Trafficking of girls on rise along Indo-Pak border: NCW head

Chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW), Mamta Sharma, on Friday said that the trafficking of girls has seen a rise in Rajasthan along the Indo-Pak border.

Speaking on the occasion of Women's Day on Friday at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Sharma said that it is a matter of concern that "girls are being trafficked to Afghanistan and Pakistan along the border in Rajasthan." She also added that the trafficking of girls was also happening along the country's border with Nepal and the matter had earlier been taken up with the Napal government.

The NCW Chairperson highlighted other issues of concern, such as child marriages happening in rural areas of the country as well as the declining sex ratio. "Female foeticide is one of the main reasons for decline in sex ratio and it is alarming in some areas and destabilizes the population dynamics," said Sharma. She also added that the other major area of concern is domestic violence and also emphasised on the need for change in the mindset to arrest incidents of "family violence."

She said that harassment to woman is not only happening in "poor" families but is also rampant in the families of well-to-do people. "We have received cases of harassment from all sections of society including business families and those of bureaucrats. We need to change the mindset to ensure that domestic violence ends," she said.

The NWC Chairperson also emphasised pointed out that women have already made their mark in different spheres of activity in society. She however said that there is more that needs to be done to ensure gender equality, particularly in the work place. Mamta Sharma also expressed concern over the recent Delhi gang rape and made her anguish clear over the incidents of cops misbehaving with women. She said that there is a need to rein in on the police force to prevent incidents of public thrashing of women.

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