(Edinburgh Western)
(LD):...We will hear the words of many
great women in today’s debate, but I want to leave the chamber
with those of a man, Indian movie star Amitabh Bachchan. Like me,
he woke up to iniquities of the patriarchy that had benefited him
so richly. He said:
“Because you are women, people will force
their thinking on you, their boundaries on you. They will tell
you how to dress, how to behave, who you can meet and where you
can go. Don’t live in the shadows of people’s judgment. Make your
own choices in the light of your own wisdom.”
I see in those words the spirit and
strength of my aunt Joan and the many great women with whom I am
proud to share this chamber...
(Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch)
(SNP):...One of the busiest slave
trafficking routes anywhere in the world is the trafficking of
girls from Nepal to India for forced prostitution. An estimated
100,000 to 200,000 trafficked Nepali people are in India. Each of
them has a face, a name and a home. Every year, about 10,000
Nepali women and girls are trafficked to India and attempts are
made to traffic many more. However, only 350 cases of trafficking
were actually registered with the police. I will say those
figures again. Every year, about 10,000 Nepali women are
trafficked and only 350 cases are reported...
...After the earthquake in 2015, the
numbers of trafficked women rose significantly because of the
increase in poverty. In communities in Nepal, selling a woman is,
today, a means of feeding a family. They are being sold by
brothers, fathers and husbands. Some are saved. Deepika is a
17-year-old girl who was taken by her “brother” to the passport
office to apply for a passport. The authorities had a few doubts
about her reasons for applying, because when she was asked where
she was going and why, she did not know. After a number of
questions, the authorities discovered that the man with her was
not her brother—he was there to send her abroad. He swiftly
disappeared and Deepika was supported to go home after being
counselled on the risks of trafficking and sexual exploitation.
She had been under the impression that she was to be given a job
in India that would contribute to the household income.
Not everybody is saved before it is
too late. Last week, the International Justice Mission, which has
been the subject of a members’ debate that was led by , helped police to bust a
trafficking network in India. It was based in a hotel, where
girls and young women were being sold for sex through a secretive
trafficking network of people who were making thousands from
their abuse. Of the six victims, two were children. Almost 20 per
cent of victims in private trafficking networks are
children—young girls. Last year, four women were rescued in the
same city. The youngest was 13 years old. They had been moved
around constantly, and were being sold for sex in homes and
apartments...
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