Himalayan News Service

Lalitpur, July 6:

With the objective of ensuring the rights of victims of sexual exploitation, trafficking and protecting the witnesses of such crimes, the South Asian Regional Inititative/Equity Support Programme and four countries of South Asia — Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Bangladesh — have jointly prepared a protocol.

The protocol, titled ‘Regional Victim/Witness Protection Protocol to Combat Trafficking, Commercial Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of Women and Children in South Asia’, states that only fifteen to twenty per cent of the people implicated in such cases are punished.

According to the proporsal, just a few complaints are filed against the criminals because the victims and witnesses are threatened.

Speaking at a programme organised to disseminate information about the protocol, Shanta Thapaliya, the president of the Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre, said: “Though cases of trafficking, commercial exploitation and sexual abuse are rising in South Asia, few complaints are filed against the criminals.”

She said the protocol was proposed to ensure rights of victims and to protect the witnesses of trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Pawan Kumar Ojha, the attorney-general, said that provisions would be made to implement the protocol after holding discussions with the authorities.