Trafficking

Trafficking in persons
CASE ILLUSTRATION
1.0 Trafficking : Trafficking in Persons (TIP), is indeed a TIP of

the iceberg like HIV / AIDS, this is yet another calamity that
will, sooner than we can realise, stare into the eyes of the man
squarely and will challenge the very existence of human dignity,
pride and survival itself. TIP is the sibling of HIV/AIDS. For
that matter, they complement each other, with each single, small
and yet unidirectional and irreversible success of theirs.
These siblings are now determined to lurk into your bedroom

and snatch your child, snatch your wife, snatch your family bond.
Read on ... you will agree.
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1.1 Sexual Exploitation : Sudha (15 years) in a village in West

Godavari district, passed 10th class, was in two minds, whether
to continue further education or not. The family was
challenged with poverty at every step and there is rising
expectation and competition to increase the life style in the
village. Somasekhar, Sarpanch approached father of Sudha
and encouraged him to talk to Sunitha in Mumbai, who can
secure a good job for Sunitha in Mumbai. Around that time,
Sunitha, who went away for employment to Mumbai 10
years back, came to the village for a festival visit. She was
wearing costly dresses and came in a car. She was carrying
cell phones, camera, and other gadgets. She was approached
by the parents of Sudha to show her job opportunities.
Sunitha promised a good job such as receptionist in a
corporate office and gave one thousand rupees to the parents
of Sudha. They were very happy that their daughter will
also earn money and send some money home. After a week
Sunitha & Sudha boarded the train and went to Hyderabad.
Sunitha took Sudha to the house of Suraj in an autorickshaw.
They stayed there for two days. Sudha overheard Sunitha
telling Suraj that she is a virgin and there was some discussion
about Rs.25,000/- or so. Sudha got apprehensive and
accosted them as to what was happening. Suraj slapped her
and hit her and tied her to a cot with a rope. For two days
no food was given to her and she was beaten repeatedly.
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Suraj and Sunitha forcibly took Sudha in a car to Mumbai.

On reaching the Mumbai, they were received by two men
and taken in a separate car to a place which looked strange.
Saroja, Madam of the den, was too happy to receive Sudha. She
gave Rs.25,000/- to Suraj and the muscle men of Saroja simply
bundled Sudha into a dingy room in the first floor. Sudha
was dumbstruck, in a strange place, strange world, strange
language, strange smell, strange voices, strange behaviour –
away from HOME, helpless. As the evening approached,
the place became busy, with lot of men arriving and taking
away women into rooms. Sudha tried to escape but got caught
and beaten by Saroja’s men who said Sunitha has sold her.
That night Sudha was raped by seven men. The saga
continued. She was forced to have sex six times a day. She
could not escape and her living conditions were very bad.
After nine months, she fell ill and she was taken to doctor,
where she was detected as HIV +ve.
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1.2 Film Star :

Shanthi (17 years) is the only daughter of an influential
government officer in Central government. She is a brilliant
student with excellent academic record and is currently
attending tutorials to appear for EAMCET Examination to
pursue higher education in Medicine. Her parents have lot
of hopes on her and did everything possible to make her
comfortable.
But, Shanthi was having a secret desire to become a film star.

She was regularly chatting on Yahoo.com with her friends
and soon made few friends, who shared the same interest.
Many of them, she does not know personally, are from
Mumbai and shared exciting experiences of Bollywood, on
the net. Shama is one such friend who, during a chat, told
Shanthi that she knows directors who can give her a
breakthrough to act in movies. To make her believe, Shama
sent several photographs on the net showing herself and few
of her friends in company of Film Stars. Shama praised
Shanthi’s charm and beauty and told her that she will definitely
get a chance to act in movies, if she comes to Mumbai.
Believing Shama, Shanthi left for Mumbai without telling

her parents and met Shama and her friends. For few days
she had lot of fun visiting Five Star Hotels and going to
Studios, watching film shooting. One day, Shama introduced
Shanthi to one Asst. Director Mr. L.P. Maher Matondkar
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who promised Shanthi a chance and took her to a Flat where

he keeps his junior artists. One night, the Asst. Director
came with his friends, in fully drunken stage and insisted on
having sex with Shanthi and other girls. While other girls
obliged, Shanthi protested. Shama convinced Shanthi that
this is common, otherwise the Junior Artists will not get a
chance. Shanthi believed Shama and before she could realise,
she was locked in a room and raped by L.P. Mehar and his
friends.
Shanthi was never given a chance to act in movies, but she

was sexually exploited every night by at least half a dozen
men. Shanthi was completely in Shama’s spell she still believed
that she will get a chance to act in movies, some day. The
Saga continued.
Meanwhile, the parents of Shanthi made all hectic attempts

to locate her. Finally, on receiving some information from
Police in Mumbai, the parents left Hyderabad in search of
their daughter in Mumbai. The Police took the parents to a
shelter home where about 30 – 40 rescued girls were lodged.
The parents went from room to room searching for their
daughter and finally they located her.
In the counselling that perused, Shanthi refused to recognise

her parents and told Police to send her to jail so that, she can,
some day, go back to Shama and the Asst. Director L.P.
Mehar who will give her a chance in movies and some day,
she will become a “Star” indeed!!!
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1.3 Begging & Child Labour : Sathyam, 8 years old, in

Karimnagar was promised good clothes, food and education.
His poor parents accepted. He was taken to Rajasthan by a
construction company to do labour work carrying brick loads
on his head. He does not know his salary, his work timings,
where his workplace is located, cannot speak the local language
nor can understand. The food that is given to him is neither
adequate nor the type his mother used to serve back home. He
found himself estranged memories of his Home, parents,
siblings, village slowly started fading. Life offered no hope,
nothing to look forward to.
1.4 Child Camel Jockeys
“Th e t r af f i c kin g an d e x pl o i t at io n o f S o ut h As i an a nd
African children as camel jockeys has increased in the Gulf
States, which, with th e discovery of oil and the as sociated
s u rge in w e al t h , t rans f o rm e d c ame l rac ing f ro m a
traditional sports pastime to a multimillion dollar activity”
(Trafficking in Persons Report, 2005)
Today, thousands of children, such as Salim (6 years), some

as young as three or four years of age, are trafficked from
Banglades h, Pakis t an, and ot h er po o r c ountries and s ol d
into slavery to serve as camel jockeys.
“These children live in an oppressive environment and endure

harsh living conditions. They work long hours in hot
temperatures, live in unsanitary conditions, receive little food,
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and are deprived of sleep so that they do not gain weight and
increase the load on the camels.
They are harassed by the handlers, who often beat them.

