Hyderabad: A shameful part of the sexual exploitation of women is that even after the women are “rescued”, they continue to suffer in police stations, rescue homes and in courts. The police often extort money from women rescued in a raid. The conditions in the so-called rescue homes are often inhuman, and in male dominated courtrooms, they cannot speak about their ordeal.
Recently, 200 victims, backed by Prajwala, demanded a change in the methods of their rehabilitation.
“After the rescue, the ordeal starts at the police station. We are usually put up in police stations overnight, where there is no separate space for women. We are either molested or robbed before being sent to the hospital where another session of humiliation take place. Male doctors are rude to sex workers. In courts there are only men, which makes it difficult for us to speak up,” said Navaneetha (name changed), who has been through the experience.
She says that rescue homes are no different from prisons. "If one person makes a mistake, all inmates have to face punishment from the wardens. Maximum numbers of inmates are crammed into small rooms for weeks. The washrooms are dirty and the food served is highly unhygienic," she said, providing a damning indictment of the system and how little it cares.
The survivors have submitted their demands to representatives of the Telangana and the AP governments on World Day against Trafficking this week, but such occasions are more for show than for meaningful action in a country where women are given the lowest priority.
