their proclivity for violence towards an intimate partner both of which are manifestations of gender inequality. Masculine control in womens lives affects their own experiences of intimate partner violence and preference for sons. The study finds that ultimately eliminate son preference and intimate partner violence in India, it is critical to develop and implement national policies and programs that involve men in promoting gender equity and diminishing socio-cultural and religious practices that reinforce gender discrimination. Details: New Delhi: United Nations Population Fund- India; International Center for Research on Women, 2014. 130p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.icrw.org/sites/default/files/publications/Masculinity%20Book_Inside_final_6th%20Nov.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Gender Discrimination Shelf Number: 134126 |
Author: Tranchant, Jean-Pierre Title: Unemployment, Service Provision and Violence Reduction Policies in Urban Maharashtra Summary: Over 40 per cent of Maharashtra's population live in urban slums, characterised by the acute inequalities of inadequate housing, poor service provision, lack of access to health and sanitation, overcrowded spaces, and limited employment opportunities. With urbanisation poised to increase dramatically over the next decades in India, it is urgent to remedy the current situation lest the social ills associated with unbalanced urbanisation grow worse. This report analyses the relationship between violence and economic vulnerability among urban populations in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It argues that the interconnection of crime, violence and vulnerability has to be explicitly recognised for both development and security policies to succeed. Efforts to improve the security of vulnerable urban populations must include physical insecurity at the margin by focusing on social, economic or legal insecurity Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2013. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Evidence Report 17: Accessed May 28, 2015 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/2871/ER17%20Final%20Online%20v2.pdf?sequence=6 Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Economics and Crime Shelf Number: 129958 |
Author: Gupte, Jaideep Title: Can Targeted Transition Services for Young Offenders Foster Pro-Social Attitudes and Behaviours in Urban Settings? Evidence from the Evaluation of the Kherwadi Social Welfare Association's Yuva Parivartan ProgrammeJaideep Summary: Can targeted preventive action and access to employment for school dropouts act as a preventive measure against delinquency and crime? Kherwadi Social Welfare Association's Yuva Parivartan (Youth Betterment) programme is evaluated through a mixed-methods approach on the following five programme-specific Sub-Questions (SQs): SQ1: Is the Yuva Parivartan (YP) programme effective at imparting on youth a set of prosocial values that are consistent with job-seeking and crime-avoidance behaviours? SQ2: Are the benefits of the YP programme reaching the population who self-report committing a crime? SQ3: Does the YP programme lead to pro-social behavioural changes? SQ4: Is there a relationship between attitudes towards aggressive and/or violent behaviour, entitlement, anti-social intent and employment outcomes? SQ5: Does the YP programme manage to instill a feeling of confidence among the trainees about their future prospects of finding a job? The evaluation design enables a critical comparison of employment outcomes and behavioural changes among cohorts of school dropouts varying by time since participating in the vocational training programme. Results are interpreted in conjunction with detailed indepth narratives describing the experiences of young offenders as well as key insights into the perceptions of programme effectiveness. The sample comprised 1,207 youth (average age of 20 years), who were either aspiring to enroll in the programme, were currently enrolled, or had graduated from the programme up to three years prior to the survey. Respondents within each group were randomly selected from a roster of all programme participants past, present and prospective across urban Maharashtra. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2015. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Evidence Report no. 136: Accessed July 13, 2015 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/6167/ER136_CanTargetedTransitionServicesforYoungOffendersFosterPro-SocialAttitudesandBehavioursinUrbanSettings.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: India Keywords: Delinquency Prevention Shelf Number: 136010 |
Author: Khanna, Gaurav Title: Guns and Butter? Fighting Violence with the Promise of Development Summary: There is growing awareness that development-oriented government policies may be an important counterinsurgency strategy, but existing papers are usually unable to disentangle various mechanisms. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we analyze the impact of one of the world's largest anti-poverty programs, India's NREGS, on the intensity of Maoist conflict. We find short-run increases of insurgency-related violence, police-initiated attacks, and insurgent attacks on civilians. We discuss how these results relate to established theories in the literature. The main mechanism consistent with the empirical patterns is that NREGS induces civilians to share more information with the state, improving police effectiveness. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor, 2015. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper no. 9160: Accessed July 15, 2015 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9160.pdf Year: 2015 Country: India Keywords: Counter-Terrorism Shelf Number: 136053 |
Author: Sarkar, Sumita Title: Combating Organised Crime: A Case Study of Mumbai City Summary: This paper places the specific case of organized crime in the city of Mumbai, within the context of transnational trends in criminal activity. It first examines the larger international discourse on organized crime, clarifying concepts and outlines the nature and magnitude of various component phenomena across the globe. The paper then passes on to an assessment of trends in the operation of gangs and organized crime in Mumbai, the socio-demographic profile, ethnic background, religion and international dynamics of gangsters in the city and the international dynamics of gangsterism, contract killing, etc. Some combative strategies adopted to deal with organized crime in the city are also dealt with. Details: Conference paper, 2001. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 14, 2015 at: http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/faultlines/volume12/Article5.htm Year: 2001 Country: India Keywords: Gang Violence Shelf Number: 136432 |
Author: Goel, Rashmi Title: Women Who Kill Women Summary: This article focuses on the phenomenon of women who kill women in the context of India's dowry murders. Killing by females is rare, and killing of other females is rarer still. India's dowry deaths, where mothers-in-law are, next to husbands, the most accused and convicted, represents a unique opportunity to examine the mechanics around women who kill, especially in the context of a gender violence crime. The article examines both the roots of the dowry system and the current anti-dowry and dowry-violence legislation to demonstrate the implicit and accepted gender inequities within marriage that serve to under gird an overall system of female oppression within the marital relationship. This inequity is understood to be a positive aspect within marriage, but ironically negative within public Indian society. The article then considers various theories of agency and motivation from social science and feminist literature to answer why some women participate in oppressing other women in Indian society. Finally, the article notes some of the ways in which Indian courts are contributing to the oppressive power structure by limiting the application of the anti-dowry and dowry-violence laws. Details: Denver, CO: University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: University of Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 15-22: Accessed October 15, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2668379 Year: 2015 Country: India Keywords: Dowry Shelf Number: 136986 |
Author: Karp, Aaron Title: Unheard and Uncounted: Violence against Women in India Summary: Violence against women, and the reluctance of authorities to deal with it, present a serious challenge to Indian society, law enforcement, and judicial affairs. Numerous incidents involving group rapes and rape and murder-such as the Nirbhaya case in New Delhi in 2012-have captured national and international attention. While domestic violence and public intimidation are familiar to women across India, statistics remain scarce and unreliable. A new Issue Brief from the Small Arms Survey's India Armed Violence Assessment project, Unheard and Uncounted: Violence against Women in India, discusses the prevalence of violence against women in India and the status of research to date. The Issue Brief finds: Underreporting appears to affect virtually all forms of violence against women in India, including rape. Estimates of the proportion of rapes in India reported to police range from 1 in 10 to 1 in 200. Such estimates suggest as many as several million rapes are unreported annually. A range of violent social practices, including selective abortion and foeticide, regional cultures of violence, and armed conflict, elevate the danger of violence in India, specifically against women. Improved monitoring and measurement of trends in violence against women are essential to improve policy-making and interventions for victims. Comprehensive police reform-including more police, including more women staff, who are dedicated to serving victims and are free of corruption-is essential for responding to violence against women. In addition to institutional reforms, social change is a key part of the solution to problems of violence against women in India, from changing attitudes towards women in general to assumptions about domestic relations. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2015. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: India Armed Violence Assessment Issue Brief, no. 5: Accessed October 26, 2015 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/G-Issue-briefs/IAVA-IB5-unheard-and-uncounted.pdf Year: 2015 Country: India Keywords: Domestic Violence Shelf Number: 137056 |
Author: Bhalotra, Sonia Title: The Price of Gold: Dowry and Death in India Summary: Dowry is often adduced as an explanation of son preference in India, but there is little evidence that dowry motivates son-preferring behaviours. On the premise that gold is an integral part of dowry, we use variation in gold prices to investigate this. First, we exploit a sharp unexpected rise in the price of gold in 1980 and, using a difference-in-discontinuities design, find that the gold price hike is mirrored in an increase in girl relative to boy mortality in the neonatal and infant period. We also find that surviving girls are shorter. Second, using monthly time series data for 35 years, we again find that cyclical variation in gold prices is reflected in excess girl mortality and, since the introduction of prenatal sex determination technology, in the sex ratio at birth. This constitutes the first evidence that dowry costs lead parents to eliminate foetal and newborn girls, and on a scale much larger than "dowry deaths" amongst married women which have been the subject of public attention. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2016. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 9679: Accessed February 3, 2016 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9679.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Dowry Deaths Shelf Number: 137748 |
Author: Jagori Title: Safe City Free of Violence Against Women and Girls Initiative: A Study of Delhi Police Help Lines Summary: This study is part of the Safe City free From Violence against Women and Girls Initiative, Delhi of Jagori in partnership with UN Women, UN HABITAT and the Department of Women and Child Development, Delhi Government. Women and girls are vulnerable to violence both within and outside the home and we recognize that the continuum of violence continues from personal/private to public space. We have been working on this issue since 2005 and have completed several surveys and safety audits in order to understand the problem in detail and in all its diversity. A baseline survey was conducted in Delhi in 2010 to focus on violence against women including sexual harassment, staring, touching, sexual assault, attempted rape, stalking and lewd comments, in a wide range of public spaces. The sample was 5010 men and women above the age of 16 covering all nine districts of Delhi. Conducted to research into factors that create greater safety and inclusion for women in public spaces around the city, the survey gathered and analyzed information about the following: (a) nature and forms of gender‐based violence and/or harassment faced by women, (b) spots where these incidents happen and that are perceived to be unsafe and inaccessible to women, (c) strategies adopted by women to defend themselves, (d) role of governing agencies and the police in safeguarding women's rights, and (e) societal perceptions and attitudes towards rights of women and girls. After conducting interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders, both government and non government, a draft strategic framework document was drawn up in 2010. This document identified several key areas of intervention in order to have a sustainable impact on reducing vulnerability and increasing safety. These include: - Urban planning and design of public spaces - Provision and management of urban infrastructure and services - Public transport - Policing - Legislation, justice and support to victims - Education - Civic awareness and participation This study has been carried out by Multiple Action Research Group (MARG) and provides data on the gaps in the functioning of Delhi Police helplines which are a first point contact for most people. Further the study also provides recommendations on addressing these gaps. Details: New Delhi: Safe Delhi, 2012. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2016 at: http://safedelhi.in/sites/default/files/reports/Delhi%20Police%20Helpline%20Study_Jagori_Marg_final.pdf Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Gender-Based Violence Shelf Number: 138262 |