Some are reportedly abused sexually. Many have been
seriously injured and some have been trampled to death by
the camels. Those who survive the harsh conditions are
disposed of once they reach their teenage years. Having gained
no productive skills or education, scarred with physical and
psychological trauma that can last a lifetime, these children
face dim prospects. They often end up leading destitute lives.
Trafficked child camel jockeys are robbed of their childhoods
-and of their future.” (Trafficking in Persons Report, 2005)
1.5 Sandhya, Soujanya, Suman and Subhan the victims of

trafficking. They were cheated, tricked, coerced, forced and
kept captive for exploitation. Either physical, mental or
sexual.
***
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2.0 DEFINITION
2.1 “Human trafficking is the criminal and illegal trading of
human beings for the purpose of exploiting their labour. It
is defined by a movement (or migration) into a non-
consensual situation of exploitation (or harm) that results in
the loss of control by an individual over his or her situation.
Trafficking can occur within a country or across national
borders.
2.2 The UN Trafficking Protocol of the Transnational

Convention on Organized Crime (known colloquially
as the “Palermo Protocol”) defines trafficking as :
 “The recruitment, transportation, transfer,

harbouring or receipt of persons” (the movement).
Movement
..... means ...
purpose  “By means of the threat or use of force or other forms
(MMP)
of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of
the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability
or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits
to achieve the consent of a person having control
over another person” (the means).
 “For the purpose of exploitation” (the purpose).
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2.3 The Protocol notes that “exploitation shall include, at a

minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other
forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery
or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of
organs”. (TAHA Report, 2006)
2.4 Trafficking in persons is a process and sequence of

offences and not a single offence as many think. A single
Plurality person’s trafficking involves not a single offence but, a
of
offences series of offences committed by different people at
different places and at different times. To that effect, if a
single person is rescued, based on the statement of that
victim / survivors several offenders involved in that racket
can be booked, in different places under different criminal
cases.
2.5 “The process of human trafficking begins with the

abduction or recruitment of a person, through deceit,
cheating, coercion, intimidation and use of force.
2.6 It continues with the transportation from the place of origin

to the place of destination. In case of transnational trafficking
in persons, the process includes the entry of the individual
into another country. At times, the transportation can be
within the same village also.
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2.7 This is followed by the exploitation phase during which the

victim is forced into sexual or labour servitude.
This often includes violence against the victim.
2.8 A further phase may occur that essentially involves the

offenders. Depending upon the size and sophistication of the
human trafficking operation, the criminal (organisation) may
find it necessary to launder the criminal proceeds. There may
be further links to other criminal offences such as the
smuggling of migrants, weapons or drugs.
2.9 Human trafficking can hence be categorised in terms of the

phase of the trafficking in persons process, i.e.:
a) Recruitment;
b) Transportation and potentially the illegal entry of the

trafficked person;
c) The exploitation phase;
d) The subsequent phase of profit laundering.”

(UNODC Trafficking in persons Global Patterns, 2006)
2.9.1 Thus, the definition of trafficking can be extended beyond

MMP - Movement, Means and Purpose to another M, that is,
Money (Profit) laundering. Finally, Trafficking has four
components :
- Movement;
- Means;
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- Purpose; and
- Money Laundering.
In short, MMPM.
2.10 The traffickers employ an array of methods to enslave

trafficked persons:
 Kidnapping ;
 Abduction ;
 Rape and blackmail ;
 Material inducements to parents; relatives, guardians
so as to sell female family members;
 Deceit in the form of promises of well-paying,
legitimate jobs, better quality of life, and more
prosperous status;
 Luring by declaration of love and fake marriage.
 Employment prospects.
 Etc.
2.11 Trafficking, Smuggling and Migration

Traffickers
The “UN Smuggling Protocol of the Transnational
smuggle
victims (like Convention on Organised Crime defines smuggling as
commodi-
ties). the procurement of illegal entry of a person into a State
Migrants get
Party of which the person is not a national or permanent
themselves
smuggled. resident, against a financial or other material benefit.
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While the definition of trafficking contains the element of

coercion, that of smuggling does not. Further, smugglers have a
vested interest in not harming the person they are helping to
migrate; A smuggler’s crime is against the State of destination,
not against the migrant him/herself. The crime of a trafficker,
on the other hand, is against the migrant, putting him or her
into coercive or exploitative situations. The main profit in
trafficking does not come from a one-off payment, but from the
ongoing proceeds of keeping a person in slave-like conditions,
and appropriating the money that is thus earned.
Therefore, those who get trafficked are victims of a trafficker

and those who get smuggled are clients of a smuggler”
(TAHA Report, 2006)
2.12 In this, the discussion is restricted to the former one, i.e.,

victims of a trafficker.
** *
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3.0 COMMON MYTHS

