Prostitution is on the rise in the state, Goa is being seen more and more as a sex destination . Our Government takes offence when Goa is projected in that light be it in a movie or statement made by politicians. The government needs to act rather then ignore !
Over the last five years, Goa police rescued around 500 girls in the state, trafficked from across the country, including some foreign nationals. Going by statistics, Goa police rescued the maximum number of trafficked victims from Maharashtra and West Bengal.
During 2010 to 2013, around 300 girls were rescued in the state. In 2014, 53 girls were rescued, in 2015, the number reached 84 and in 2016, till date, the count has touched 49.
Police have rescued girls from massage parlours, hotels, staying at rented house, etc.
Goa-based NGO Arz, director Arun Pandey told TOI that there is a different modus operand used by pimps to push girls into commercial sexual exploitation. He said that the vulnerable girls from Delhi and Mumbai are lured to Goa in the name of working in the hospitatility industry, casinos, etc. and once they arrive in Goa, they are exploited.
He added that Darjeeling and northeast girls are brought to Goa to work in massage parlours and they are pushed into prostitution. “There are a lot of advertisements in the northeast to recruit girls to work in massage parlour for salaries of 25,000 to 30,000,” Pandey said.
In the cases of girls from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, etc. it has been found that as soon as these girls reach Delhi their passports are taken away by the perpetrators on the pretext that they will return it after the paper work for “a good job”.
“After the passport is taken, the traffickers send them to Goa and force them into commercial sexual activities by threatening them that they will inform the police that they do not have a passport and are staying illegally in the country. The traffickers do not even renew the visa once it expires. The girls, out of fear of being arrested, do not approach authorities for help,” Pandey said.
On the direction of director general of police (DGP) Muktesh Chander, Goa police have begun to crack down on prostitution activities and have arrested various people in the state.
Pimps have also resorted to social media and online sites to boost their businesses. High profile sex rackets operating in the state supply actors, models, TV stars, upcoming models to starred hotels across the state. Preliminary inquiries, in the recent arrest of a pimp, had revealed that a model or actor charges between 5 lakh to 20 lakh per customer, who come from a wealthy background or even the corporate world.
On 10th July 2016, the CRT team on child rights and child protection met with 41 youth from St.John the Baptist Parish to discuss and talk about Exploitation of Children in Tourism