Author: Jagori Title: Report of the Baseline Survey Delhi 2010 Summary: It is a truism that women in the national capital of Delhi feel unsafe in many public spaces, and at all times of the day and night. Cutting across class, profession, they face continuous and different forms of sexual harassment in crowded as well as secluded places, including public transport, cars, markets, roads, public toilets and parks. School and college students are most vulnerable to harassment, particularly rampant in public transport, particularly buses. Unlike men, women experience the city differently and have to devise their own safety strategies to negotiate public spaces during day and night. To address the issue, a joint action research initiative was undertaken by the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Delhi, JAGORI, UNIFEM South Asia Regional Office and UN Habitat titled Safe City Free of Violence for Women and Girls, this baseline survey is based on a sample of 5010 women and men, conducted by during the period January - March 2010 by New Concept Information Systems, New Delhi. Conducted to research into factors that create greater safety and inclusion for women in public spaces around the city, the survey gathered and analyzed information about the following: (a) nature and forms of gender-based violence and/or harassment faced by women, (b) spots where these incidents happen and that are perceived to be unsafe and inaccessible to women, (c) strategies adopted by women to defend themselves, (d) role of governing agencies and the police in safeguarding women's rights, and (e) societal perceptions and attitudes to sexual harassment. Some of the findings supported the results of the previous surveys undertaken by Jagori (2007 and 2009). However, there are some new insights as well. The findings of the survey and its recommendations (including interactions with key stakeholders) are part of the strategic framework that will guide interventions to make Delhi a safer city for women, especially those from vulnerable groups. The outcome of the study is expected to feed into further dialogue and planning for improved gender-sensitive infrastructure, mechanisms and programming. Hopefully, this would enable women from diverse backgrounds to realize their fundamental right to work, study and move around without violence and fear. Details: New Delhi: Jagori, 2011. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls Initiative: March 17, 2016 at: http://www.jagori.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Baseline-Survey_layout_for-Print_12_03_2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Fear of Crime Shelf Number: 138307 |
Author: Khandelwal, Ashok Title: Child Labour in Cottonseed Production: A Case study of Cottonseed Farms in North Gujarat Summary: Seasonal migration is increasingly emerging as the chief mode of labour engagement across the country and especially in the rapidly growing Western economic cluster of Gujarat Maharashtra. Dakshini Rajasthan Majdoor Union is an organisation of seasonal tribal migrants from South Rajasthan. The Union is working to ensure decent wages, social security, and human rights for the vast mass of workers in the unorganised sector. Every year hundreds of thousands of workers from the region migrate to Gujarat, Maharashtra, and other Indian states. There are different modes of migration - individual workers, whole families, adolescent groups, and children. Recent years have seen an increase in child and adolescent female migration. The Union was registered in April 2006. It started work in the Bt cotton migration stream that witnesses seasonal migration by tribal adolescents and children on a large scale. The Union mobilised the workers and the labour contractors who recruit workers into a Union. The Union imposed a moratorium on movement seeking an end to child labour and hike in wages paid. Two years of sustained efforts have seen wage hike up to 50 percent. The issue of child labour in Bt cottonseed farms has been highlighted at the state and national level and there is a decline in numbers of children going. The Union has also organised workers in the migration streams of brick kilns and cotton ginning in Gujarat. Both these streams witness interstate migration from a number of other states in addition to Rajasthan. Union has mobilised workers from all the states. It has promoted formation of a new Union in Gujarat called Gujarat Ginning and Other Mill Workers' Union. Union interventions have led to a hike in salary of ginning workers by 16 percent. The highlighting of numerous fatal and non fatal accidents in the ginning factories has led to a reduction in the number of accidents. The Union facilitated work stoppages in more than 50 brick kiln quarries resulting in wage hikes of up to 20 percent in the 2007-08 season. It also got more than 100 workers from the state of Chhattisgarh released from bondage in brick kilns. Advocacy of workers' rights amongst the civil society and the state in Gujarat is a major component of Union's work. The Union has actively raised issues of workers' rights before the state of Gujarat. It organised state level public hearings on the issue of child labour in both the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. It has highlighted cases of extreme injustice in the media. Police help has been sought in cases of sexual exploitation of female workers. The Union realises that a pan workers' unity extending across barriers of caste, community, region, and language is necessary to carry forward the workers' struggle. It is actively working towards achieving this unity. Details: Dungarpur - Rajasthan, INDIA: Dakshini Rajasthan Majdoor Union (DRMU), 2008. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 26, 2016 at: http://prayaschittor.org/childlabourcf.pdf Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 139160 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: Stifling Dissent: The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in India Summary: Freedom of expression is protected under the Indian constitution and international treaties to which India is a party. Politicians, pundits, activists, and the general public engage in vigorous debate through newspapers, television, and the Internet, including social media . Successive governments have made commitments to protect freedom of expression. "Our democracy will not sustain if we can't guarantee freedom of speech and expression," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in June 2014, after a month in office. Indeed, free speech is so ingrained that Amartya Sen's 2005 book, The Argumentative Indian, remains as relevant today as ever. Yet Indian governments at both the national and state level do not always share these values, passing laws and taking harsh actions to criminalize peaceful expression. The government uses draconian laws such as the sedition provisions of the penal code, the criminal defamation law, and laws dealing with hate speech to silence dissent. These laws are vaguely worded, overly broad, and prone to misuse, and have been repeatedly used for political purposes against critics at the national and state level. While some prosecutions, in the end, have been dismissed or abandoned, many people who have engaged in nothing more than peaceful speech have been arrested, held in pretrial detention, and subjected to expensive criminal trials. Fear of such actions, combined with uncertainty as to how the statutes will be applied, leads others to engage in self-censorship. Details: New York: HRW, 2016. 121p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 8, 2016 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/india0516.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Demonstrations Shelf Number: 139330 |
Author: TRAFFIC India Title: As Assessment of the Domestic Ivory Carving Industry and Trade Control in India Summary: The native Asian Elephant Elephas maximus has been legally protected in India since the late 1970s, following its listing in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Ivory from the African species of elephant continued to be imported and used legally in India until the 1990s, when use and trade of elephant ivory in India became illegal, although a ruling from the Supreme Court of India endorsing this position is still outstanding. It is estimated that about 28 000 wild Asian Elephants inhabited India in 2002: whether these animals represent a source of ivory to an underground industry in India, or whether that industry actually died in the 1990s has been little studied. For this reason, TRAFFIC India began a systematic investigation of the domestic ivory trade in India as part of the Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy of WWF. This report comprises the findings of that investigation. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International, 2003. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: TRAFFIC Online Report Series No. 7: Accessed June 13, 2016 at: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/03_An_Assessment_Domestic_Ivory.pdf Year: 2003 Country: India Keywords: Elephants Shelf Number: 139422 |
Author: Das, Satadru Title: Analyzing the Impact of the World's Largest Public Works Project on Crime Summary: India started the implementation of a rural public works program in 2006, covering all districts of the country within three years. The program quarantees 100 days of employment per year at minimum wage to each rural household on demand, with the goal of reducing joblessness and poverty. We exploit the design and implementation of this program to investigate its employment impact on various types of crimes, ranging from burglary to kidnapping to riots. We show that the program acts as an insurance scheme because an increase in rainfall, which is negatively correlated with agricultural production, lowers the demand for jobs under the program. Controlling for rainfall, we find that employment generated by the program has a negative impact on both property and violent crime. Although crime elasticities with respect to employment are small, this finding represents another dimension of the social benefit generated by the program. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2016. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper 22499: Accessed August 27, 2016 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w22499.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Economics and Crime Shelf Number: 140062 |
Author: Theuws, Martje Title: Flawed Fabrics: The abuse of girls and women workers in the South Indian textile industry Summary: The women and girls who work in the spinning mills of Tamil Nadu, some as young as 15, are mostly recruited from marginalised Dalit communities in impoverished rural areas. They are forced to work long hours for low wages. They live in very basic company-run hostels and are hardly ever allowed to leave the company compound. The researched spinning mills have Western companies and Bangladesh garment factories among their customers, including C&A, Mothercare, HanesBrands, Sainsbury's and Primark. The report portrays the situation in five spinning mills in Tamil Nadu, which is a major hub in the global textile and knitwear industry: Best Cotton Mills, Jeyavishnu Spintex, Premier Mills, Sulochana Cotton Spinning Mills and Super Spinning Mills. The research is based on in-depth interviews with 150 workers combined with an analysis of corporate information and export data regarding the companies involved. Spinning mills in this region produce cotton yarn and fabrics, both for further processing in the Indian garment industry and for export to other countries, in particular Bangladesh. Semi-prison The teenage girls and young women told researchers how they had been lured from their home villages with attractive promises of decent jobs and good pay. In reality, however, they are working under appalling conditions that amount to modern day slavery and the worst forms of child labour. Workers don't get contracts or payslips. Workers have nowhere to go to express their grievances. In the mills there are no trade unions or functioning complaint mechanisms. One interviewed worker at Sulochana Cotton Spinning Mills said of her living conditions: "I do not like the hostel; there is no entertainment and no outside contact and is very far from the town. It is like a semi-prison." Bangladesh Accord Two mills were found to be supplying Bangladesh garment factories that fall under the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety. As such the report presents a direct link between the Accord's signatories and unacceptable labour rights violations in India. Due to a lack of transparency in the garment sector, SOMO and ICN could not establish which signatories. All Western retailers and fashion brands source from these factories. The export data also link the investigated spinning mills to three foreign banks: Standard Chartered Bank, The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and Raifeisenbank. These banks provide financial services to the spinning mills and their customers. However, referring to banking security and privacy, the banks refused to disclose any details. Failing audits? In the past few years, brands and retailers sourcing from Tamil Nadu have started to step up audits and corrective actions plans at the level of end-manufacturing units (first tier suppliers). However, only a small number of brands and retailers have started mapping and to some extent auditing their second-tier suppliers. The vast majority of buyers do not engage in monitoring and corrective actions at the level of the spinning mills (which are second-tier suppliers). Two of the researched mills received a certification (SA8000) for adhering to international labour standards, while this report shows labour conditions at these mills are far from acceptable. Details: Amsterdam: Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN), 2014. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: https://www.somo.nl/flawed-fabric-the-abuse-of-girls-and-women-workers-in-the-south-indian-textile-industry/ Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 140344 |
Author: ten Kate, Albert Title: Beauty and a Beast: Child labour in India for sparkling cars and cosmetics Summary: This report focuses on child labour in Jharkhand/Bihar for mica mining and processing, and the role of Dutch companies and main manufacturers of pearlescent pigments globally. Recent documented cases substantiate the significant use of child labour: - During field research by SOMO in October 2015, a dozen children under ten were seen working in places where locally mined crude mica is gathered. This was in the subdistricts Tisri and Domchance, and outside school hours. - During the field research, a local representative of BBA for the mica mining village Dhab (around 4,500 inhabitants) stated that about 10% of the children presently don't go to school and likely work in the mines. - BBA's district coordinator for Jharkhand/Bihar told SOMO in October 2015 that Giridih district is a very difficult area to effectively ban child labour. BBA's work in twenty villages in the district is ongoing, but they constantly observe that groups of children in the district still go to the mines. - In late January 2016, Kalpana Pradhan, a journalist accompanying SOMO during its field investigation, went back to the rural area of subdistrict Tisri. She saw a mine within the forest where at least nine young girls (aged between nine and thirteen) were working. - In January 2016 a team from television broadcaster France 2 went to a mica mine in the area, and estimated that a third of the miners were under twelve years old. "They start at five or six years old, when they are able to recognize mica. They harvest it with us," said one mother. - In March 2015, a ten-year-old girl was crushed to death when the roof of a mica mine collapsed on her. In March 2014, the same happened to two other children. - In August 2015 Agence France-Presse (AFP) interviewed an eight-year-old girl who was mining and not attending school. Additionally, a father-of four acknowledged that his children spent their days mining mica to keep the family's heads above water. Details: Amsterdam: Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen (SOMO), Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2016. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2016 at: https://www.somo.nl/beauty-and-a-beast/ Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 147956 |
