The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) received a sharp rebuke from the US House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform following revelations that USAID had funded an Indian organization that fought efforts to free teenage prostitutes from brothels.
In May, Restore International, an anti-trafficking non-governmental organization (NGO) in India that works to stop underage prostitution, performed a raid that resulted in the rescue of 35 girls from an Indian brothel. A Bush Administration official told the Friday Fax that while Indian law allows legal prostitution, it is forbidden for girls under the age of 18. The source said such teenage prostitutes are common due to the easy accessibility of forged documents. In reaction to this, Indian law also allows anti-prostitution NGOs, such as Restore, to liberate child prostitutes and be granted temporary custody of the girls in order to protect them from brothel owners.
The administration source tells the Friday Fax that following a recent raid by Restore, another Indian NGO called “Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha” (SANGRAM), appeared in Indian courts insisting the girls were older than 18. The source also reports that it is common for brothel managers to have forged birth certificates on hand. SANGRAM's actions resulted in several girls, whose ages remain in dispute, returning to the brothels.
After embarrassing revelations that USAID funded SANGRAM, the agency announced in late September that it was defunding SANGRAM. But, Rep. Mark Souder believes they were too slow and only relented under pressure. In a letter to James Kunder, Assistant Administrator for USAID's Asia and Near East Bureau, Souder delivered a pointed rebuke to USAID saying, “I note with dismay that USAID funding for SANGRAM was terminated only after a concentrated effort by the State Department's Trafficking in Persons office. According to the Hindustan Times, as many as five organizations in India are under investigation and could lose USAID funding for violating US policies on trafficking.”
Souder notes that the US law prohibits USAID funds from being used “to promote or advocate the legalization or practice of prostitution or sex trafficking” in any nation. Souder states that he had made repeated requests for documents from USAID indicating their compliance with that law. “With this letter, I once again request those compliance documents, but now I am asking for them directly from you for programs that operate in your region of responsibility. Do not fob off this responsibility to the USAID Bureau of Global Health. Do not blame our embassies, do not blame the host governments, and do not blame the victims. You are responsible for producing the requested documents, and you will be held accountable.”
USAID did not respond the Friday Fax's repeated requests for comment.