3.1 Though the problem of trafficking is seriously challenging the
peaceful existence of the human race, itself, there are several
myths surrounding the subject, primarily arising out of lack of
awareness, application of mind, seriousness and willingness to
acknowledge the lurking danger. For example, some of the
common myths are :
MYTH FACT
1. Only women / girls are trafficked. 1. Men and boys are also
subjected to trafficking
2. Only men traffic women. 2. Traffickers deploy large number
Women do not traffic women. of women to cheat the victims
3. Only girls in the age group of 12 3. The fact is even girls and boys
– 20 years are trafficked. of less than 8 years are also
being trafficked.
4. Trafficking necessarily involves 4. Trafficking can take place

transportation of the trafficked within the same Country, same
person from one country (Place) State, same District, same
to another. Village and at times in the
same premises itself.
5. The persons who are trafficked, 5. The victims are tricked,

volunteer to get trafficked. cheated, coerced, forced,
beaten and intimidated.
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3.2 Several myths are ‘floated’ by the perpetrators / benefactors of

Trafficking, often to frustrate the rescue-rehabilitate-reintegrate
operations and to protect their own turf, particularly in
commercial sexual exploitation cases. Some of them are :
MYTH FACT
6. “They (VOCSETS) enjoy sex. In 6. The victims are raped
fact they are “nymphomaniacs” repeatedly and made to
surrender to the new “FATE”.
7. “They are addicted to Alcohol, 7. The victims are “opiated” to

Drugs, Gutka etc”. accept and continue their new
“FATE”. They will easily come
out of the newly acquired fad.
8. “They are addicted to luxurious 8. The living conditions are

lifestyle – Air-conditioner (some), unhygienic and breed diseases.
travel by Car, Biryani, Dress, Cos- The additives are only to lure
metics etc”. and attract the customers.
9. Since they are used to a luxuri- 9. Suitable rehabilitation will

ous life, they refuse rehabilita- reintegrate the victims.
tion.
10. The persons who are trafficked, 10.The traffickers lay an

when rescued and rehabilitated, inescapable net around the
prefer to get retrafficked. victim whose kith and kin is
vulnerable and manage to
put pressure on the victim.
11. “Their behaviour is compulsively 11. The victims are beaten by

suggestive and vulgar”. the Madams to acquire this
behaviour patterns in the red
light areas. The victims hate
such behaviour.
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MYTH FACT
12. “They earn lot of money” 12. All the money paid by the
customers goes to the Madam,
Traffickers and to pay for
mamools to various agencies.
The victims do not get any
money, for themselves.
13. “They send lot of money to their 13.Since they do not have any
families in the villages” money, there is no question of
sending money home.
14. “They maintain good health and 14. They do not earn any money,
beauty” but they certainly earn diseases
and ailments. Quacks and not
doctors attend on their medical
needs and further deteriorate
their plight.
15. “Their living conditions are 15.Living conditions are abso-

hygienic” lutely unhygienic and breed all
kinds of diseases including
HIV / AIDS.
16. “They are medically attended to; 16. In times of sickness, they
as they earn money for Madam” are attended by quacks whose
medication further deterio-
rates the health of the victim.
17. With children there is no ques- 17. The consent of a child is of no

tion of consent. It is always co- consequence as children are ill-
ercion, threat or abuse, which is informed of what awaits them
portrayed as consent. at the end by duping, trickery
and fraud. The age of consent
is thus vital.
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MYTH FACT
18. The ‘problem’ is ‘out there’, it 18. In fact, in this fast-paced

doesn’t affect me. It affects world the Internet has brought
‘other’ children not ours. the Paedophile stalking our
children in our homes!
Websites devoted to pornog-
raphy are using children in abu-
sive contexts. “Conspiracy of
silence” may suck our own
children, also.
19. Traffickers target only poor, 19.It may be any “unaccompa-

starving children. nied” child who is made the
target. The next child can be
yours.
20. If I raise my voice, it will not 20.We, raising our voice alone
happen to my children. is not adequate. We should
raise the conscious of all
around us.
3.3 It is easy to see that these myths are circulated to deter well
meaning people from making any attempts whatsoever in
rescuing, rehabilitating or reintegrating the victims.
3.4 Similarly, the traffickers of children spread rumours that

parents themselves sell their children.
 “Though, poverty forces some families to send their

children to work away from home. Children, thus made
more vulnerable, may then fall into the hands of traf
fickers and exploiters.
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 Lack of education and lack of knowledge of the realities

of migration may make parents naive and gullible to
traffickers’ tricks, truly believing their promises of a better
future for the child and the family;
 Parents may know that the job prospect awaiting their

child is not great, but still ignore its actual inhumane and
slave-like conditions;
 Parents may in some cases ‘rent’ their children to some-

one who promises good returns and work elsewhere”
(TAHA Report, 2006)
***
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I saw the angel in the marble and

carved until I set him free.
... Michelangelo
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4. EXTENT AND MAGNITUDE

4.0 Extent of The Problem :
About two About two (twenty lac) million persons are trafficked
million every year all over the world. Owing to the clandestine
persons are
trafficked nature of this illegal operation, no agency in the world is
every year
in a position to come out with an accurate figure. Web
enabled globalisation is fuelling this menace leap in
geometric progression. People are trafficked for many
purposes.
4.1 Human trafficking is certainly a big business. According

to an UN source, traffickers of people make annual
profits of some $7 billion (Rs.31,500 crores) in
prostitution alone.
4.2 Generally speaking, almost every country in the world

has a trafficking problem. Countries can be divided
Countries
roughly into countries of origin (usually the resource-
can be :
a) Origin poor countries or countries that are politically or
b) Transit economically unstable); countries of destination (usually
c) Desti-
nation
resource-rich developed countries, where demand is
located); and transit countries (countries along a
trafficking route, where traffickers have safe passage and
harbor). Some countries, such as India, Thailand and
Nigeria, are countries of origin, transit, and destination.
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4.3 Global Patterns:
“Human trafficking is widespread – data taken from