Author: Nepal, Som Raj Title: From Margins to Mainstream: Through supplementary education and protection to the vulnerable children in slums of Kolkata, India Summary: he study specifically aims to explicate the processes of mainstreaming of life and education of vulnerable children in the marginalized slum community of Kolkata, India through the integrated approach of supplementary education and protection by a local NGO, IPER (Institute of Psychological and Educational Research). It also equally elucidates the methods and network used by IPER for integrated intervention in primary education and protection of vulnerable children, its holistic impact on the respective community and parents, and challenges of mainstreaming at local context. The research followed a qualitative approach with data triangulation methods to ensure validity and veracity. Participant observation, case studies and semi structured interviews were undertaken as primary data collection from the beneficiaries and sub-beneficiaries of IPER projects of education and protection. Relevant secondary data were obtained from internet, published and unpublished official records of the concerned organization, I/NGOs and journals related to the study-subject. The main findings suggest that universalization of education focusing on compulsory elementary education to those who were not benefitted by public schools have had substantially shaped in Kolkata due to NGOs driving initiatives and government-civil society partnership. The protection cum education intervention to those destitute children of slum and street by arranging individual sponsors or own resources under the aegis of IPER has not only helped to mainstream life and education but also brought the gross happiness in parents motivating them for further education of children. However the problems are in millions but the beneficiaries are in hundreds due to limited means and resources of NGOs and government. Moreover the weaknesses in governance in mapping the problem has resulted many difficulties for poor people to have easy access of education in own areas and negligence of public school's management and teachers towards education of children resulted high drop-out-of school children or discontinuity even at primary level. In addition, case studies of three educated and empowered youths of slums included in the report assure that it would be the best intervention in community if it was from the people of same community for which they were ready to take up community awareness and development tasks. Similarly another case study of a rescued domestic child labour shows the practical problems of social workers in the cases when social tradition dominates the existing laws. Details: Helsinki, Finland: Diaconia University of Applied Sciences, 2013. 103p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 20, 2016 at: https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/57167 Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: At-risk Youth Shelf Number: 140816 |
Author: United Nations Children's Fund Title: Child Online Protection in India Summary: The rapid spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) in India has created a wealth of opportunities for economic growth, the spread of knowledge, lowering the cost of education, social networking, democracy and better governance and accountability. While India’s Internet coverage is still lagging behind that of other BRICS countries, especially among poor, rural and remote people, the country is rapidly catching up and offers the largest untapped market for Internet access, especially through smartphones. While access to ICT and participation in the online environment are rightly priorities for the Indian Government, online risks have received relatively less attention. Cybercrime statistics focus on commercial online fraud and political radicalization. The risks of online abuse and exploitation of children have received much less attention and are not included in the National Crime Records Bureau statistics as a separate category. India’s ability to protect children from online abuse and respond effectively to the dissemination and consumption of online child sexual abuse materials (aka child online pornography) falls far short of meeting existing needs. In fact, there is a widespread lack of awareness among parents, teachers, the police and policymakers of the growing and ever changing risks of child online abuse and exploitation. Legislation, mechanisms and services are inadequate to respond to these threats and have to be updated and strengthened. Given the global nature of the Internet, there are particular challenges regarding the lack of effective coordination between law enforcement branches, between law enforcement and ICT companies and across national boundaries. UNICEF commissioned the assessment of child online protection in India to better understand the online risks faced by children, to identify gaps in legislation, to ensure removal of harmful online materials, to support investigation and law enforcement and to identify services for child victims of online exploitation and abuse. The aim of the study was to identify priority interventions for the Government, ICT companies, non-governmental organizations and international agencies. The study provides a comprehensive overview of the current situation of child online safety based on the available data. It is a resource that should help any organizations working on various aspects of child online protection to enhance their awareness of existing gaps and understand both where to improve their own interventions and where to strengthen collaboration and coordination with other stakeholders. The assessment distinguishes broadly between two kinds of child online abuse: (a) harmful and abusive online behaviour between children; and (b) online sexual exploitation of children. While most of the former does not constitute a criminal offence and should not be criminalized, there is a need to embed efforts to protect children in a wider digital citizenship approach that gives equal weight to the equitable provision of and access to ICT, to participation in the Internet and to protection of children from harmful and abusive content. The second dimension concerning online sexual exploitation of children requires robust action, particularly from law enforcement agencies and ICT companies. Details: New Delhi: UNICEF, 2016. 164p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2016 at: http://unicef.in/Uploads/Publications/Resources/pub_doc115.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Child Protection Shelf Number: 140834 |
Author: Gupta, Saloni Title: Contesting conservation: shahtoosh trade and forest management in Jammu and Kashmir, India Summary: This thesis examines the recent politics of wildlife and forest conservation with reference to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state in India. It analyses two processes initiated in 2002, and their effects on conservation and livelihoods: a) the international ban on the trade of shahtoosh (wool derived from the Tibetan antelope), resulting in the loss of the traditional occupation of a large number of shawl workers in the Kashmir valley; and b) the implementation of joint forest management projects under the 'National Afforestation Programme' in Jammu region, resulting in new spaces for cooperation and conflict between forest bureaucracy and local communities. The thesis explains how global environmental policies permeate different layers of politics from macro- to microlevels in the process of implementation. The following four questions are addressed in the thesis: first, how does power determine access to and control over natural resources? Second, how are global conservation interventions understood, accepted and reshaped by various actors? Third, what has been the impact of these recent interventions on different categories of resource users? Fourth, in what ways do these conservation processes converge with the attempts of historically powerful actors (state and local elites) to dominate the poor and marginalised populations, specifically shawl workers and forest dependent communities? On the basis of a detailed examination of the two processes, I argue that nature conservation policies do not go unchallenged but are contested and coloured by the power, agendas and interests of different stakeholders. I demonstrate that in the pursuit of conservation measures, powerful actors are able to secure their respective interests while directing the cost of nature conservation to the poor who are traditionally dependent on wildlife and forest resources for sustenance. This is not to deny the seriousness of environmental concerns, but to point out the repercussions of a blanket ban on the livelihoods of the shahtoosh workers, and of limiting the access to forest resources for local communities, who are trying to survive in an already fragile economy amidst militant separatist movement in J&K. Details: London: University of London, Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, 2011. 324p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 1, 2016 at: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/12759/1/Gupta_3264.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India Keywords: Antelope Shelf Number: 145782 |
Author: FICCI Title: Socio-Economic Impact of Counterfeiting, Smuggling and Tax Evasion in Seven Key Indian Industry Sectors: Executive Summary Summary: This report is a first ever compilation of facts and figures on counterfeiting, smuggling and tax evasion in seven key industry sectors in India. This research has deployed a methodology which is by far the most comprehensive till date, at least in India. Lakhs of data points have been analyzed and 129 existing sources have been referred and relied upon. The data crunching was followed by a robust validation exercise with relevant stake holders. This qualitative element is the most significant part of the research that needs to be emphasized before this audience and all those who read and make use of it. Our industry and government is very concerned about weak intellectual property protection and enforcement in India. The exponential growth of intellectual property (IP) crime has been illustrated very clearly by various studies and information from a variety of sources as well as the media. While counterfeiting used to consist primarily of apparel and other such items, the high profitability and low risk involved has allowed criminals, including organized crime rings, to become very active, counterfeiting virtually everything including, for instance, pharmaceutical products, electrical products, software, movies, food, wine, personal care products, automobile parts and luxury goods. While IP crime can lack, for some, the social stigma of many other criminal offences, this illegal activity is a drain on the economy and is responsible for loss of employment, a reduction in tax revenues for governments, and poses serious consumer health and safety risks due to the poor quality of products and sometimes hazardous nature of the fakes. Virtually no industry escapes this illegal activity. Details: New Delhi: FICCI, 2012. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 14, 2016 at: http://ficcicascade.com/studies.php?adjacents=10&page=4 Year: 2012 Country: India Keywords: Counterfeit Goods Shelf Number: 146104 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "Bound by Brotherhood": India's Failure to End Killings in Police Custody Summary: Indian police often torture criminal suspects to punish them, to gather information, or to coerce confessions. Despite changes in laws and guidelines and the promise of police reforms since 1997, official data shows at least 591 people died in police custody between 2010 and 2015. While police blame most of the deaths on suicide, illness, or natural causes, in many such cases family members allege that the deaths were the result of torture; allegations sometimes supported by independent investigations. Bound by Brotherhood examines the reasons for the continuing impunity for custodial deaths in India, and recommends steps that authorities should take to end it. It details the scope of the problem drawing on in-depth Human Rights Watch investigations into 17 custodial deaths that occurred between 2009 and 2015. In most of these cases, family members, with the assistance of lawyers and activists, were able to seek new inquiries, thus providing access to witness testimonies, autopsy reports, or police statements. In each of the 17 cases, the police did not follow proper arrest procedures—including documenting the arrest, notifying family members, or producing the suspect before a magistrate within 24 hours—which made the suspect more vulnerable to abuse and may have contributed to a belief by police that any mistreatment could be covered up. In most of the cases, investigating authorities, mainly the police, failed to take steps that could have helped ensure accountability for the deaths. Human Rights Watch calls on the Indian government to strictly enforce existing law and guidelines on arrest and detention and ensure that police officers implicated in torture and other ill-treatment, regardless of rank, are disciplined or prosecuted as appropriate. Details: New York: HRW, 2016. 128p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 27, 2017 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/india1216_web_0.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Deadly Force Shelf Number: 144918 |
Author: Thought Arbitrage Research Institute Title: Invisible Enemy: A Threat to our National Interests Summary: Smuggling is defined as "the clandestine import of goods from one jurisdiction to another." According to the Customs Act, 1962 the term "smuggling" has vast connotations and means "any act or omission which will render such goods liable for confiscation under Sections 111 or 113 of the said Act." This report focuses on smuggling of legal goods (excluding prohibited goods) into Indian borders and which can be confiscated under the Customs Act 1962. Smuggling of Goods/ Products: Terms and Interpretations Outright smuggling as defined by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is "the secret movement of goods across national borders to avoid customs duties or import or export restrictions." Non-declaration (where no product is declared at port of entry) as well as not being in possession of any legal import documentation can also be considered as outright smuggling. On the other hand, smuggling could take place through legal channels of trade by various means to evade customs duties and other taxes applicable on such goods and products. This is referred to as Technical smuggling and such goods are liable for confiscation under section 111 of the Customs Act 1962. Ways and means of technical smuggling may classified into four categories based on seizure data of DRI: • Undervaluation • Mis-declaration • Misuse of End Use and Other Notifications • Other Means Smuggling and Its Impact on the Country The effects of smuggling are numerous and economically significant. Smuggling is a serious problem and its impacts are far reaching, affecting various stakeholders including Government, domestic industries and citizens of the country. Invisible Enemy - A Threat to our National Interests: Extent Causes and Remedies. which estimates the extent of smuggling of the top five key goods into India, namely: • Gold • Machinery and Parts • Cigarettes • Fabrics, Silk and Yarn • Electronic Items This report further attempts to highlight the key challenges posed by smuggling and the possible solutions needed to make compliance and processes more robust which will reduce the threat of smuggling. Details: New Delhi: FICCI Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying Economy (CASCADE), 2016. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2017 at: http://ficci.in/spdocument/20807/final-Smuggling-report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Cigarette Smuggling Shelf Number: 140764 |
