Sameena, 26, had her dreams shattered when, instead of the small house her husband Jameel had promised, she ended up in an Islamabad Rawalpindi brothel in November Her face, said the interviewer later, betrayed the trauma Sameena has undergone as a prostitute for almost two years.
They either end up in local brothels, or are taken abroad. The survey noticed an increase in recent years in the number of women brought into the country from Bangladesh, Iran and Central Asia, often to serve as sex workers or as bonded domestic labour. In November , 20 young Iranian girls were repatriated to Iran in a state of trauma after being forced to work in Pakistan as prostitutes.
Human rights activists estimate that about , women and girls between the ages of years have been trafficked from Bangladesh to Pakistan in the last 10 years. According to estimates by human rights activists, about , women and girls between the ages of years have been trafficked from Bangladesh to Pakistan in the last 10 years.
Dozens of girls from China and some Central Asian Republics at a few low profile, but exquisite places of entertainment in Islamabad, also point to the flourishing trade in recent years.
Action Aid runs a counseling office in the red light district of Lahore, capital of the largest Punjab province, particularly to promote awareness on sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and AIDS. According to a Karachi-based helpline, Madadgar, there have been over cases of abduction across the country last year. Another issue confronting human rights activists as well as the authorities is the abduction and trafficking of children.