From 127 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
countries
to 137 Database on Human Trafficking Trends document the
countries trafficking of human beings from 127 countries to be
exploited in 137 countries”. (UNODC Trafficking in persons
Global Patterns, 2006) Therefore, it is a global phenomenon.
4.4 “Even though all human trafficking cases have their

individual characteristics, most follow the same pattern
: people are abducted or recruited in the country of
origin, transferred through transit regions and then
exploited in the destination country. If, at some stage,
the exploitation of the victim is interrupted or ended,
they can be rescued as victims of trafficking in persons
and it is possible they might receive support in the
country of destination. Either immediately or at some
later point, victims might be repatriated to their origin
country ; in some cases, relocated in a third country;
or, as unfortunately too often still happens, are
deported from destination or transit countries as illegal
migrants, with no home ; vulnerable yet again ; sitting
ducks to traffickers once again” (UNODC Trafficking in
persons Global Patterns, 2006)
4.5 India, an Origin :

India On a scale of five -
High on
Origin Very High, High, Medium, Low and Very Low India
appeared at High as an Origin country, Medium as a
Transit country, High as Destination Country.
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4.5.2 Similarly, the neighbouring countries figured as

folllows :
Country Origin Transit Destination

India High Medium High
Pakistan High Very Low High
Nepal High Very Low -
Bhutan Low - Very Low
Myanmar High High Medium
Bangladesh High Very Low Low
Sri Lanka Medium - Low
Average High Very Low Medium
4.6 It is easy to comprehend that India and its neighbouring
countries are very high in origin; these countries are sending
Push trafficked human beings to the rest of the world. While the
and
Pull ‘Pull’ factor is in the Destination countries, it cannot be
factors denied that there exists a “Push” factor in these developing
countries in Indian Ocean, dealt as Vulnerable factors /
groups in chapters 9 & 14. The presence of large number
of predators (Traffickers) in these countries is a
dangerous menace not only to these countries but the
whole world. Therefore, there is a need for all the
countries to unite on this front and put an end to this
menace by adopting effective strategies both at Pull side
as well as the Push side.
***
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5.0 THE CAUSES OF TRAFFICKING

5.1 “The causes of human trafficking are complex and often
reinforce each other. Victims constitute the supply, and
abusive employers or sexual exploiters (also known as sex
buyers) represent the demand”. (Trafficking in Persons Report, 2005)
The people who act as conduits to traffick persons are

traffickers and represent Distribution. Typically, demand
side and Distribution side gain economically and the supply
side suffers from all angles.
5.1.1 THE TIP TRIANGLE

SUPPLY DEMAND
Women and children Customer/User/Buyer
DISTRIBUTION
Trafficker
5.2 “The supply of victims is encouraged by many factors including :
 poverty ;
 attraction of perceived higher standards of living
elsewhere ;
 lack of employment opportunities ;
Poverty  organised crime ;
... main
causative  violence against women ;
factor
 regional imbalance ;
 economic disparities ;
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 socially challenged ;
 government corruption ;
 political instability ; and
 armed conflict.
5.3 On demand side, factors driving trafficking in persons

include the sex industry and the growing demand for
Internet exploitable labour. Sex tourism and child pornography
provides have become worldwide industries, facilitated by
scope for
expansion technologies such as the Internet, which vastly expand
of traffick-
ing the choices available to “consumers” and permit instant
and nearly undetectable transactions. Trafficking is also
driven by the global demand for cheap, vulnerable and
illegal labour. For example, there is great demand in
some prosperous countries of Asia and the Gulf for
domestic servants who sometimes fall victim to
exploitation or involuntary servitude”. (Trafficking in
Persons Report, 2005)
5.4 There is an insatiable demand from Middle east for

“virgin” brides from Hyderabad City. Often the
newspapers and media show a 16 years old bride being
married off to a 70 year old Sheik. What happens after
the marriage is anybody’s guess. How many times, she
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will be sold over and again is something that is just not

possible to know.
5.5 “While virtually no country is totally sheltered from

trafficking (either as receiving or sending), trafficking
seems to be thriving when four conditions are met;
 a flawed system unable to prevent it from happen

ing,
 demand for trafficked persons,
 opportunities for traffickers, and
 a vulnerable pool of potential victims.
5.6 A flawed system is one in which adequate laws to

prevent trafficking and protect victims are not in place
Absence
of will to or are not enforced; where corrupt authorities
prevent
trafficking (including law enforcement agencies) allow trafficking
and
to happen and may even benefit from it. It is also a
inadequate
laws ... system where migration policies are not consistent
allow
trafficking with labour market realities, that is, where the opening
to take
of border and the improvement of infrastructure and
place
transportation have not led to a concomitant relaxation
of restrictions on movement and migration for labour
– thus exacerbating labour market imbalances and
increasing the extent of irregular migration.
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5.7 Demand for trafficking can be defined by:
 Demand for low status, low paid workers;
 Demand for commercial sexual exploitation, particularly

of children;
 Demand for labour in sectors in which nationals of

the country are not willing to work for a variety of rea-
sons, such as dangerous conditions of work.
5.8 Demand is often found in those types of work which can

be characterized as “the three Ds”:
 dirty,
Dirty Dangerous
 dangerous, or Victims
Job
 degrading. Degrading
5.9 Opportunities for traffickers exist when the act of

trafficking is rewarded, when traffickers can act with
impunity, or when it results in a low risk of consequences
for traffickers. Increased border controls, and crackdowns
on the smallest, poorest links in the migration chain, push
people into more and more organised and dangerous forms
of migration, thus adding to opportunities for traffickers.
Lack of access to justice for victims and potential victims
allows raffickers to operate with impunity.
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5.10 Vulnerability factors play a role in pushing Vulnera-