Author: Thought Arbitrage Research Institute Title: Need for Policy Reforms to Combat Illicit Markets: Case study on Tobacco Industry Summary: India is the second largest tobacco producer and exporter in the world after China. Cigarette and other tobacco products provide a source of livelihood to nearly 45.7 million of Indians – farmers, farm labours, women and tribals – and contribute a good deal to the rural economy. The industry generates a significant share of the country's excise duty and state taxes, amounting to more than Rs 30,000 crore annually. Exports of leaf tobacco and tobacco products generate foreign exchange earnings of around Rs 6,000 crore. However, a growing consumption and trade of illicit cigarettes, which constitute a significant component of the tobacco industry, is a cause of grave economic and security concern for India. The illicit trade is defined as any practice or conduct prohibited by law and which relates to the production, shipment, receipt, possession, distribution, sale or purchase, including any practice or conduct intended to facilitate such activity. There are broadly three categories of illicit trade – smuggling, tax-evaded manufacturing and counterfeiting. In India, 1/5th of cigarette industry is illegal. Multi-agency studies involving Indian industry, government agencies and international entities such as USDA and Euromonitor International, show that consumption of illicit cigarettes have been growing steadily. FICCI-CASCADE studies have shown that the size of illicit markets in cigarettes and other tobacco products – which includes primarily cigarettes, chewing tobacco, bidi, khaini, cheroot, hookah tobacco, leaf tobacco, zarda, kimam, surti and snuff etc. – has grown from Rs 8,965 crore in 2012 to Rs 13,130 crore in 2014. This is a significant jump by 28.7%. Statistics show that the consumption of illicit cigarettes has been steadily going up in India – from 11.1 billion sticks in 2004 to 23.9 billion sticks in 2015. The following graph plots the steady rise in illicit consumption of cigarettes in these years. Details: New Delhi: FICC Cascade, 2016. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2017 at: http://ficci.in/spdocument/20805/final-CASCADECIG-report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Cigarettes Shelf Number: 140765 |
Author: Thought Arbitrage Research Institute Title: Illicit Markets - A Threat to Our National Interests. The Alcoholic Beverages Industry Summary: Illicit markets have broad economy-wide effects on trade, investment, employment, innovation, criminality, environment, and most importantly, on the health and safety of the consumers. Over and above, it also has a negative impact on the brand image and loss of revenue for industry and governments. In the alcoholic beverage industry, the industry faces a twin problem. Firstly, the production of alcohol under non-standard conditions which are much more harmful, life threatening and, secondly, the smuggling of these products which escape state taxes and duties applicable to this sector. As alcoholic beverages industry is a state subject, manufacturers have to conform to regulations legislated by each state which vary from state to state and sometimes loopholes in such differences in regulations can fuel illicit trade. Given the thrust on "Make in India"; technology, invention, and innovation will play a key role in India's current economic development. However, counterfeits and fakes will threaten India's growth strategy. Hence, a proactive strategy should be in place to fight this serious menace to public health and safety, and to the state exchequer. This report has estimated the size of the illicit market; its adverse impact on innovation and investment in the alcoholic beverage industry. I am certain that the findings from this report would increase consumer awareness, drive support from policy makers in tax related reforms and step up the industry for greater investment in R&D and encourage innovation. Details: New Delhi: FICCI Cascade, 2016. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2017 at: http://tari.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Alcoholic-Beverages.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Alcohol Industry Shelf Number: 144933 |
Author: Thought Arbitrage Research Institute Title: Understanding the Demand and Supply Equation of Corruption and Fraud: An insight into the Corruption and Fraud by the private sector in India Summary: In one way or another, people all across the globe get impacted by fraud and corruption. This study is an attempt to understand corruption and fraud, its multiple facets, sources, nuances and related complexities. Corruption is commonly understood as the abuse of entrusted power to extract private gain at the costs of society by diversion of legitimate funds. Business is both the cause and victim of corruption. Corruption can take various forms: political or bureaucratic; grand or petty; isolated or systemic and private sector corruption. Corruption thrives in a world of opacity caused by a maze of rules, discretion of governmental authority and the lack of accountability or consequences for actions by an official. When information asymmetry persists among the general public, it results in a low level of awareness and demands for bribes are easily fulfilled. Further high taxation, multiple regulations, layers of authorization, numerous subsidies and other spending decisions of government provides impetus to corruption. Corruption also thrives in conditions of low bureaucratic quality, inadequate public sector wages, low institutional controls, poor leadership standards, vague rules, ineffectual laws, processes and their unimpressive implementation. Corruption includes instances of fraud, fraudulent behavior, receiving bribes or other benefits. Corruption and fraud are intricately linked, as a corrupt environment makes it easier to perpetrate frauds; equally, frauds help generate illicit funds which can be used to win favours by paying bribes or for other quid-pro-quos. Fraud is mostly defined as a wilful act of deception or misrepresentation resulting in an unauthorized benefit to the perpetrator or others. Asset misappropriation, conflict of interest, bribery and extortion, and manipulation of financial statements are common ways for perpetrating fraud. The public procurement system is very prone to fraud with prevailing malpractices of cartel formation accompanied by collusive bidding and rigging. In private sector too, the risk of fraud is pervasive across all enterprises and countries irrespective of their sizes. Details: New Delhi: Thought Arbitrage Research Institute, 2014. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2017 at: http://tari.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Understanding-the-demand-supply-equations-of-corruption-fraud-final.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Bribery Shelf Number: 140767 |
Author: Thought Arbitrage Research Institute Title: Socio-Economic Impact of Piracy in the Publishing Sector Summary: The study highlights the economic impact of piracy to the country in publication of books and makes certain policy recommendations to Government of India. It is also brought out that the social impact of piracy includes curbing creativity, intellectual development and research. The impact of piracy on education and learning is also discussed. This is essential to India's emergence as a knowledge economy and manifested in the publication of books which carry forward the passion for knowledge creation, dissemination and help in the drive towards innovation Details: Haryana: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), 2014. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2017 at: http://tari.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Study-on-Piracy-in-Publishing-Sector.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Economics of Crime Shelf Number: 145095 |
Author: Tobacco Institute of India Title: The Threat of Growing Illegal Cigarette Trade in India: Adversely Impacting Legal Industry, Government Revenue and Livelihood Summary: Illegal Cigarette trade comprising international smuggled and locally manufactured tax-evaded cigarettes accounts for as much as 1/5th of the Cigarette Industry in India. Extremely high tax rates and constantly increasing tax rates on Cigarettes provide a profitable opportunity for tax evasion by illegal trade in both international smuggled and domestic tax evaded cigarettes Details: New Delhi: Tobacco Institute of India, 2015. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 10, 2017 at: http://www.tiionline.org/bookpublications/threat-of-growing-illegal-cigarette-trade-in-india-july-2015/ Year: 2015 Country: India Keywords: Cigarette Taxes Shelf Number: 146002 |
Author: Donger, Elizabeth Title: Is This Protection? Analyzing India's Approach to the rescue and reintegration of children trafficked for labor exploitation Summary: This report provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of the Indian government's efforts to rescue and reintegrate children trafficked for their labor. Despite frequent expressions of public concern, the government’s main responses to this entrenched problem have not been carefully evaluated to date. As a result, no metrics for gauging reintegration success have been developed, nor is there a process for evaluating the impact of interventions over time. This paper measures existing legal and policy frameworks against current realities, based on empirical findings from a qualitative study carried out by the FXB Center for Health & Human Rights at Harvard University. The survey under-girding the study produced rich data from interviews with 49 governmental and non-governmental actors in three North Indian states: the trafficking source state of Bihar, the transit state of Delhi, and the trafficking destination state of Rajasthan. The results reveal startling inconsistency between policy commitments and on-the-ground realities. Raids of workplaces that rely on forced child labor are executed with variable levels of success and attention to the best interests of trafficked child laborers. A lack of detailed standard operating procedures and centralized information systems leads to confusion around responsibilities, as well as reactive, poorly planned raids that are often overly dependent on nonprofit leadership. The quality of immediate post-rescue care delivered is also inconsistent: children do not receive adequate medical or counseling support and are often subjected to multiple interviews about their experience. Legally mandated and essential First Information Reports, prepared by the police to initiate criminal proceedings, are sporadically filed and victimizers are rarely prosecuted Existing reintegration frameworks also fail to protect children's rights and needs. They do not comprehensively address the diverse post-rescue needs of trafficked children. Rather, despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, they treat reintegration as a fixed, short-term process. The significant and complex risks facing trafficked children following return to their families are not carefully addressed and standards for gauging what counts as appropriate alternative accommodation are lacking. Education programs work in isolation from formal schools and do not adequately address the curricular and teacher training issues that reintegration of trafficked children raise. Children who have never had an opportunity to attend school consistently need dedicated services to facilitate their integration into a system of learning; and their families need structured and ongoing support to mitigate the risk that a child will be re-trafficked for economic reasons. Instead, at present, the challenge of supporting the family's economic reintegration is, at best, reduced to the provision of lump sum compensation. Finally, the acute health needs of rescued children, both physical and psychological, are acknowledged as an afterthought, without concrete policy initiatives to ensure delivery of suitable services. This report outlines several overarching challenges to the successful rescue and reintegration of children trafficked for labor: failure to provide adequate reintegration services; a focus on short term rescue from child labor in place of systemic child welfare approaches; organizational failures including lack of clear accountability, inter-agency coordination and training; poorly structured NGO government partnerships; insufficient human and financial resources; lack of centralized information systems; and weak policy frameworks. The report concludes by making several recommendations to address these gaps. One critical recommendation is an insistence on the prioritization of a child rights approach to intervention, so that the child’s best interests and views are always a primary consideration. Another overarching recommendation highlights the imperative of instituting comprehensive and sustained reintegration efforts instead of perpetuating the current short term approach that simply returns trafficked children to circumstances that led to trafficking in the first place. This analysis should form the basis for future research, debate and, most important, concrete reforms to protect children from exploitation. Trafficking for forced labor constitutes a gross violation of rights that affects hundreds of thousands of Indian children every year. It is the government's obligation to ensure an end to these abusive practices and to institute sustained interventions that deliver access to health, education and financial security for these children and their families. Details: Boston: François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, 2016. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 20, 2017 at: https://cdn2.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/03/Is-this-Protection-Final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 141121 |
Author: John-Fisk, Hena Title: Uncovering the realities of prostitutes and their children in a cross national comparative study between India and the U.S. Summary: his qualitative study examines the needs and challenges of prostitutes and their children. A review of research regarding prostitutes indicates that the needs and experiences of prostitutes, their children, and stakeholders who provide services to this population have been neglected. The first part of the study looks at the challenges prostitutes face trying to be successful mothers. The study was conducted in the U.S. and India. The findings of this study reveal that these women face difficulties in their daily lives. Due to the distinct differences between the interventions and policies in both countries, each group shares a different relationship with their children. The findings of the study strongly advocate for joint programs for prostitutes and their children to help ensure them all a better future. The second part of the study was conducted with childrenof prostitutes who live with their mothers in red light areas of Mumbai, India. The participants discussed the experiences and challenges they face in their daily lives as children of prostitutes, their relationships with their mothers, and support programs needed for a better life. All of the child participants conveyed that they did not want to be separated from their mothers. The children had good relationships with their mothers and wanted to support their mothers as they aged. The final part of the study examines challenges stakeholders encounter while providing services to prostitutes and their children. The stakeholders also shared their views about the difficulties that children of prostitutes and their mothers face. The stakeholders expressed what support they thought would be helpful for this group. This study is presented in the form of three distinct scholarly manuscripts. Each of the manuscripts has its own research questions and findings that contribute to the overall research agenda in unique ways. Each study makes its own specific recommendations for social work policy, practice, and research.Together, the three manuscripts add to our knowledge about prostitutes as mothers, as well as defining their children’s needs and challenges. Details: Salt Lake City: College of Social Work, University of Utah, 2013. 179p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 20, 2017 at: https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=196123 Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Children of Prostitutes Shelf Number: 141125 |
