When survivors started participating in their litigation actively, traffickers either wanted to settle outside court or use threats to withdraw the case. Survivors were afraid to report to the Police station and if they report then the Police station does not want to file any FIR against the threat.

Our intervention

1. Survivors collectives formed by survivors themselves and mentored by local CBOs. Collectives were strong support of survivors and not feeling alienated.
2. b) Social Workers were working closely with survivors and the relationship between social workers and survivors become key for survivors to take charge at any odd situation.
3. Lawyers are having regular meetings with their clients (survivors) and any such difficulty gets mentioned in the court for necessary Protection under Witness Protection Scheme.

Impact

Over the time we have experienced that survivors are confident to continue their legal cases in spite of all odds. They are travelling to other states with Police to identify their perpetrators, identify accused during the TI parade, participate in deposition in both source and destination area in spite of threat. They also successfully registered cases against traffickers’ threats.

Challenges

As the criminal justice system takes years to prosecute the offenders, the context of survivors changes over time. For example, Survivors got married and they have not shared the past experience with their new family. Hence their participation becomes low.