bility
people into the hands of traffickers. Some factors
push
of these factors are:” ( TAHA Report, 2006) victim
into the
 Regional imbalances force people to hands of
traffickers
migrate and become vulnerable in the
new places of living.
 Shift from rural to urban areas in search of livelihood

will make people dependent and gullible in the hands
of exploiters.
 “Poverty and economic disparities between

countries, and regions encourage migration in search
of survival or better opportunities;
 Limited job prospects for adults force them to leave,

and unemployment of breadearners force their
Poverty
and children to earn money;
economic
disparties  Abusive family environments (sometimes influenced
are the
chief by alcohol and drug use) encourage children to leave
reasons
home, thus putting them at risk of being trafficked;
for
trafficking
 Lack of education and lack of access to information
regarding the realities of migration do not allow people
to make informed choices;” ( TAHA Report, 2006)
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 Lower ethnic groups and castes as in India, are denied

access to education, health, land, employment, and
legal services. Youth of these disadvantaged groups
are vulnerable. They move to cities and towns in
search of anonymity and equality. Soon they are
sucked up by lurking traffickers.
 “Armed conflict, civil unrest or war situations push

refugees on the roads in situations of extreme
vulnerability;
 Consumerism and the hunger for consumer goods,

fuelled by indiscriminate messages for the media,
create a desire for more money;” (TAHA Report, 2006)
 Regional imbalances, such as a decision of the State

to construct a dam or revamp a Lake without a well
thought through Resettlement and Rehabilitation
(R&R) programme, uproots them economically and
socially and throws them into an alien situation,
making them vulnerable, for the first time.
***
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6.0 TYPES OF TRAFFICKING

6.1 Sexual exploitation is not the only end use of trafficking.
Infact, there are several more end uses. Following are some
of the end uses, though not exhaustive:
6.2 Labour
 Bonded labour
 Domestic work
 Agricultural labour
 Construction work
 Carpet industry
 Garment industry
 Film Industry
 Fish/shrimp industry
6.3 Illegal Activities

 Begging
 Organ trade
 Drug peddling and smuggling
 Weapon and explosive smuggling
 Mercenaries and hired assassins
 Faction Crime
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6.4 Sexual Exploitation
 Forced prostitution
 Socially and religiously (Devadasi) sanctified forms of

prostitution
 Sex tourism
 Pornography (Pink and Grey, as well)
 Transgender conversion and exploitation

6.5 Entertainment and Sports
 Circus
 dance troupes
 beer bars
 Camel jockeys
6.6 For and through Marriage
6.7 For and through Adoption
6.8 As child soldiers or combatants in armed conflicts
6.9 Supply Side
Apart from the end use categorisation, trafficking can also

be categorised on the supply side. Contrary to general belief
that only women are trafficked, children are also trafficked
in large numbers, as the categories of end use mentioned
above, themselves suggest. It is not uncommon for male
37
persons also to be trafficked for some of the above

mentioned end uses particularly for bonded labour,
sexual exploitation and organ trade.
6.10 Vulnerability
It is widely accepted amongst the social scientists that

Vulnerable irrespective of sex, it is vulnerability in society, that is
groups
belonging
the single largest cause for anybody to be trafficked. In
to lower societies that are divided on extreme forms of class, caste
classes /
castes and other forms of human division, the perceived lower
become
doubly
classes/castes form the vulnerable group. In times of
vulnerable political, economic and ethnic disturbances/ conflicts
of considerable dimensions, several groups and
communities get up rooted and displaced, often resulting
in breakage of bonds, lack of economic source of
livelihood etc. Under such circumstances, women and
children belonging to the lower classes / castes become
doubly vulnerable.
***
38
7.0 TRAFFICKING AND

CHILDREN
7.1 Given the criminal and the clandestine nature of the act,
there is very little data on the extent of trafficking.
Children are certainly the most vulnerable group to trafficking

as :
(1) They are children and others have more control on them,
(2) They can be put to use in many money-earning activities

as mentioned in the previous chapter.
7.2 “Child trafficking violates a child’s most fundamental rights

as outlined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child.
For all the complexities of trafficking, trafficked children are
child slaves. Children who are exploited in this way are often:
 Forcibly removed from their home area;
 Raped, abused physically and emotionally;
 Treated cruelly;
 Exposed to severe health risks;
 Threatened and terrorised;
39
 Deprived of their right to education;
 Discriminated against;
 Exploited economically;
 Exposed to hazardous work and materials;
 Forced to work long hours with no rest or recreation;
 Receive low or no wages.
7.3 The commercial sexual exploitation of children is defined as

follows;
Any person under eighteen, male or female, engaging in sexual

activities for money, profit, or any other consideration due
to coercion or influence by any adult, syndicate or group.
While some forms of trafficking do not involve commercial

sexual exploitation, there are two major links between them:
 Commercial sexual exploitation is one of the possible

purposes or possible outcomes of trafficking. In other
words, trafficking will sometimes be the chain of criminal
acts culminating in a child being brought into commercial
sexual exploitation;”
40
 Trafficking of children – moving them away from their

normal context to other parts of a country or across borders
– increases their vulnerability to commercial sexual
exploitation – the so-called “incidental exposure”. Isolated
from family, community and normal protection mechanisms,
often unable to speak the language and deprived of legal
status, children trafficked for any purpose are at high risk
of sexual exploitation. (TAHA Report, 2006)
7.4 “The Training Manual for Combating trafficking in Children

brought out by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNICEF
has identified the following impacts:
7.5 Impact of Trafficking on Children
Trafficking abrogates a child’s right to a healthy childhood

and a productive, rewarding and dignified life. Child traffick-
ing victims are subjugated and physically abused by the per-
petrators: traffickers, employers, pimps, madams, and ‘cus-
tomers’. Trafficked children are often beaten and abused,
and the violence occurs at all stages of the ‘trafficking cycle’.
The impact of trafficking on children is both long term and

short term. It results in impacts that are physical and psy-
chosocial.
41
7.6 Emotional Impact
 Children who have been trafficked have

