Peg: March 8 is International Women’s Day
TRAFFICKING BY SOCIAL SANCTION
Shoma A. Chatterji
WORD-COUNT: 1683
The building of a wall of solidarity in resistance against trafficking of women and
children across the world for prostitution and as sex slaves stands out as living irony when placed
against the backdrop of the persistent presence of the Devadasi system in India and other socially
practiced commercial abuse of the girl-child within the family that absorbs prostitution of the
girl-child instead of educating her for a better life or getting her married to lead a normal life
within the mainstream.
In Upper Sindh, in times of scarcity and in times of plenty, Balochis sell their little girls.
Herders come from far away lands, loaded with sheep and buy girls and leave some sheep
behind, and go back into the hills. Nomadic Pathans come down buy girls, or leave them behind,
and vanish into the hills. Girls from rural Punjab flee southwards, to Sindh to escape from the
vicious contracts through which their lives are pledged. Local Sindhis exchange women and girls
across and through generations, pledging even future girls which will be born. Women build
their houses, and repair their fallen roofs, after selling their girls. Vast trading networks of girls
take place everyday and all the time. Girls are trafficked across provinces and borders,
sometimes taken as far out as Quetta, Loralai, Kandahar, or brought from here to there. This vast
and intense trafficking in girls takes place across the length and breadth of Pakistan with the
complicity of the family, tribe and implicitly, by the State. A girl child sees her
life pledged, negotiated, bartered, sold, long before she knows who she is, and sometimes years
before she is born.
The Government of Bangladesh, stated penalty for kidnapping or abduction of women
promulgated by the Cruelty to Women (Deterrent Punishment) Ordinance in 1983. The
punishment was transportation for life or rigorous imprisonment for a term that may extend to 14
years. The parliament bill (Bangladesh) passed in 1995 for acts of violence against women and a
child penalizes trafficking with death sentence. Similar national laws are there in other SAARC
countries. But these are as valuable as the paper they are printed on because they have not
brought about any decline in trafficking of women and children from these countries. Police
records reveal specific cases of trafficking since 1979. As per an estimate of Human Rights
organizations in Pakistan where most of the trafficked women are sold, about 1500 Bengali
women in jail and about 200,000 women and children are involved in the slave trade.
The Devadasi system is still prevalent in India. It is known by different names in
different places such as Devarattiyal in Tamil Nadu, Mahris in Kerala, Natis in Assam, Muralis
in Maharashtra, Basavis and Muralis in Andhra Pradesh and Jogatis and Basavis in Karnataka.
The word “devadasi” is derived from two words, “deva” meaning God and “dasi” meaning slave
or servant-woman. Every devadasi therefore, is a slave of God. However, according to Dr. I.S.
Gilada of the Indian Health Organization of Mumbai, the word “devadasi” today has been
reduced to a euphemism for its raw equivalent, “prostitute.” But they escape being strictly
covered by the Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act because they function by the sanction of
blind superstition and religious beliefs rather than on the basis of economic gain. Today, the
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devadasi system has evolved into open prostitution in all other Indian States except in a few
pockets where it still flourishes under the guise of ‘dedication to Yellamma.’ In Karnataka and in
some parts of the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, the system continues whereby trafficking is
induced and implemented by the immediate family of the girl.
The custom of dedicating girls to Yellamma and to the temples of the Goddess is traced
back to the 3rd Century A.D. during the period of the Puranas.i Inscriptions dating back to 1004
A.D. on the Raja Rajeshwar temple at Tanjore in the south maintain that there were 400
devadasis in the temple who were second in importance only to the temple priests who
performed the religious rituals. The Someshwar shrine at Gujarat maintained 500 devadasis.
Pune came under the rule of Shahaji Bhonsale in the 17th century. By 1818, devadasis
had deteriorated to prostituting themselves for money. The British rule brought about a slow and
steady decline in local royalty and temple treasuries. With the rise in British power, the first to be
financially and socially victimized were the devadasis. Gone was the respect they enjoyed as
members of a class next only to the priests. Devadasis remained entertainers but their
entertainment now was through their bodies. They evolved into practicing courtesans skilled in
the art of love-making. The system spread across (a) Belgaum, Gulbarga and Bellary districts in
Karnataka, and (b) Satara, Kolhapur, Solapur and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra, both in
the Western regions of India.
Today, the dividing line between a commercial prostitute and devadasi-turned prostitute
is so blurred that you cannot distinguish the one from the other. But their origins are different. In
commercial prostitution, one is not necessarily born into prostitution but is either driven to it or
steps into it by choice. But in the devadasi system, the profession is decided for the female child
much before she is aware of its implications. Her parents and family members initiate them into
the trade. Commercial prostitution does not have any religious or social sanction. But the
devdasis system is sustained through these two very institutions – religion and society.
