Stopping traffic

Lutheran, The, Jul 2001 by Kastilahn, Kathleen

LWR boosts effort to halt Indian bride trade

Ranjit sits on the floor, her 2-yearold daughter on her lap. Neighbors and family fill the main room of the small house in a farming village in Nayagarh, a district of nearly 800,000 in the Indian eastern coastal state of Orissa. Nearly all have heard her story. But this day they've come to hear her tell it to outsiders, visitors from Lutheran World Relief.

A story of old sadness and of new strength, it's Ranjit's tale of being caught up in the trafficking of women-a variation of accounts collected during a yearlong project funded by LWR. In a clear and steady voice, Ranjit begins: "My husband beat me. His family beat me. I refused to go to the forest to collect wood."

Ranjit's family of origin had accepted the offer of a trader in colocasia-the region's main food crop-to also take Ranjit and find her a husband in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The going rate for such a trade, $100 to $400, eases the burden of poor families who can't come up with the required $600 dowry to make their own marriage arrangements.

While the trade was flourishing, its young female victims weren't. A local development agency, Niswartha, estimated that more than 2,000 women were involved.

Its investigations showed that families have no contact with 40 percent of the women, and even registered letters sent to addresses traders provided are returned. Another 20 percent send money from jobs, including prostitution, to help support their families. The rest, like Ranjit, find their way home. When Ranjit's family located her, she was pregnant with her daughter. She fled, leaving a son behind. Now she tells her story again and again, so other young women will be spared her ordeal.

Niswartha determined that awareness was key to stopping the trade, and with $5,000 from LWR, sent investigators throughout the rural area. The 14 investigators heard stories from more than 70 women who escaped and returned home.

Word-of-mouth stories alone are a major deterrent, according to Niswartha. A report to LWR states: "Due to the media highlights, both in newspapers and television, the racket of exportation of girls has come to the limelight, and the general public is questioning the actual situation of the girls who have married in this process."

Nayagarh government officials and police are working with Niswartha to help identify missing women and enlist the cooperation of the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, where most women are taken, in finding them and returning them to their homes.