Chacko Anthony
Human trafficking takes many forms. Anti-social persons make it a business. Brokers make a deal as middlemen.
Many helpless people are coerced into it. Many are abducted. Some become victims of fraud, like fraudulent marriages, incentives of cash benefits, or fraudulent job offers. Some are victimized by people in power. Another form of the evil practice is sale of women and children. Poverty, unemployment, religious/traditional prostitution, migration, internet pornography, commercial cine industry – all these play a part in the promotion of human trafficking.
The end results are: prostitution, commercial child sex racket, forced labour, slavery, organ harvesting, medical experiment, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, begging, drug peddling and smuggling, recruiting children as soldiers, sex tourism, etc.
According to U N estimates, 50% of detected victims in 2018 were trafficked for sexual exploitation; 38% were exploited for forced labour.
Women and children become primary targets. 46% of women and 19% of girls were found to be victims of trafficking. It is also reported that globally one in every three victims detected is a child.
Trafficking is a criminal offence. Yet, it flourishes under the nose of the law and the lawmakers. Laws and preventive measures may be in place, but implementation lacks commitment and political will.
The Constitution of India
Article 23- Protects people against exploitation, prohibits traffic in humans, begar and other forms of forced labour, and makes such practice punishable under law.
Article 24- Protects children below age 14 from working in factories, mines or other hazardous employment.
The UN Declaration of human Rights, 1948, says in Article 3 that, ‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.’ In its Article 4 it says, ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.’
The newly proposed Anti-Trafficking Bill 2021, in India proposes stringent measures. It is meant to address all forms of human trafficking including sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, servitude and harvesting of human organs.
The Bill upholds survivors’ right to rehabilitation and compensation independent of criminal proceedings. The definition of rehabilitation includes focus on mental health and psychological recovery of survivors of human trafficking.
Punishment for the crime of anti-trafficking in India is 7 years’ rigorous imprisonment, which may be extended up to 10 years.
It is hoped that people at levels, from family to the heads of nations, organisations, institutions, judicial bodies – all will put their generous efforts into controlling and eliminating the evil of human trafficking.