The United Nations defines trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of people through force, fraud, or deception to exploit them for profit.
Every year lakhs of Indians, including women and children, become victims of human trafficking.
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Many of these victims from poor financial backgrounds often fall into the trap of traffickers who lure them with promises of a better life, only to realise later that they have been deceived.
Human trafficking in West Bengal
In West Bengal, one of the top five states in India regarding human trafficking, most of the trafficking victims are women and children from tea plantations.
North Bengal has hundreds of large and small tea plantations, where the workers hardly make a sustenance wage.
So the promise of a way out of poverty in a big city away from home is something that many can’t resist, making them easy prey for traffickers.
This is a vicious circle, Sukla Debnath, a social worker in the Alipurduar district, is trying to break.
Sukla Debnath
Trafficking in tea estates
The 35-year-old beautician has been spending a part of her income to give beautician training to girls from the tea plantations so that they can make a living at home and won’t fall prey to traffickers.
Born in a middle-class family in Kalchini, surrounded by tea estates, Sukla saw firsthand how vulnerable the women and girls were to trafficking and wanted to do something for them.
“There are 83 tea gardens in my area and most of those who are employed there are poor and uneducated. It is very common for families here to send their children, including girls, to cities like Delhi and Mumbai to work there in the hope that they can earn better. But most of them become victims of human trafficking,” Sukla told Indiatimes.
Sukla Debnath
Train girls from tea estates to become beauticians
Sukla, a post-graduate in education and a trained beautician, is using this skill to empower girls from the tea gardens to become self-employed.
“I have been using a portion of my income from working as a beautician to give free beautician training to girls from the tea estates. I felt that if these girls can make a decent living working as beauticians, they will not have to go with a stranger to an unknown city in search of work,” she said.
Sukla Debnath
Earn more than working in tea estates
According to her, girls trained as beauticians can earn around Rs 7000-8000 a month doing bridal makeup and other related work without leaving the village. She said this is more than what the girls can earn in a month working in the tea gardens.
“When they are able to earn a living in their own villages, these girls have no reason to go to unknown cities in search of work. My idea of giving them beautician training was to empower them and create awareness about human trafficking,” she said.
Sukla Debnath
Over 5,000 girls trained
Over the years, Sukla said, she has given beautician training to more than five thousand girls from tea gardens.
“I go from one tea garden to another and meet the parents of these girls and convince them to take up beautician training. Initially, it was a challenge to convince them as many of them were unaware of its potential. But as they saw the girls trained as beauticians earning a living, more and more people started coming forward,” she said.
Sukla Debnath
Self-defence training
Sukla, who spends nearly one-third of her income on giving these girls free beautician training, said their gratitude and the fact that they are safe from traffickers make it worthwhile.
Besides beautician training, Sukla also gives these girls free karate training.
“Sexual exploitation of girls is rampant in the tea gardens. I felt that it is important for them to defend themselves. If they get basic self-defence training, they will become confident to fight off the attacker if someone tries to assault them,” she said.
Sukla Debnath
How father became her inspiration
Sukla, who currently lives with her mother, credits her late father for inspiring her to help others.
“My family, especially my mother, was a little disappointed at what I was doing as she wanted me to become a teacher. But my father, right from my childhood, taught me to help others. He would even tell me that what you score in an exam is not important, but if you help someone, bring a smile to someone’s face, that is. I grew up with this idea and it continues to be my inspiration,” she said.
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