They often reported feelings of shame, guilt and low self-
feel
betrayed, esteem. They are frequently stigmatised.
especially
if the  They often feel betrayed, especially if the
perpetrator
perpetrator was someone they had trusted.
was some-
one they
had  These factors as well as the experience itself
trusted can cause nightmares, sleeplessness, feelings of
hopelessness and depression. Some children
who have been trafficked turn to substance
abuse to numb their psychic pain, others have
attempted suicide.
7.7 Physical impact
 Children trafficked into prostitution, sex

tourism or pornographic activities are
susceptible to contracting sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV/AIDS. There is a
Myth :
Sex with dangerous and mistaken belief in India is that
a virgin sex with a virgin can cure HIV/AIDS or other
can cure
HIV/
sexually transmitted infections. This has led to
AIDS even higher demand for young girls. Many
women and girls report that ‘customers’ pay
more for sex without a condom, and they –
especially girls – are rarely in a position to insist
upon condom use.
42
 Children trafficked for labour, whether it is domestic work

or any other industry or occupation, are vulnerable to
physical as well as sexual violence. They are beaten,
branded, deprived of food and other extreme forms of
violence. They too are vulnerable to rape and sexual
exploitation, and are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
 Children trafficked for marriages are subjected to sexual and

physical violence. There are instances in which they are
subjected to forced labour in the marital home. Often,
marriage is the first step towards further trafficking into
prostitution.
Children  Children trafficked for begging are maimed and tortured so

trafficked
for that they can evoke sympathy. They too, are susceptible to
begging
are
physical and sexual violence. Children trafficked for begging
maimed are kept in a drugged state so that they do not escape.
7.8 Psychosocial impact
Children who are trafficked typically suffer effects adverse to

their social and educational development.
 Many have no family life and are forced to work at a young

age. Without access to school or family support, and cut
off from normal social activities, they fail to develop their
43
potential. Also, under constant surveillance and

Trafficking
is an restriction, they have little contact with the outside world
attack on and often do not have the possibility to seek help. When
the self-
hood they are victims of physical and emotional violence and
abuse, the effects may be life threatening and long term.
 Normal development of an adolescent includes

development of abstract thinking, views and beliefs about
themselves, ability to think critically and ability to think
creatively. All these aspects of development are impacted
upon negatively in case of trafficked adolescents as they are
faced with uncertainty and a feeling of helplessness; their
identity is suddenly lost to the negative experiences of the
abuse and trauma they suffer. Trafficking is an attack on the
selfhood of the person and clearly affects how they perceive
themselves.
 Psychological and emotional growth too is seriously impaired.
 The thoughts and feelings of a trafficked person are

permanently affected by her/his traumatic experiences. There
is complete loss of trust in others, leading to difficulty in
forming relationships, which affects their rehabilitation.
Withdrawal and isolation, disconnection from the world

at large, indifference, dissociation, experimenting with
44
drugs and alcohol, a whole range of psychiatric

disorders are some of the common effects on
trafficked persons”.
(Stop Child Trafficking – A Handbook for Parliamentarians
Published by CACT, 2005)
7.9 Free and Compulsory education is THE solution :

Every child has a right to be under the care and affection of the
parents. Every child deserves a protected environment to learn
A child the purpose of God, the beautiful nature. Every child aspires to
out of
school is be the worthy citizen of its country and be capable of
a child contributing towards its national building.
trafficked
Trafficking shatters away all that. A child out of school is a

child trafficked. Compulsory education is one solution
which will make any child outside a school, residential or
otherwise, standout uglily. Such children can be sent back
to the school, easily - if education is compulsory. Anybody,
in custody of an ‘education - less’ child can be handed up.
The developing nations should give the children
opportunity to have access to residential schools and impart
them rightful education; if only they care for posterity and
have concern for safer world !!!
7.10 Rightly so ! Art. 21 (A) Constitution of India says “The

State shall provide free and compulsory education to all
children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as
the state may, by law determine’’?
45
8.0 TRAFFICKING & HIV / AIDS

8.1 The link between HIV/AIDS and TIP:
4.2 Crore “Approximately 4.2 Crore (42 million) people are living with
HIV pa-
HIV/AIDS worldwide. The global epidemic affects women
tients
world-wide and children who are trafficked for purpose of prostitution.
Globally, women in prostitution and those who have been
trafficked for prostitution have a high prevalence of HIV
and other STDs. For example:
In South Africa, HIV prevalence among women in

prostitution is 70.4 percent. In Zambia it is 31 percent,
28.8 percent in Cambodia and 20 percent in Nepal, our
neighboring country.
8.2 In addition, the HIV/AIDS epidemic may be spread by

TIP human trafficking. Some experts have linked sex trafficking
carries to the spread of the AIDS virus. HIV cannot be controlled
HIV
without preventing TIP.
8.3 There is a strong and an inevitable linkage between
STDS are trafficking in women and children and spread and contraction
more of HIV/AIDS. Trafficking of women and children for
common
among commercial sexual exploitation, which is also termed as “sex
women
than men trafficking” puts them in the most vulnerable position to
46
contract HIV/AIDS and spread it if they are already infected.

