Relevance: Sociology Paper II: Challenges of Social Transformation: Violence against women. & G.S paper I: Women and associated issues & G.S paper II: Polity: Governance:
Why in news?
- The highest number of women and children who go missing in the country are from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh respectively, according to a study by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The two States recorded the maximum number of cases of missing children and women among all other States in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The NCRB said that the study aims to identify the areas where registered cases of missing persons, specifically women and children, are higher than in other areas. “The need for the study arises because of the fact that incidents of missing women and children are not uniform across the country. Some parts of the country report higher incidents and such areas could be one of the source, transit or destination [sites] for child /women trafficking,” NCRB said.
Key facts:
- According to the report, the three States where the highest number of women went missing in the three years are Maharashtra, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
- In 2016, as many as 28,316 women went missing in Maharashtra, followed by 29,279 in the year 2017, and 33,964 in 2018.
- Mumbai and Pune recorded the highest number of such incidents, with 4,718 and 5,201 women going missing in 2017 and 2018, while in Pune, the number of missing women for the same years was 2,576 and 2,504 respectively.
- In West Bengal, the number of missing women for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 was 24,937, 28,133 and 31,299, respectively. Madhya Pradesh recorded 21,435, 26,587 and 29,761 missing reports of women in the three years.
- In 2019, the Supreme Court had directed the NCRB to “analyse the data on missing persons (especially on women and children) so that areas prone to persons being trafficked can be identified”.
Children reported:
- In the years 2016-18, a total of 63,407, 63,349 and 67,134 children were reported to be missing across the country. The maximum number of missing children reports were recorded in Maharashtra and West Bengal in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.
- The study said that in Madhya Pradesh, Indore reported the highest number of missing children, with 596 in 2017 and 823 in 2018. The numbers for Satna district surged from 360 missing children in 2017 to 564 in 2018.
- In West Bengal, Kolkata district had the maximum number of missing children reported in 2018, with 989 such cases, and Nadia district, bordering Bangladesh, showed a steep increase from 291 missing children reports in the year 2017 to 474 in 2018.
Vulnerable:
- The NCRB quoted Wikipedia to define a missing person.
- The study said that “some young people run away from home due to unbearable conditions of abuse and maltreatment….they become vulnerable to trafficking, violence, drug addiction, prostitution and other risks of exploitation and involvement in crime,” and added that many missing persons end up getting trafficked.