Church Mission Society Drive Against Sex Trade in Bangladesh

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A campaign against sex trafficking in Bangladesh has borne its first fruits with numerous arrests in the Meherper District, says the Christian Mission Society.

The arrests, including that of a couple, follow an education campaign on the illegal smuggling of women run by the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme in the capital, Dhaka, with CMS backing.

One seminar for the programme was attended by more than 100 people, including the district commissioner, senior police and border patrol officers.

A worker in the campaign, Juliate Malakar, has been to numerous events in Britain, including the Greenbelt Festival, to promote the initiative. “This is just the start,” she said. “We are hoping for a kind of ripple effect, as we implement further actions.”
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Part of the project involves training women in the villages with skills and providing them with helpful information. The project also monitors the amount of trafficking as well as publicising already-existing international legislation designed to vulnerable women and young girls.

Women particularly at risk are those living in areas where HIV is still relatively uncommon, with most of the trafficked women are sold in to Mumbhai, Rajasthan and Bihar in India. Girls can be sold into the sex trade for as little as 1000 takka (£10).