Great Success in the Supreme Court!

Guria filed a Writ Petition demanding justice for the rights and lives of innocent minor girls who are taken by organized groups of criminals and sold into slavery, and it was recently accepted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India! After the hearing on March 7, 2014, Guria's notice was issued to the Union Of India, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (Govt. of India) and 19 States of India. A big step towards progress for sure.

Guria has also received some wonderful press attention about the success of the passing of this Public Interest Litigation! Visit out Media and More page for some of the articles published in India's leading newspapers!

Some details about the issue for which the Writ Petition demanded justice:

According to a report supported by the Department of Women and Child Development (Govt. of India), there are 3 million prostitutes in India. 40% of these prostitutes are minors, which translates to at least 1,200,000 minor sex workers. The report further says that 75% to 77% of all prostitutes were trafficked into the sex trade.

In contrast to the magnitude of the problem, the information that GURIA has sought through the Right to Information Act from respective state governments shows that in all of India's States and Union Territories only 881 (or approximately 0.07%) of the 1,200,000 minor girls have been rescued in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. Globally, only 0.15% (1 in every 700) victims are ever identified.

GURIA also presented to the court facts about  how these criminal gangs entice or kidnap minor girls, forcibly administer hormonal injections to speed up physical growth, and then push them into sex trade.

GURIA appealed to the Hon'ble Court to issue an order to authorities about the physical verification of the structure of the houses used as brothels. In GURIA's experience, these brothels often have inbuilt tunnels and other hidden rooms that are used by brothel owners and traffickers to hide the minor trafficked girls during raids. According to the proposed court order, if such tunnels or hidden rooms are found they should be immediately demolished or seized by the concerned District Development authorities according to the relevant law.