Author: Morrow, Virginia Title: Understanding Children’s Experiences of Violence in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India: Evidence from Young Lives Summary: This paper explores children's accounts of violence in Andhra Pradesh, India, and the ways in which factors at the individual, family, community, institutional and society levels affect children’s experiences of violence. The paper analyses cross-sectional survey data and case studies from longitudinal qualitative data gathered over a seven-year period, from Young Lives. The paper is divided into four sections – a brief background section, study design and methods, findings from the survey, and findings from case studies. Large proportions of children experience violence (mostly physical punishment and emotional abuse) within their families, at school and, to some extent, within their communities. The findings demonstrate how children's experiences of violence change with age and that gender differences within this dynamic process are very distinct. The paper reveals that a child's disapproval of violence does not necessarily influence behaviour in later life, confirming the need for interventions to prevent and tackle violence as children grow up. Details: Florence, Italy: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Office of Research, (Innocenti) 2016. 53p. Source: Internet Resource: Innocenti Working Papers, IWP_2016_19: Accessed February 23, 2017 at: https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/IWP_2016_19.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect Shelf Number: 141195 |
Author: Ernst & Young Title: End-Line Evaluation: UN Women's AHT Program Summary: 'Human Trafficking' refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of individuals for the purpose of exploitation. The South Asian region is plagued by widespread cross-border trafficking. This problem is a direct manifestation of the economic disparity between countries and at times between different parts of the same country. It is also a result of a series of 'supply side' and 'demand side' factors. India is in the midst of this issue as a country which is a source, route of transit and a destination market for trafficked individuals. In India, human trafficking is predominantly directed toward providing cheap bonded labour to industries/businesses and on many occasions, for providing a supply to the local sex industry. As per the records of the Indian Government, in 2012, approximately 76,500 women were reported missing or abducted and can be considered highly susceptible to getting trafficked for bonded labour or sex trade. UN Women's Anti Human Trafficking (AHT) program was a first of its kind initiative which sought to address the problem of trafficking of women and girls by checking the problem at source. In this regard, the program was designed to successfully align itself to the factors that lead to women/girl's vulnerability to getting trafficked/exploited by malicious elements from within or outside the community. It identifies unsafe migration as one of the major channels/routes through which women/girls tend to get trafficked and hence tried to: - Put in place livelihood and income enhancement activities which can provide women/girls with alternatives to migration under economic duress. - Create awareness regarding the need for safe migration, how women and girls can safeguard themselves will migrating, human trafficking, rights and entitlements etc.-► Setup vigilance mechanisms through which the community can safeguard its members from getting trafficked/exploited. - Capacitate and educate Community Based Organizations (CBOs); especially Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to play an active role in safeguarding the community. This thereby ensures that the initiatives and activities set into motion under the program are owned by the community and sustained post program completion. Evaluation Methodology The End-line Evaluation for the program has been carried out under a Quasi-Experimental Design approach that is consultative and participatory in nature. The Evaluation seeks to assess progress and achievement through comparison with baseline estimates and further strengthen this assessment through comparisons under a 'case' and 'control' setup. The data/information that has been used as a basis of the Evaluation have been collected through a Mixed-Methodology Approach where quantitative data and qualitative information have been collected from the field through relevant questionnaires, tools and templates. The information has been collected under suitable sampling frameworks and triangulated to arrive at final analysis and conclusion. In its design, the Evaluation is Gender Responsive as it integrates concepts and principles in its evaluation Questions, Tools and Processes to analyse how the Anti-Human Trafficking Program advances the rights of the women and girls who are economically, socially marginalised and are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. The Evaluation analyses the impact of the program within the complex socio-cultural, political and historical contexts of each of the 6 States. The Evaluation Questions reviews how the two program strategies - (a) building social action and (b) strengthening State accountability mechanisms- has been effective in addressing the imbalance in power relations and empowering these vulnerable women/girls to take decisions which affect their lives. Details: s.l.: Ernst & Young, 2014. 121p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2017 at: http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/06/end-line-evaluation-un-women-s-anti-human-trafficking-program Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Child Sexual Exploitation Shelf Number: 146256 |
Author: Joseph, George Title: Underreporting of Gender-Based Violence in Kerala, India: an application of the list randomization method Summary: This paper analyzes the incidence and extent to which domestic violence and physical harassment on public/ private buses is underreported in Kerala, India, using the list randomization technique. The results indicate that the level of underreporting is over nine percentage points for domestic violence and negligible for physical harassment on public/private buses. Urban households, especially poor urban households, tend to have higher levels of incidence of domestic violence. Further, women and those who are professionally educated tend to underreport more than others. Underreporting is also higher among the youngest and oldest age cohorts. For physical harassment on public/private buses, rural population- especially the rural non-poor and urban females-tend to underreport compared with the rural poor and urban males. Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Research working paper; no. WPS 8044; Impact Evaluation series: Accessed June 24, 2017 at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/233811493218846386/pdf/WPS8044.pdf Year: 2017 Country: India Keywords: Domestic Violence Shelf Number: 146360 |
Author: Baldrich, Roxana Title: Taking the Law Into Our Own Hands: Female Vigilantism in India and Mexico Summary: To conclude, the female vigilantes presented in this paper clearly have a positive short and long-term impact on society. In spite of the limitations listed above, they significantly contribute to the improvement of living conditions for people within their respective communities, especially of those of girls and women. I do not agree with Rastogi and White's (2009) conclusion that "violent retributive activities do not challenge fundamental structures of domination in society over the long term" (324) nor with Sen's (2012) conclusion that "Globally, female vigilantism eventually achieves only partial social freedoms for women, while continuing to operate within the constraints and constants of patriarchal structures" (5-6). There might be female vigilante groups for which these claims are true, but they do not hold as a general conclusion. In the case of the female vigilantes presented in this paper, we have seen that the conclusions drawn on women participating in the autodefensas of Michoacan and Guerrero were mixed, as they do not act independently of men and the media sometimes portray them in a way that highlights the inequality between them and their male comrades. Concerning the Ni Una Mas movement, the Gulabi Gang and the Red Brigade, however, this paper has demonstrated that they clearly contribute to the betterment of society. They might not be in a position where they have the means and influence to radically change their communities, but it would be unrealistic to expect them to be able to achieve this in the short run. Considering the highly oppressive and violent contexts in which these women live, the manifold activities and services that they have developed are already revolutionary. And by showing their communities - and the world - that they want change and are ready to fight for it, they have taken the first step to reforming society. Today, there might still be flaws in their strategies and limitations to their impact, but they have already achieved a lot, and each and every of their small achievements contributes to long-term change in their communities. However, it is obvious that it takes a long time to make such change happen. In a nutshell, female vigilantism seems indeed to have "transformative and dynamic properties [...] that support and empower the potential for equitable and viable female agency (Graham-Bertolini, 2011, 4). In fact, the diversity of the activities undertaken by most of the vigilantes described in this paper prove that they do have a long-term, collective vision of what they would like to achieve: in addition to their short-term goals of protecting themselves against male aggression and providing their communities with services and support on a day-to-day basis, they also clearly work towards their long-term goal of empowering women. In fact, by giving women a voice and creating an environment for them in which they can act more self-determinedly and more independently of men, as well as by negating commonly assumed gender roles and prejudices about violent women, they might be able, in the long run, to change the place that is assigned to women within their respective communities, thereby improving women's living conditions and liberating them. The success and popularity of female vigilante groups is a proof of "the power of informal women's collectives to implement change without elite intervention or leadership" (Sen, 2012, 10). However, if the Ni Una Mas movement, the Gulabi Gang and the Red Brigade clearly contribute to the betterment of society, this is in large part thanks to their peaceful activities, not through the violent acts that they perpetrate. As we have seen in this paper, violence merely represents a starting point for these vigilante groups: it is used in order to gain the attention and respect of the community, especially of its male members and of officials, and thereby enable the women to carry out their manifold activities. He have also seen that members of female vigilante groups, especially of the Gulabi Gang and the Red Brigade, "are increasingly called upon by men to challenge not only male authority over women, but all human rights abuses inflicted on the weak" (website of Sampat Pal Devi). These findings are consistent with Rastogi and White's conclusion that Gulabi Gang members are "women with grassroots feminist sensibilities, offering psychological, social and justice-related assistance" (2009, 314), as well as with Graham-Bertolini's claim that female vigilantism can be described as a form of "constructive collective enterprise" (2011, 6). These findings indicate that an important direction for further research lies in the exploration of more traditional scholarly work on activism and social movements. It would indeed be very interesting to analyze female vigilantism from a perspective where the phenomenon is seen as part of more traditional forms of collective action. This approach would allow the researcher to refer to the abundant literature available on social movements, and on the role that violence can play within them. Traditional scholarly work on activism and social movements that would be helpful in this context includes, for instance, the work by Sidney Tarrow (1994) on "protest cycles", also known as cycles of contention or waves of collective action, which help explain the rise and fall in social movement activity, described by the author as being related to cyclical openings in political opportunity which create incentives for collective action. Another important work by Tarrow, developed in cooperation with Doug McAdam and Charles Tilly, concerns the concept of "contentious politics" (Doug, Tarrow and Tilly, 2001; Tarrow and Tilly, 2006), which explains how dynamics of social protest are tied to their social, political and economic contexts. With regard to the study of vigilantism, this concept is important both as a field of study and as a methodological approach, because, amongst other things, it helps describe the use of disruptive techniques to make a political point, or to change government policy. Another important contribution to the study of social movements by Tilly (1995) is the conceptualization of the "social movement repertoire" which describes "a limited set of routines that are learned, shared, and acted out through a relatively deliberate process of choice" (264). These routines "emerge from struggle" and change over space and time (Ibid.). The concepts of protest cycles, contentious politics and repertoires are particularly relevant to the study of vigilantism because they help describe and explain the repression of social movements, as well as consequences of, and reactions to, such repression. The latter include militants' adaptation techniques and their turn to violence (Steinhoff, P.G. and Zwerman, G., 2013). The issue of social movement repression is particularly important to further the study of the Ni Una Mas movement, and has been explored in more detail by Helene Combes (2009) and by Daniela Cuadros and Daniella Rocha (2013), amongst others. Some other sources that are relevant to further research on female vigilantism include work by Etienne Penissat (2009) on the occupation of premises - a strategy used by the Gulabi Gang - and work by Lucie Bargel and Xavier Dunezat (2009) on gender and activism - especially important with regard to the study of women within mixed vigilante groups. Details: Paris: Paris School of International Affairs, 2014. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed August 30, 2017 at: http://www.sciencespo.fr/psia/sites/sciencespo.fr.psia/files/Taking%20the%20Law%20Into%20Our%20Own%20Hands%20-%20Female%20Vigilantism%20in%20India%20%26%20Mexico_Roxanna%20Baldrich.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Female Vigilantes Shelf Number: 146956 |