Dr.I.S. Gilada, “Any girl from these areas belonging to the community of Harijansii can
be dedicated to Yellamma under any pretext. She has a white patch on her skin. Due to ignorance
and superstition, this is interpreted to as a sign that she be dedicated to Yellamma. Sometimes,
girls develop a thatch of matted hair for want of regular washing and combing. She too, is
married to Yellamma to be converted into a devadasi. They believe that if they fail to follow the
‘sign’ of Yellamma, the entire family will fall in the wrath of the Goddess whose fury will
destroy them all. A simple boil that does not heal because proper medication has not been taken
is taken to be a signal that Yellamma wants the girl for herself.” Sometimes, a girl is dedicated to
Yellamma just because another devadasi, supposedly in a trance, vaguely pointed out in the
direction of the girl and said that Yellamma wanted that girl. Married women between 20 and 25
are also sometimes dedicated to Yellamma under similar pretexts. He adds that devdasis account
for 25 per cent of the total number of prostitutes in India. Vivekananda Manawade differs from
the data offered by IHO. Till this day, about 1000 young girls are dedicated to Yellamma on
Magha Purnimaiii night at Saundatti. This is the biggest festival of the year in areas where the
Goddess to become a devadasi, alias a prostitute thereafter.
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Devadasis cannot be brought under the purview of the Suppression of Immoral Traffic
(in women and girls) Amendment Bill 1986 because other than devadasis who live in the regular
brothels of Indian cities, devadasis do not admit to practicing prostitution because their entire
functioning is based on their blind trust and devotion to Yellamma. The practice exists because it
is socially sanctioned. The sanction is based on ignorant and irrational belief in religion and
superstition. The central government passed the Prevention of Devadasis Act in 1935. This did
not bring about the slightest change in the status quo of the practice in Karnataka and
Maharashtra. The Janata Government of Karnataka succeeded in passing legislation banning the
devdasis cult, with Karnataka Devadasis Samarpan Nishedhan Act 1982 that took effect from
January 1984. Many years later, dedications continue.
Social changes cannot be brought about through law alone. At Manoli, 12 kms from
Saundatti, some devadasis are being trained to handle sewing machines at a centre run by the
Akhmahadevi Mahila Mandal. This voluntary body trains 40 girls at a time for six months. The
Mahatma Phule Samata Pratisthan of Pune is trying to educate children of devadasis to that they
can find employment in the mainstream. Revabai Kamble is President of the Pune Devadasi
Sangathan founded in 1982. It raises health consciousness among prostitutes who visit the
dispensary once a week. The Social Welfare Department of the Government of Maharashtra has
set up a hostel for children of devadasis at Bhukam, 12 miles away from Pune. It has room for
75 inmates at a time but corruption is reportedly rampant and facilities are inadequate. Sawali at
Nippani has Sushila Naik as president, who is a devadasi herself. It is a centre established solely
for the rehabilitation of the devadasis and for deserted and displaced women. The Karnataka
Dalit Action Committee based in Bangalore has constantly tried to raise public support against
the degrading system. This organization forced the Karnataka Legislative Assembly to pass the
1982 Act mentioned above.
The Vaibhav Mitra Mandal of Pune has helped established the Renuka-Vaibhav
Devadasis’ Urban Co-operative Credit Society run by devadasis for devadasis. This is the first of
its kind in the country. It provides loans ranging from $10.00 to $100.00 to its members during
times of crisis. The Mandal had a membership of around 5000. They do not have to offer
mortgage or security against loans and interest charged is minimal compared with rates charged
by private moneylenders. The Mandal, runs a hostel in Kondhwa village along with another
charitable trust for 100 children of devadasis. Lodging and boarding facilities are free. The
Karnataka Social Welfare Board jointly with the Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) based in the
USA, has adopted20 villages in Athani Taluka with a target to cover 600 children of devadasis.
But these efforts have failed to augur change. Most of these women are caught in the
debt-traps of pimps, agents and touts. Others say they cannot wait for projects to come through
because by then, their children would starve to death. A third group of women are so set in their
lifestyle that prostitution seems an easier way of earning a living than knitting or weaving
baskets.
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Monday, March 02, 2009
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BOX
Every year, an average of 22,480 women and 44,476 children are
reported missing in India. Out of these, every year, an average of
5,452 women and 11,008 children are not traced. A recent report,
Action Research on Trafficking in Women and Children in India 2002-2003 indicates that many of the missing persons are not
really missing but are instead trafficked.
i
Religious scriptures of a particular period in pre-historic times.
Harijan is a term coined by Mahatma Gandhi to define the low-caste untouchable class of people in India. They
are divided into different classes and tribes within themselves, bound by the common factor of being untouchable.
Upper caste Hindus such as Brahmins and Kshatriyas do not touch them, drink water from their hands, or take food
they offer. In many parts of India, till this day, small towns and villages have water-wells ear-marked for these lowcaste untouchables and they live in areas ghettoized by them instead of living in mainstream areas of the city of
village. Gandhi coined the word Harijan from two words- “hari” meaning “God” and “jan” meaning “man” together
meaning “man of God” or “the man who is close to God.” The Indian Penal Code however, has made provisions of
penalizing any one who uses the term ‘harijan’ or any equivalent of the word ‘low-caste’ to address a man, woman
or child who actually is a harijan. Constitutional provisions have been made to reserve government posts,
educational seats in government and non-government institutions to admit people from the harijan class. Much later,
a political term has been coined to club these classes under the label of Dalit – meaning ‘poor, oppressed and
humiliated’, to widen the significance of the narrow term ‘harijan’ and include all castes and classes who fall within
these adjectives. Interestingly however, most of them fall under low-caste, untouchable categories.
iii
Magha is the tenth month of the Saka calendar in India. This falls around the 15th of February in the Gregorian
calendar. Purnima is the night of the Full Moon.
ii