The Tafteesh program being implemented by Barasat Unnayan Prostuti (BUP) focuses on strengthening the accountability of various stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking and empowering survivors. This comprehensive initiative operates along five key dimensions: Rescue, Rehabilitation, Prosecution, Leadership, and Prevention. BUP implements the Tafteesh program in North 24 Parganas as part of an 8-organization consortium called Partners for Anti Trafficking (PAT). Serving as the secretariat organization of PAT, BUP leads the consortium in comprehensive anti-human trafficking efforts.
Goals:
- Enhancing Criminal Justice Accountability: Ensuring increased accountability of the police in investigating and prosecuting traffickers, both in source and destination areas, and improving the court's role in protecting survivors' rights to rehabilitation.
- Strengthening Social Justice Authorities: Improving the responsiveness of social justice authorities, including administration, panchayats, district administration, and other duty bearers, in providing rehabilitation services and compensation to survivors.
- Ensuring Quality Service Delivery: Holding NGOs and lawyers accountable for delivering high-quality services to survivors.
- Survivor Participation: Involving survivors in strategizing and planning Tafteesh and other anti-trafficking initiatives to ensure their perspectives shape the interventions.
- Policy Reformation: Advocating for a shift from custodial to restorative approaches in anti-trafficking policies, ensuring rehabilitation policies are made in consultation with survivors.
- Media Narrative Change: Promoting a positive media narrative that portrays survivors as empowered solution providers rather than helpless victims.
- Eliminating Stigma: Working towards the elimination of stigma against survivors within families, communities, institutions, and among policymakers.
Key Dimensions:
- Rescue: Collaborating with organizations like Rescue Foundation and Mission Mukti Foundation, BUP actively participates in the rescue and support of trafficking survivors.
- Rehabilitation: Utilizing a Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) approach, BUP focuses on reintegrating survivors into society. This involves identifying rights violations through Case Intake Tools (CIT) and conducting periodic reviews of rehabilitation activities.
- Prosecution: Playing a leadership role in rights-based case management, BUP emphasizes procedural improvements, victim compensation processes, strategic litigation, and strengthening systems such as the Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU).
- Leadership: Central to the program is the empowerment of survivors. Initiatives like survivor collectives (e.g., Utthan and Bijoyini) are established to amplify survivors' voices and enable them to advocate for systemic change.
- Prevention: Recognizing the importance of community involvement, BUP strengthens Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) and block-level government mechanisms to prevent trafficking at the grassroots level.
The Tafteesh program is dedicated to creating a systemic change by holding all stakeholders accountable, empowering survivors, and ensuring a comprehensive, community-based approach to combat human trafficking.