Author: Shahrokh, Thea Title: MASVAW Movement Mapping Report: Movement Mapping and Critical Reflection with Activists of the Men's Action to Stop Violence Against Women (MASVAW) Campaign, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, August 2014 Summary: Engaging men and boys in addressing gender-based violence has grown in attention over the past 20 years. However, the emerging field predominantly focuses on the issues as a problem of individuals, neglecting the role of the institutions and policies that shape norms of gender inequality and perpetuate violent power asymmetries between men and women in people's everyday lives (Cornwall, Edstrom and Grieg 2011). Men's engagement in addressing GBV has therefore tended to be relatively depoliticised, focusing predominantly on individuals' attitude and behaviour change, and less on accountability of the structures that uphold patriarchal power relations and male supremacy, such as macroeconomic policies and the governance cultures of many formal and informal institutions. This movement mapping report thus introduces a collaborative research project between the Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), India, their local activist partners in the Men's Action to Stop Violence Against Women (MASVAW) campaign and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) to explore the effectiveness of men's collective action in addressing GBV. CHSJ is working across India on the issue of mobilising men to transform discriminatory norms into those based on equity, equality and gender justice to ensure the fundamental human rights of all people. The research is premised on the notion that challenging patriarchy and working towards gender equality must include working with men and boys to understand their privileges as well as the co-option, coercion and subjugation that they also face within a patriarchal system. In turn, we aim to improve understanding and knowledge of the changing roles of men in addressing GBV and how and why collective action holds possibilities as an effective strategy to support this in the Indian context. This research is exploring the actors, strategies, challenges, collaborations and pathways for future engagement of the MASVAW campaign that works across the state of Uttar Pradesh. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2015. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report 107: Accessed September 9, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/5733/ER107_MASVAWMovementMappingReport.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: India Keywords: Abusive Men Shelf Number: 147199 |
Author: Tankel, Stephen Title: The Indian Jihadist Movement: Evolution and Dynamics Summary: The Indian jihadist movement remains motivated primarily by domestic grievances rather than India-Pakistan dynamics. However, it is far more lethal than it otherwise would have been without external support from the Pakistani state, Pakistani and Bangladeshi jihadist groups, and the ability to leverage Bangladesh, Nepal, and certain Persian Gulf countries for sanctuary and as staging grounds for attacks in India. External support for the Indian mujahideen (IM) from the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and Pakistan-based militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) persists, but the question of command and control is more difficult to discern. The IM is best viewed as an LeT associate rather than an LeT affiliate. The Indian mujahideen emerged as part of a wider jihadist project in India, but now constitutes the primary domestic jihadist threat. IM is best understood as a label for a relatively amorphous network populated by jihadist elements from the fringes of the Students Islamic Movement of India and the criminal underworld. Today, it has a loose leadership currently based in Pakistan and moves between there and the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The direct threat to India from its indigenous jihadist movement is manageable and unlikely to impact the country's forward progress or wider regional stability. It is a symptom of political, socioeconomic, and communal issues that India arguably would need to address even if indigenous jihadism disappeared tomorrow. An attack or series of attacks by indigenous jihadists, however, start a wave of communal violence in India or trigger a diplomatic crisis with Pakistan. With or without LeT assistance, the IM constitutes a potential, but minimal, direct threat to U.S. and Western interests in India. Details: Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2014. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Institute for National Strategic Studies Strategic Perspectives 17: Accessed January 25, 2018 at: http://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/stratperspective/inss/Strategic-Perspectives-17.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Jihadist Movement Shelf Number: 148925 |
Author: Oosterhoff, Pauline Title: Tackling Gun Violence in India Summary: This rapid response briefing covers topics such as emerging trends of growing gun-related violence in urban India, lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, the relationship between gun violence and poverty and implications for policies and programmes dealing with gun-related crime in Indian cities. The briefing argues that gun-related violence has far-reaching adverse impacts on all levels of society. In addition to murder and injury, gun violence can exacerbate cycles of highly localised urban poverty, inequality and vulnerability. India has the second largest number of homicides in the world but the issue is little discussed. In contrast to well-known gun violence in the Americas and Africa, and is absent from public security and development agendas. With criminal violence generating at least ten times more deaths and injuries in India than terrorism and conflict, there is an urgent need to re-orient policies towards preventative frameworks and to focus efforts on rapidly growing mid-size cities suffering from under-resourced police forces and rising youth unemployment. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2015. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Rapid Response Briefing Issue 11: Accessed February 6, 2018 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/7117/RRB11.pdf;jsessionid=50B8788AB50E10C136D8D592E10672B7?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: India Keywords: Gun Violence Shelf Number: 148992 |
Author: Lopes, Adrian Anthony Title: Essays on the Economics of Poaching Summary: Charismatic mega-fauna species such as elephants and rhinos have valuable tusks and horns that are sought after by opportunistic poachers. Poaching also assumes the form of subsistence hunting by households living in and around protected areas. The conservation of endangered animal species is important for the environmental sustainability of natural ecosystems. This dissertation consists of four separate essays on the economics of poaching and protection of endangered species. The first essay examines the labor allocation problem of an opportunistic poacher harvesting an endangered species within a protected area. The labor allocation problem is coupled with the species' population dynamics to estimate how poaching responds to economic parameters over time. The model provides insight into the relationship between species population dynamics, economic parameters, and biological parameters. Interesting and counterintuitive results are observed for a wide range of economic and biological parameters. Civil unrest and political instability have been associated with poaching. In the second essay I examine an empirical data set on rhino poaching in Assam, India. Assam witnessed a prolonged period of civil unrest and political instability during which rhino poaching increased dramatically. The relationship between civil unrest and rhino poaching is identified through an econometric exercise. I factor in the relationship between poaching and other variables associated with it - including black-market rhino horn prices, potential size of black markets, and anti-poaching efforts. These variables are seen to have the predicted associations with poaching, and help identify the latter's relationship with civil unrest. International criminal syndicates sponsor elephant poaching in Africa. The third essay develops a dynamic a model of organized criminal poaching. Under plausible conditions poaching is insensitive to black-market price of ivory, but changes dramatically with the probability of interception by anti-poaching patrols. Parameter space is analyzed extensively to ascertain the effect of economic parameters on elephant population sustainability. In the fourth essay I examine the strategic interaction between poachers and anti-poachers in a spatiotemporal setting. A space is conceptualized within which meta-populations of elephants disperse temporally. Optimal locational strategies of poachers and anti-poachers are solved for, and their effects on elephant population dynamics are examined. Details: Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2014. 158p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 27, 2018 at: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/142/1421570131.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 149267 |
Author: Kumar, Surender Title: Crime and Economic Growth: Evidence from India Summary: This paper empirically examines the causality between crime rates and economic growth using state level data in India. A reduced form equation has been estimated using instrumental variable approach to correct for joint endogeneity between crime and economic growth. Higher crimes may reduce level of per capita income and its growth rate. Controlling intentional homicide and robbery rates in each of the states to the minimum level they observed during 1991-2011 period, the predicted annual growth in per capita income could have been higher by 1.57 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively. The average annual gain in growth rate by bringing down the homicide rate at a level of national minimum could be 0.62 percentage points. Note that the loss in growth rate is lower or negative in the states that have higher per capita income. Details: Munich: Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), 2013. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: MPRA Paper No. 48794: Accessed May 21, 2018 at: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/48794/1/MPRA_paper_48794.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Crime and Economics Shelf Number: 150320 |
Author: Amaral, Sofia Title: Gender, Crime and Punishment: Evidence from Women Police Stations in India Summary: We study the impact of an innovative policy intervention in India that led to a rapid expansion in 'all women police stations' across cities in India on reported crime against women and deterrence. Using an identification strategy that exploits the staggered implementation of women police stations across cities and nationally representative data on various measures of crime and deterrence, we find that the opening of police stations increased reported crime against women by 22 percent. This is due to increases in reports of female kidnappings and domestic violence. In contrast, reports of gender-specific mortality and other non-gender specific crimes remain unchanged. Our findings suggest that the reported crime against women is driven by an increase in women's willingness to report crime due to greater exposure to female police officers. We also find that the implementation of women police stations also led to improvements in measures of police deterrence such as arrest rates. Details: Unpublished paper, 2018. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 17, 2018 at: https://www.isid.ac.in/~epu/acegd2017/papers/NishithPrakash.pdf Year: 2018 Country: India Keywords: Female Police Officers Shelf Number: 151168 |
Author: Banerjee, Swapnedu Title: 'Women on Top' and/or 'Economic Progress': What Affects Actual and Reported Crime Against Women? An Analysis of Socio-Economic Factors in India Summary: We in this paper make an attempt to examine whether having a woman chief minister helps in reducing actual crime and increase reported crime against women. Also we examine whether economic progress affects crime against women. We find evidence that having a women chief minister has no effect on actual and reported crime against women whereas economic progress does lead to reduced crime against women. We also look at other socio-economic factors and find that increased female labour force participation, urbanization and policing increases reporting of crime whereas increased female literacy doesnt necessarily lead to increased reporting of crime against women. Details: Kolkata, 2018. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 11, 2018 at: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/84428/ Year: 2018 Country: India Keywords: Crimes Against Women Shelf Number: 152885 |
Author: Amaral, Sofia Title: Unmarried Men and Violence Against Women: the Long-Run Effects of Sex Selection in India Summary: This paper investigates the consequences of sex imbalance in India's population for violence against women. We match district level administrative crime data by category to age-specific sex ratios in census data across four decades and, to analyse mechanisms, we also use administrative data on marriage rates and household survey data on attitudes to violence against women and marriage quality. We estimate that the elasticity of violence against women with respect to the surplus of men age 20-24 is unity, and that this explains about 35 percent of the rise in gender-based violence since 1995. Although less robust, there is some evidence that the youth sex ratio also raises non-gendered forms of violence, but we find no discernible impact upon property and economic crime. In probing mechanisms we argue that men are more prone to crime than women, that the share of unmarried men is increasing in the youth sex ratio, that attitudes to violence against women are evolving as a function of the sex ratio at birth and marriage quality measures, including self-reported domestic violence, are negatively related to sex ratios. Details: United Kingdom: Institute for Social and Economic Research, 2016. 109p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 24, 2018 at:https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/working-papers/iser/2017-12.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Gender Based Violence Shelf Number: 153086 |
Author: Oosterhoff, Pauline Title: Participatory statistics to measure prevalence in bonded labour hotspots in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: findings of the baseline study Summary: The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) has been carrying out a programme of research, learning and evaluation in relation to the Freedom Fund 'hotspot' in northern India, a project that seeks to reduce bonded labour in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The work for this baseline study builds upon scoping visits comprising interviews with nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), focus groups with community members, field observations, the participatory collection and analysis of 353 life stories to identify the most significant indicators of change, and the generation of a baseline of participatory statistics of 3,466 households across 82 hamlets in locations covered by 14 NGOs. This is being followed by the rollout of a systemic action research programme which combines stakeholders analysing and developing solutions to their problems with follow-up participatory statistical analysis. We will conduct an end-line survey approximately two years after the data collection for this study has been completed. A central aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of bonded labour in the selected intervention communities of the Freedom Fund hotspot in northern India. The study does not extrapolate from this estimate to make an estimate of the prevalence beyond this intervention area. Prevalence data help mainly to understand the profile of families in bonded labour and any correlations with different variables. The analysis of life stories provided a better insight into the life situations of families in bonded labour and explored questions of why and how. A range of other indicators could therefore be generated from the causal factors emerging from the life story analysis. The team facilitated a discussion on the results at the end of the data collection process in each site. These discussions focused on the reasons for the differences in prevalence results using the tallied-up data to explore how gender, age and caste dynamics shape bonded labour, with most adults in bonded labour working inside the village; most boys in bondage working outside the village; and a group of families with all members in bonded labour working outside the village. The estimates from this participatory statistical analysis show the correlations of bonded labour with various factors. Where possible, conclusions have been drawn