Since the trafficked victims are virtually enslaved, they have
no bargaining power upon condom use and are vulnerable
to dangerous sexual practices, most associated with
transmission. STDS are more common among women than
men, and children often contract STDs, HIV/AIDS sooner
than adults. Trafficked women are more vulnerable to
sexually transmitted diseases. This is further compounded
by their inability to receive medical testing, treatment,
counselling, prevention services, or other health care.
8.4 Trafficking and HIV : Dual Vulnerabilities
Of the over 5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the

South Asia region nearly 80% are living in India. Gender,
4 Million age and transmission via sex are key elements in the dramatic
people live increase in the epidemic in the region.
with HIV/
AIDS in
India The fastest rate of new infections is in the age group 15-24,
and the epidemic is expanding rapidly amongst women, many
under 18 years of age.
An estimated 35 per cent of the HIV-positive people in the

region are women and girls.
The numbers are growing as a result of their
47
 Socio-economic,
 Cultural, and
 Biological vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
This vulnerability is rooted in the limitations (imposed by socio-

economic and cultural conditions) on the control that women
have over their life circumstances and choices, including sexual
circumstances.
These same underlying factors also heighten the vulnerability

of women and girls to being caught in the growing web of
trafficking in the region, taking them into situations which
remove the last vestiges of choice, violate their human dignity
and security, and further increase the risk of exposure to HIV/
AIDS.
8.5 HIV/AIDS is mediated almost by the same set of factors that

cause vulnerability to trafficking viz.
 Poverty and inequality
 Limited and unequal access to services
 Unsafe mobility
 Gender and patriarchal norms
48
 Skewed power structures
 Gender-based violence
 Conflict ridden regions
8.6 The following news item report depicts how vulnerabilities are
the same for trafficking as well as spread of HIV / AIDS.
8.7 India: Human Trafficking in the northeast fuelling

HIV/ AIDS
North eastern India has seven small States often refer to as

seven sisters. These seven states are landlocked and are
surrounded by China, Myanmar, Bangladesh & Bhutan. As many
as 180 tribes cohabit in these states. Many of them embraced
Christianity.
Poverty and conflict are fuelling trafficking in these north eastern

states.
A good portion of these states is ravaged by armed insurgency,

leading to violence, displacement of families, breakdown of
families, unemployment, lack of means of livelihood etc.
Several camps are being conducted in these states. Several women

from these camps are going missing. Traffickers openly conduct
recruitment drives in these relief camps.
49
8.8 A study in the North-Eastern India proves, beyond doubt, that

vulnerability factors such as :
 Conflict protracted regions;
 Low caste / low income families ;
 Broken families;
 Poverty and inequality
are common vulnerability factors for both
(a) Trafficking; and
(b) HIV / AIDS.
***
50
9.0 VULNERABLE GROUPS

9.1 “Women and children are the most vulnerable amongst
the human beings, particularly those from marginalised
sections of society and those from poor economic strata.
Women Cascading discrimination, within and outside the
and
Children
household, lack of education, nutrition, health, skills and
are employment, apart from domestic and societal violence
most
vulner- make them an easy prey for the traffickers. Therefore,
able to
Traffick- they need special attention, more so, because nearly half
ing
of the world population compromises of women and 1/
3rd are children. Statistics tell us that more girls, than
boys, are even withdrawn from schools to assist in
household management, family care along with their
mothers and sometimes even to augment family income,
reducing their opportunity for better education and jobs.
This adversely affects their right to development – a
recognised basic right.
Traffick-
9.2 Trafficking in women and children is a gross violation of
ing in human rights. It is the worst form of modern day slavery.
women
and Sexual exploitation of women and girls is an obscene threat
children
is a to the dignity of a female. It indeed is a de-humanising
gross
violation concept to treat human being as commodities. The problem
of of trafficking in women and children is both real and present.
human
rights One of the reasons why it has continued to flourish is the
51
efforts of the authorities to brush the problem under the carpet

and not even admit of its existence. Unless we identify a
problem, there is no way that steps can be taken to tackle the
same” (Keynote address of Anand A.S. Chief Justice, 2004)
9.3 Permanent vulnerable groups of India :
India prides itself to be the birthplace of zero as a numerical.

The wealthiest ethnic group is USA is Indian. India has many
uniques.
One such unique thing to India is caste system. India follows

a caste system wherein citizens are classified, vertically,
according to their births. This classification will remain with
that citizen from birth, through his entire lifetime, at the time of
his death and even after his death.
In India, some are born in upper castes such as Brahmin,

Kshetriya etc, and some are born in lower castes such as listed
in Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These divisions are :
(a) vertical;
Women and
(b) water tight; Children of these
disadvantaged
groups are
(c) Impermeable; doubly vulner-
able
(d) Rigid; and
(e) Deny mobility.

52
Typically, citizens born in lower castes are deprived, denied

and disadvantaged on many fronts:
(a) access to land ;
(b) access to means of livelihood ;
(c) access to education ;
(d) access to money (loan) ;
(e) access to accrued social status, and above all;
(f) Human dignity.
Disadvantaged, many of them, are vulnerable to the gigantic

money machine called trafficking. Women and Children of
these disadvantaged groups are doubly vulnerable.
9.4 Vulnerability : Dual Vs. Double
 Women and Children for various reasons, that are similar,

are vulnerable to both :
(a) Trafficking; and
(b) HIV / AIDS
(c) Access to justice
Therefore, Dual vulnerability
53
 Socially disadvantaged sections of society themselves are

vulnerable; their women and children are more
vulnerable. Therefore, doubly vulnerable.
Trafficking HIV / AIDS
(A) Women Vulnerable Vulnerable Dual

and vulnerability
Children
in general
(B1) Disadvan- Vulnerable Vulnerable
taged
sections of
society
(B2) Women & Twice Twice Doubly
& Children Vulnerable Vulnerable Vulnerable
of disadvan-
tage sections
54
9.4.1 Types of Vulnerabilities to Trafficking :

