Maoist-hit Sundergarh District of Odisha is experiencing a rise in girl trafficking cases. This is largely due in part to a significant rise in the domestic help population, most of whom are from tribal backgrounds and are sent to work in big cities.
In these cities, they often suffer from physical and sexual harassment from their employers and also don't get a fair deal from placement agencies.
Sundergarh District is a tribal-dominated district and rich in natural resources. But it is still plagued by abject poverty due to the Maoist menace prevalent there.
Most tribals have few work-related options, and because of this, middlemen often lure away girls from their native villages and they end up as sex workers.
Social activist Abdul Kalam Azad said: "Because there is no work, there is abject poverty here, this is why people go out of here for work. The labour is cheap and the tribal girls of this region are innocent and not much educated. The middlemen from outside come and take advantage of this situation."
Azad's social organization has rescued several such girls from being taken away to the big cities by middlemen and have taken them back to their families.
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Police also feel that the local tribals need to be made aware of the reality of the trafficking of young girls as domestic help and has been making efforts in this regard.
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The Maoist presence has also deterred the development works and educational processes for the local tribals in the area to a large extent.
The guerrilla war, waged mostly from the forests of central and eastern India now poses the biggest internal security challenge, say analysts.
Source-ANI