about whether this quantitative analysis corroborates certain widely held assumptions with regard to forms of bonded labour in India. Key findings are as follows: - Within the sample of 3,466 households, most households have a member in bonded labour. Among the 51% of the families that had people in bonded labour, 29% had all of the working family members in bonded labour and 22% had at least one enslaved family member. The interventions are clearly in the right spot. - There are huge geographic variations within our sample: in some intervention areas, the vast majority of households had some form of bonded labour (>95%), while in others the rate was less than 10%. - Within the intervention communities, the prevalence rate of households with at least one member in bonded labour was 53.0%. With a standard deviation of 0.4991032, and a desired confidence level of 90%, the corresponding confidence interval is 0.014, meaning that we can be 90% confident that the true population mean falls within the range of 51.72 to 54.51%. - Among the total number of 3,366 bonded labourers in 3,466 households, 568 were bonded labourers aged below 18 years and 467 of these were boys. Most of the boys who were involved in bonded labour worked outside the village. Adults in bonded labour worked more often inside the village. - Caste, gender, age, access to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) benefits, and loan-taking are the key factors at the individual and household level related to bonded labour in this hotspot. Within the hotspot as a whole there are different economic activities but there are currently few economic opportunities available that do not involve some form of bondage. - With regard to social status, most people in the intervention areas belonged to the Dalit (or Scheduled Caste) social category, followed closely by Other Backward Classes (OBC). - The data show a link between land ownership status and bonded labour. While 61.9% of landless households have at least one person in bonded labour, as many as 75.9% of landless households have every working member of the household in bonded labour. As the size of the land holding increases, the prevalence of bonded labour in those households decreases. Within the intervention communities in both states, most people have a stable lease for the house they live in. - Health expenses are the main reason for taking out a loan among all households in the intervention areas. - With regard to MGNREGA, as payment received for the number of days worked increases, the incidence of bonded labour decreases slightly. - Access to a bank account does not have any significant impact on the status of bonded labour. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies; Institute for Participatory Practices, 2017. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2018 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/13294/Participatory_statistics_to_measure_prevalence_bonded_labour_hotspots_Uttar_Pradesh_Bihar-Updated.pdf;jsessionid=F6499342A64338979F2609003F2B81A2?sequence=3 Year: 2017 Country: India Keywords: Bonded Labor Shelf Number: 153102 |
Author: Siddique, Zahra Title: Violence and Female Labor Supply Summary: This paper explores whether fear and safety concerns have an impact on behavior such as female labor supply in a developing country context. The effect of media reported physical and sexual assaults on urban women's labor force participation in India is investigated by combining nationally representative cross-sectional microeconomic surveys carried out between 2009 and 2012 with a novel geographically referenced data source on media reports of assaults. I find that an increase in lagged sexual assault reports within one's own district reduces the probability that a woman is employed outside her home by 0.44 percentage points (or 3.6% of the sample average). I find this effect despite ruling out several sources of unobserved heterogeneity. This effect is also robust to a number of sensitivity checks. Consistent with a model in which women make investments to overcome fear in the presence of economic incentives, I find that the effect of local violence on labor supply is weaker among women from poorer households. I also find this effect to be weaker among high caste Hindu women, but strong among Muslim women. Details: Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), 2018. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 11874: Accessed November 15, 2018 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11874.pdf Year: 2018 Country: India Keywords: Economics and Crime Shelf Number: 153473 |
Author: Blanc, Julian J. Title: Weather Shocks, Crime, and Agriculture: Evidence from India Summary: Abstract We use detailed crime, agriculture, and weather data from India during the years 1971-2000 to conduct a systematic analysis of the relationship between weather shocks and multiple categories of crime. We find that drought and heat exert a strong impact on virtually all types of crimes, that the impact on property crimes is larger than for violent crimes, and that this relationship has been relatively stable over three decades of economic development. We then use seasonal and geographical disaggregations of weather and agricultural cultivation to examine the prevailing hypothesis that agricultural income shocks drive the weather-crime relationship in developing countries. The patterns we find are consistent with this hypothesis in the case of rainfall shocks, but suggest other mechanisms may play a more important role in driving the heat-crime relationship, consistent with evidence from industrialized countries. Details: New York, NY: New York University, 2014. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 14, 2019 at: http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2017/04/18/jhr.53.3.0715-7234R1.abstract Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Agricultural Cultivation Shelf Number: 154230 |
Author: Kovacs, Anja Title: 'Don't Let it Stand!': An Exploratory Study of Women and Verbal Online Abuse in India Summary: This paper seeks to explore the different forms of verbal abuse that women who are publicly vocal on online platforms in India face and the strategies they use to deal with such abuse. Giving rise to new ways to exercise the right to freedom of expression, to the potential of fluid identities and to new ways to interact for those with limited offline opportunities, the democratisation of societies through the Internet is a phenomenon many have celebrated. But in reality, the hierarchies of the real world are all too often not effaced in the virtual world; instead, they are reborn and reconstructed in such a way that new mediums become the sites for old discriminations. Despite the Internet's empowering potential, the gender-based hierarchies, violences, and manifestations of discrimination that women (or people who do not define their genders as singularly male) must face on a daily basis are also paralleled online, in India as elsewhere. Details: New Delhi: Internet Democracy Project, 2013. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 4, 2019 at: https://internetdemocracy.in/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Internet-Democracy-Project-Women-and-Online-Abuse.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India Keywords: Computer Crime Shelf Number: 154471 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: Violent Cow Protection in India: Vigilante Groups Attack Minorities Summary: Leading members of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have increasingly used communal rhetoric to spur a violent vigilante campaign against beef consumption and those linked to the cow trade. Many Hindus consider cows to be sacred. So-called cow protection groups, many claiming to be affiliated to militant Hindu groups with BJP ties, have sprung up across the country. They have led attacks that have killed at least 44 people across 12 Indian states since mid-2015. Their victims are largely Muslim or from Dalit (formerly known as "untouchables") and Adivasi (indigenous) communities. Violent Cow Protection in India details 11 cases in which 14 people were killed and the government response. In almost all the cases, the police initially stalled investigations, ignored procedures, or were even complicit in the killings and cover-up of crimes. Instead of promptly investigating and arresting suspects, the police filed complaints against victims, their families, and witnesses under laws that ban cow slaughter. In several cases, political leaders of Hindu nationalist groups, including elected BJP officials, defended the assaults. In July 2018, India's Supreme Court condemned these "horrendous acts of mobocracy" and issued a series of directives for "preventive, remedial and punitive" measures. Human Rights Watch calls upon national and state governments to enforce the Supreme Court directives; ensure proper investigations to identify and prosecute perpetrators regardless of their political connections; and hold to account police and other institutions that fail to uphold rights because of caste or religious prejudice. Details: New York: HRW, 2019. 107p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 19, 2019 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/india0219_web3.pdf Year: 2019 Country: India Keywords: Animal Abuse Shelf Number: 154657 |
Author: Health Poverty Action Title: The Hidden Opioid Crisis: how the so-called 'war of drugs' leaves patients dying in pain Summary: Terminally ill patients, predominantly in the Global South, are dying in pain due to repressive drug policies. The failed 'war on drugs' has led many governments in low and middle-income countries to adopt excessively restrictive drug policies due to the stigma and concern around illegal use. This has reduced access to legal pain medication such as morphine. Global access to pain relief displays stark inequality. While the US is suffering from an overdose epidemic, the plight of much of the rest of the world is hidden. The majority of people needing pain relief live in poorer countries where access is severely lacking, leaving millions dying in horrendous and preventable pain. Our briefing, 'The Hidden Opioid Crisis: How the so-called 'war on drugs' leaves patients to die in pain', examines the impact of the so-called 'war on drugs' on access to opioid-based pain relief, such as morphine in three Indian states. It shows how stigma and misinformation around opioids resulting from the failed 'war on drugs' have led to complex bureaucratic regulations and restrictive legislation. This, combined with a lack of understanding of opioid medication and inadequate training means institutions and health workers are failing to prescribe morphine to patients in pain. As a result, terminally ill patients are forced to travel hundreds of miles just to get pain relief, leaving them with travel costs and loss of income that drive families into debt. Others are simply unable to access it and die in pain. This is a story that is repeated in many parts of the world. Details: London: The Author, 2019. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing: Accessed March 5, 2019 at: https://www.healthpovertyaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/India-opioid-crisis-briefing-WEB.pdf Year: 2019 Country: India Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 154807 |
Author: Kara, Siddharth Title: Tainted Carpets: Slavery and Child Labor in India's Hand-Made Carpet Sector Summary: The issue of child labor in Indias hand-made carpet sector has received extensive attention since the early 1990s. This is in large part due to the fact that India is the largest exporter of hand-made carpets in the world. Numerous investigations have been conducted by academic and NGO researchers, which have consistently demonstrated some level of child labor in Indias carpet sector. Most of these studies have targeted the traditional "Carpet Belt" region of Uttar Pradesh that encapsulates the three cities of Bhadohi, Mirzapur, and Varanasi, sampling a few dozen to at most a few hundred cases. Other modes of servile labor exploitation such as bonded labor and human trafficking have not been investigated as extensively, and few, if any, investigations have extended beyond the traditional Carpet Belt area. Finally, very little, if any, supply chain tracing of tainted carpets has previously been conducted. This investigation seeks to fill these crucial lacunae in previous investigations into India's hand-made carpet sector by: 1) documenting over 3,200 total cases, 2) exploring well beyond the traditional Carpet Belt across nine states in northern India, 3) investigating all modes of slave-like labor exploitation found in the carpet sector, and 4) documenting the supply chain of tainted carpets from the point of production to the point of retail sale in the United States. The Summary Findings of the research are as follows: - 3,215 cases of forced labor under Indian law; est. 45% industry prevalence - 2,612 cases of forced labor under international law; est. 37% industry prevalence - 2,010 cases of bonded labor; est. 28% industry prevalence - 1,406 cases of child labor; est. 20% industry prevalence - 286 cases of human trafficking; est. four percent industry prevalence - Production sites of 172 Indian carpet exporters documented - Average hourly wage for carpet workers of $0.211 - Chronic underpayment of minimum wages by 40% to 65% - Women and children paid 12% to 32% less than adult males - 99.9% of cases belong to minority ethnicities or low caste groups - 60%/40% ratio between males and females (sharper gender divisions by geography) - 18% of workers owned dwelling or land - 10% of workers were migrants - Age of workers ranged from eight to 80 years - Average work day is 10 to 12 hours, six to seven days a week - 2,675 cases in hand-knotted carpet production; 540 in hand-tufted - 80% of loans in bonded labor cases were taken for basic consumption. Details: Cambridge, MA: FXB Center for Health and Human Rights Harvard School of Public Health // Harvard University, 2014. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 8, 2019 at: https://cdn2.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/01/Tainted-Carpets-Released-01-28-14.pdf Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Bonded Labor Shelf Number: 154847 |
Author: Singhal, Vipin Title: Honour Killing in India: An Assessment Summary: Abstract 'Honour Killing' is a cultural crime or a cultural tradition prevalent amongst non-Caucasian Societies which perceive women as bearers of family honour. Indian cultures are very deep rooted. Many young people in India have been done to death every year owing to 'Honour Killings.' It is because so called honour killings are based on the belief, deeply rooted in Indian cultures, which consider the women as objects and commodities, and not as human beings endowed with dignity and rights. Most honour killings occur in countries like India where the concept of women is considered as a vessel of the family reputation. This paper is an attempt to tackle the very important issue of a cultural crime that is magnifying day by day like a monster untamed. It is hard to believe that in the 21st century that too in the largest democracy of the world, families murder their kith and kin for allegedly saving their honour. But the question to be asked is this, is there any honour is killing? The concept of law that each man may do what he likes, provided he does not injure the equal freedom of others has been central to legal theory. As conditions of existence vary among different peoples and times, so do the principles of ethics and law. In any society there is a close connection between social morality and the legal order. There cannot be and there never has been a complete separation of law and morality. Historically ad ideological orders are observed into the legal order. And while in the traditional more or less custom bound society the flow was essentially in one direction the gradual transformation of social behaviour into legal custom and from custom into legislative prescription in the contemporary highly articulate and organized society, the law becomes in turn increasingly a major factor in the formation of social morality. However, there are times where the rule of law has been over ridden to give way to arbitrary and often violent actions by the society in order to preserve morality or honour of the clan. Every year around the world an increasing number of women are killed in the name of honour. Relatives, usually male, commit acts of violence against wives, sisters, daughters and mothers to reclaim their family honour from real or suspected actions that are perceived to have compromised it. Due to discriminator social beliefs and extremist views of gender, officials often condone or ignore the use of torture and brutality against women. As a result, the majority of so called honour killings so unreported and perpetrators face little, if any, consequence. Details: S.L.: 2014. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2019 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2406031 Year: 2014 Country: India Keywords: Cultural Crime Shelf Number: 155245 |
