LONDON The British overseas development charity actionaid launched a campaign on Wednesday (Nov. 25) to stamp out the trafficking of women and children in Asia. Actionaid said organized crime rings were targeting poverty-stricken women and children in parts of Asia in what amounted to a contemporary form of the slave trade. It said that in Asia one million women were sold into prostitution each year, more than 650,000 children worked as prostitutes and some victims of sex trafficking were as young as 10 years old.

It is not acceptable to sit back and allow trafficking to continue. It is brutal and demeaning and is ruining the lives of thousands of women and children, said Archana Tang, a worker for the charity in Nepal. Actionaid expressed particular concern over Nepal, where it said that thousands of women and children living in desperate poverty were being lured or forced into leaving their homes.

Many were taken to brothels in India, it said. The charity urged British people to take part in an international letter-writing campaign calling on heads of government in South Asia to end the practice. It also urged international agencies and governments to enforce international law to protect women and children and provide rehabilitation for those who have escaped prostitution. (Reuter)