Ruchira Gupta of Apne Aap speaks at the UN General Assembly Sept 27 2017

I give the floor to the representative of Apne Aap International Thank you madam chair, my name is Ruchira Gupta And I'm from Apne Aap Women Worldwide an organization that works against sex-trafficking in India We represent more than 20,000 girls and women who are victims of sex-trafficking and prostitution They are the poorest of the poor. They are poor, female, low caste. On top of that, when they were trafficked into prostitution they were teenagers. Many of the girls I work with are still teenagers. And I applaud the leadership of the UNODC and all those present here today. For taking the lead to create and reinforce the global plan of action to combat trafficking. It is much needed by the girls who I work with in remote villages, in India. Who are pimped everyday, ten times a night, just for 50 cents or 30 cents for each rape. I am here to also mention and spotlight the need to emphasize on the vulnerability of the girls who are trafficked. I call them The Last Girls because as Mahatma Gandhi said who died a hundred and fifty years ago that- who died- who was born who was born a hundred and fifty years ago that whenever we embark on any action we must think of the most vulnerable and weakest human being we know and think about the impact of our actions on that person. So I ask all of you present today to think of the most vulnerable human being as that last girl. The 13 year old in a brothel, who has no access to food, clothing, shelter, except what the brothel keeper gives her And definitely no access to justice. Her trafficking- her prostitution is no choice, and therefore we need to invest to reduce her vulnerabilities so that she can exit out of prostitution just as South African survivor, Grizelda Grootboom said today. We also need to make sure that we understand what the nature of exploitation is when we define the purpose of trafficking Anything which is physically or mentally harmful is exploitation and let us not let any semantics take us away from that. Very often, the UN has been debating that if it is choice it is not exploitation, and therefore we should call it sex work but if it is physically and mentally harmful it is exploitation. And therefore, I ask us to emphasize in agenda 2030 the target 5.2, which recognizes the sexual exploitation and prostitution, and the sexual violence done to women and girls, and asks of all countries to combat that. I understand that partnerships are essential to combat this, partnerships across UNICEF, UNSCR, UNAIDS, and other UN agencies, but also we must look at best practices that already exist, as solutions to combat trafficking and therefore I point to the Nordic model which has been created by Sweden followed by Norway and now adopted by France and Ireland as a way to go forward, in which women and girls who are victims of trafficking are decriminalized and those who buy and sell them are criminalized. I ask that we'll remember to address the demand for human trafficking as the best way of preventing trafficking because it acts as a deterrent, as all the evaluations of the Nordic model has shown. I also ask and appeal to member states and the UN to talk to my country, India where there are two laws, which are very, very problematic and will have a very dangerous impact on the Last Girl. One is that in September, a law has legalized child labor in my country, but in many sectors like family-based enterprises and audio-visual entertainment as well as removed the list of hazardous industries. And the second thing, is to make sure that trafficking is always linked for the purposes of sexual exploitation as much as for labor exploitation. Thank you.