Author: Kotiswaran, Prabha Title: Trafficking: A Development Approach Summary: Almost twenty years since the adoption of the Palermo Protocol on Trafficking, anti-trafficking law and discourse continue to be in a state of tremendous flux and dynamic evolution. While the efficacy of using criminal law to tackle an irreducibly socioeconomic problem of labour exploitation was always suspect, scholars and activists alike sought to remedy the excesses of a criminal justice approach by articulating a human rights approach to trafficking. Arguing that this did not go far enough, labour law scholars called for a labour approach to trafficking in order to forefront the role that a redistributive mechanism like labour law could perform in supporting the agency of workers to counter vulnerability to trafficking. Since then, trafficking has evolved into a development issue with the articulation of Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 around which international organisations have mobilised considerable resources. Influential actors believe that bringing development to countries of the Global South will help them eliminate 'modern slavery'. My paper instead builds on the critique of the developmental project to elaborate on the key elements of a development approach to trafficking, one which is rooted in the realities of the developing world and which recognizes the fundamentally different configurations of the state, market, civil society and legal system in the Global South. Using the example of India, I argue that conventional regulatory responses to 'trafficking' and 'modern slavery' must be fundamentally rethought and that an uncritical reliance on a criminal law approach to trafficking must be replaced by efforts to implement domestic labour and social welfare laws which are themselves the result of long-term struggles for decent work and against extreme exploitation. Details: London: University College London, 2019. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Faculty of Laws University College London Law Research Paper No. 4/2019: Accessed April 12, 2019 at; https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3349103 Year: 2019 Country: India Keywords: Domestic Labor Workers Shelf Number: 55384 |
Author: Jain, Juhee Title: Why People Fall Prey to Ponzi Schemes? - An Analysis of Attitudes, Behaviours, Demographics, and Motivations Summary: This research project seeks to analyse the demographics, motivation, behaviour patterns, and attitudes of victims of ponzi schemes in India. The project employs, chiefly, a survey based research approach and its main contribution would be providing pointers to the regulatory agencies for devising effective investor education programs as well as other recommendations which can be used to help curb the menace of ponzi schemes which is afflicting India. The study uses data collected through interviews and an online survey of victims of the INR20.0 billion (around GBP227.0 million) Gainbitcoin ponzi scheme recently unearthed in India. The data, for the research project, has been collected keeping in view all the relevant ethical considerations. Details: Leicester, England: De Montfort University, 2018. 133p. Source: Internet Resource Dissertation: Accessed May 30, 2019 at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328797929_Why_People_Fall_Prey_to_Ponzi_Schemes_An_Analysis_of_Attitudes_Behaviours_Demographics_and_Motivations_of_Victims_in_India Year: 2018 Country: India Keywords: Bitcoin Shelf Number: 156099 |
Author: Gordon, Sandy Title: Muslims, Terrorism and Rise of the Hindu Right in India Summary: This paper examines India's attempt to "Hinduize" its secular polity in defense of the radicalization of Islam in South Asia and the "war on terror" resulting in a radical movement in a minority of Indian Muslims outside of Kashmir. The author notes that a harsh response could result in a downward spiral into terrorism and counterterrorism, causing many implications for India and the region. The paper concludes that elements within the secular Indian government can influence factors fostering unrest between Hindus and Muslim. Details: Canberra: Australian National University, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, 2004. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. 389: Accessed June 7, 2019 at: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/34047/052004_389_Muslims_India.pdf Year: 2004 Country: India Keywords: Hindus Shelf Number: 156319 |
Author: ECPAT Netherlands Title: Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism. Country Specific Report: India: West Bengal Summary: India is home to the biggest child population in the world. The country has an approximate of 44O million children, thus constituting more than 40% of the total population. With more than one-third of its population below 18 years, India has the largest young population in the world. Thus the onus is on the Government as well as the larger society to ensure a safe and healthy environment for the development of its children. According to a report titled "Children in India 2012 - A Statistical Appraisal" by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India; there has been a decline of 5.05 millions in the population of children aged 0-6 years during the decade 2001-2011. In India about 1.83 Million children die annually before the completion of their fifth birthday, most of them owing to avertable causes. This simply highlights the meagre health care facilities available to infants and children in the country. The census also noted an increase in the number of child labourers from 11.28 million in 1991 to 12.66 million in 2001. The report also highlighted an upsurge in the rates of crimes against children, with a notable rise in crimes such as Kidnapping and Abduction, Rape, Foeticide and Procuration of Minor Girls, with Maharashtra accounting for 74% of the total buying of girls for prostitution and West Bengal accounting for 77% of the selling of girls for prostitution, during the reporting period. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children is a global phenomenon that is rampant in the Indian subcontinent as well. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children is defined as the "sexual abuse where any form of compensation in cash or in kind is made to the child or a third person(s). The child is treated as a sexual and commercial object." Simply put, Commercial sexual exploitation of children occurs when individuals buy, sell or trade sexual acts with minor girls, boys or transgendered children. Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, especially of children is a highly profitable business and is recurrent in all parts of the Indian society. Another form of child sexual exploitation is the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. Sex tourism includes the sexual exploitation of children by International and Indian tourists. Children selling trinkets on the beaches, street children, children working in shops in tourist locations etc. are often vulnerable to this kind of exploitation. Sex tourism is often facilitated by travel agencies, tour guides, hotels and other related business. Moreover, cheaper air fares, opening up of newer locations and better connectivity as well as the dissemination of the internet to all corners of the world has provided easy access to child abusers looking for cheap sex with young victims. Tourism has been a major social phenomenon of societies all over the world. It is driven by the natural desire of every human being to gather new experiences as well as to be entertained. Travel and tourism is the largest service industry in India. It is expected that the tourism sector's contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow at the rate of 7.8 % yearly in the period of 2013-2023. The Indian tourism sector has been thriving in the recent years owing to the improved connectivity to and from the country. Also, better lodging and communication facilities at the tourist destinations in India have been important factors that have contributed to the increase in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA). However, Tourism does not only entail a positive impact on local cultures. The commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women has paralleled the growth of tourism in many parts of India. Though tourism is not the exclusive cause of sexual exploitation, it often generates the demand for commercial sex and also provides easy access to it. In several situations, children and young adults are trafficked and sold into brothels on the margins of tourist areas and often fall prey to commercial sexual exploitation and paedophilia. In other situations, many young women as well as children often trade their bodies in exchange for expensive gifts and easy money from tourists. Details: Netherlands: ECPAT Netherlands, 2016. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 14, 2019 at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/3.-SECTT-INDIA-WEST-BENGAL.pdf Year: 2016 Country: India Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 156993 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for South Asia Title: India Country Report: To Prevent and Combat Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Women Summary: Traffi cking of human beings, especially of women and children, is an organized crime that violates basic human rights. As per the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traffi cking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, traffi cking is defi ned as any activity leading to recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or a position of vulnerability. Traffi cking as a crime has seen an increasing trend especially in the last two decades globally. Human traffi cking has been identifi ed as the third largest source of profi t for organized crime, following arms and drug traffi cking, generating billions of dollars annually at the global level. Traffi cking takes places for various purposes such as labour, prostitution, organ trade, drug couriers, arms smuggling etc. However, these cannot be seen in isolation as they have a crosscutting nexus and linkage, which compounds the constraints faced in tackling the problem. It is also seen that while the methods used for traffi cking such as coercion, duping, luring, abducting, kidnapping etc. are commonly cited, it is the social and economic constraints of the victims that make them most vulnerable. With growing globalization and liberalization, the possibilities and potential for traffi cking have also grown. People tend to migrate in search of better opportunities. Though this is a positive trend, it has also led to the emergence of other complex issues such as smuggling of people across borders and unsafe migration by unscrupulous touts and agents. While trafficking has severe implications on the psycho-social and economic well-being of the victim, highly adverse ramifications are also seen on the society and the nation. By denying the victims their basic rights to good health, nutrition, education and economic independence, the country loses a large number of women and children as victims to this crime, who otherwise would have contributed productively to its growth. A growing concern is that trafficking has an adverse impact on the problem of HIV/AIDS too. Some studies have revealed that the longer the confinement in brothels, the greater is the probability of the victims contracting HIV/AIDS due to poor negotiation for safe sex methods. The country has to incur huge costs for health and rehabilitation as well as for law enforcement. Trafficking - Situation in India India is a Republic comprising 28 States and seven Union Territories, and has a population of more that one billion. The Constitution of India envisages a parliamentary form of government and is federal in nature, with unitary features. The States of India vary greatly in terms of language, culture, religion and tradition. Over the years, India has emerged as a source, destination, and transit country for traffi cking for varied purposes such as for commercial sexual exploitation and labour. While intra-country traffi cking forms the bulk of the traffi cked victims, cross-border traffi cking also takes place, especially from Nepal and Bangladesh. Women and children are also traffi cked to the Middle Eastern countries and other parts of the world for purposes of cheap labour and commercial sexual exploitation. The number of traffi cked persons is diffi cult to determine due to the secrecy and clandestine nature of the crime. However, studies and surveys sponsored by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) estimates that there are about three million prostitutes in the country, of which an estimated 40 percent are children, as there is a growing demand for very young girls to be inducted into prostitution on account of customer preferences. A few alarming trends that have emerged in recent years are sexual exploitation through sex tourism, child sex tourism, paedophilia, prostitution in pilgrim towns and other tourist destinations, cross-border traffi cking (especially from Nepal and Bangladesh) etc. Substantial efforts have been made in the last decade or so in the area of Anti-Human Traffi cking by government institutions/state machinery, the civil society organizations, the judiciary and the law enforcement authorities. The purpose of this India Country Report is multi-pronged: Primarily, it documents the journey traversed by India in addressing the issues of traffi cking in women and children from World Congress II (WCII - Yokohama, 2002) to World Congress III on Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents (WCIII - Rio de Janeiro, 2008)1. It elucidates the good practices in the area of anti-human traffi cking in the country and also acknowledges the efforts of the government, civil society organizations, international, bilateral and multilateral agencies, survivor groups, as well as dedicated individuals in the country to combat this heinous crime. Finally, the document also explicates the processes through which prevention, protection and prosecution efforts, towards anti-human traffi cking, have evolved in India. The report will not only be a tool for presenting the anti-human traffi cking efforts in India at the World Congress III (Rio de Janeiro, November 2008), but also act as an advocacy document to identify and infl uence future programming. Details: New Delhi, India: United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, 2008. 81p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 15, 2019 at: https://www.unodc.org/pdf/india/publications/India%20Country%20Report.pdf Year: 2008 Country: India Keywords: Child Sex Tourism Shelf Number: 157008 |