A notice board put up at a market near Dimapur prohibiting prostitution

Kohima, Aug. 1: The Naga Council, Dimapur, said poverty has pushed hundreds of Naga girls into flesh trade — a situation compounded by multiple taxation by militants.

The council’s Action Committee Against Unabated Taxation said hundreds of educated Naga girls were engaged in flesh trade in Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, and in Lahorijan, Assam.

“They (the Naga girls) are abused and passed around like commodities by truckers, police, hotel owners, businessmen and rich people who come from all over the Northeast,” it said.

The council has been fighting against unabated taxation and extortion by militants, particularly by the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah.

In Dimapur alone, there are more than 2,000 sex workers. The girls enter the flesh trade mainly to earn money to meet the basic needs of self and family and at times to purchase drugs or alcohol. Many of them are tricked or forced into the trade.

Fifty per cent of the sex workers in the state come from Bangladesh and Nepal, according to reports of NGOs.

The area of operation is confined to specific locations, though not officially declared red-light areas. As such, the sex workers remain unorganised and human rights violations involving them never come out into the open.

Frequent raids conducted by the newly constituted women’s police wing forces the workers to shift base and some work on the streets clandestinely. This affects the ongoing intervention programmes.

The sex workers and the facilitators of intervention programmes have sought declaration of some areas as red-light zones officially.

This is seen as necessary to arrest the spread of HIV and to advocate human rights among sex workers.

According to reports, flesh trade is flourishing in Kohima and Mokokchung town. Most of these girls are teenagers.

The NSCN (I-M) said there was pressure on taxpayers as there were many militant groups. It said the Nagas’ struggle is for sovereignty and not economic sovereignty.

The outfit termed the action committee’s statement “senseless”.