S.No. Type of Causes behind / Vulnerabilities
Vulnerability to Trafficking
1. Economic  Poverty. Family that cannot meet basic needs,

e.g., large number of dependents without
assets; female-headed households;
 Livelihood based on arduous labour, especially

for women and girls;
 High unemployment or long-term under-

employment;
 Sudden economic shocks, e.g., climatic, erosion,

market-driven, change in prices of basic needs;
 Indebtedness of family-girls living in communities

where dowry payments required upon marriage
that divert scarce resources;
 Income disparities between rural/urban or

between countries;
 Indebtedness leading to bonded labour and other

form of similitude;
 Skewed distribution of means of livelihood;
 Landless poor and lack of adequate wage

earning employment programmes.
55
2. Social/  Social Structure : Rigid division of societies

on caste lines which only few have access to law
Gover-
and other means of livelihood.
nance
 Security : Those living in violent or abusive
families / households; living under conditions
of civil unrest or war; children living without
parents or guardians; street children;
 Status : Women and Girls unable to control their

lives or seeking other options outside their
communities as conditions are limiting - often
results in women choosing to remain in highly
exploitative conditions following trafficking
episodes;
 Lack of ‘Free and Compulsory Education’

Policy.
3. Lifecycle  Street children with no guardians;
 Adolescent girls, adolescents in general;
 Children from families in crisis (e.g., alcoholic

parents, traumatised from war or civil conflict);
 Single women with children (unmarried,

divorced, widowed, or abandoned);
 Single women (often traumatised through

stigmatisation e.g., rape victim, suspicions
regarding morality, etc.); and Women / Girl
migrants - either alone or with families.
56
Types of Vulnerabilities to Trafficking :

S.No. Type of Causes behind / Vulnerabilities
Vulnerability to Trafficking
4. Environ-  Long-term lack of sustainable livelihood from
mental erosion, drought, etc.;
 Sudden disaster victims, e.g., cyclones, earth-

quakes, floods; and
 Improper R & R programmes.
(Guide for Integrating Trafficking Concerns into ADB Operations - April 2003)
***
57
10.0 THE SOCIAL COST OF

TRAFFICKING :
The “victims / survivors of human trafficking pay a horrible
victims/ price. Psychological and physical harm, including disease
survivors
suffer a and stunted growth, often have permanent effects. In
permanent
and
many cases the exploitation of trafficking victim /
progres- survivors is progressive: a child trafficked into one form
sive
psycho- of labour may be further abused in another. Another
logical and brutal reality of the modern-day slave trade is that its
physical
harm. victims are frequently bought and sold many times over
- often sold initially by family members.
10.1 Victims forced into sex slavery can be subdued with drugs
and subjected to extreme violence. Victims trafficked for
sexual exploitation face physical and emotional damage
from forced physical and emotional damage from forced
sexual activity, forced substance abuse and exposure to
sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
Some victim / survivors suffer permanent damage to
their reproductive organs. When the victim is trafficked
to a location where he or she cannot speak or understand
the language, this compounds the psychological damage
caused from isolation and domination by traffickers”.
(Trafficking in Persons Report, 2005)
58
10.2 89% of people trafficked into sex trade want to escape.

89% of
60 to 70% of women in sex trade have been raped. 70 to
people
trafficked 95% have been physically assaulted, and 68% met the
into sex
trade want clinical criteria for post traumatic stress disorders.
to escape
10.3 “The Human Rights Dimension :
Every Fundamentally, trafficking in persons violates the

child has universal human right to life, liberty, and freedom from
a right to
grow in a slavery in all its forms. Trafficking of children violates
protected
environ- the inherent right of a child to grow up in a protective
ment
environment and the right to be free from all forms of
abuse and exploitation.
10.4 Promoting Social Breakdown :
Trafficking
tears
The loss of family and community support networks
children makes trafficking victims vulnerable to traffickers’
from their
parents demands and threats and contributes in several ways to
and
extended
breakdown of the social structures. Trafficking tears
family children from their parents and extended family. The
profits from trafficking allow the practice to take deep
roots. On becoming a trafficking victim can lead
vulnerable groups to look the other way, away from
schooling and family structure, thereby defeating
national programmes of primary education etc. The loss
59
of education reduces the vulnerable groups’ future

economic opportunities and increases their vulnerability
to being trafficked in the future. The lure of money will
eventually influence some weak persons (weak link in
the chain) of the vulnerable groups to become conduits
of the Organised Traffickers. These “small time” pushers
become both influential as well as hated persons in the
vulnerable group. This leads to a serious suspicions,
breakdown of Trust within the social group, thereby
promoting social breakdown.
10.5 Fueling Organised Crime : TIP gene-

rates $ 10
The profits from human trafficking fuel other billion bad
money
criminal activities. According to the US every year
Federal Bureau of Investigation, human
trafficking generates an estimated $9.5 billion (Rs.42,750
crores) in annual revenue. It is closely connected with
money laundering, drug trafficking, document
forgery and human smuggling.
10.6 Public Health Implications :

Victims
cannot
escape Victims of trafficking often endure brutal conditions that
physical, result in physical, sexual, and psychological trauma.
sexual and
psycho- Sexually transmitted infections, pelvic inflammatory
logical
trauma disease and HIV/AIDS are often the result of being used
60
in prostitution. Anxiety, insomnia, depression and post-

traumatic stress disorder are common psychological
manifestations among trafficked victim / survivors.
Unsanitary and crowded living conditions, coupled with
poor nutrition, foster a host of adverse health conditions
such as scabies, tuberculosis, and other communicable
diseases.
10.7 The link between HIV/AIDS and TIP :
Approximately 4.2 Crore people are living with HIV/AIDS

worldwide. The global epidemic affects women and children
4.2 who are trafficked for purpose of prostitution. Globally,
Crore
HIV women in prostitution and those who have been trafficked
patients
for prostitution have a high prevalence of HIV and other
world-
wide STDs. For example:
In South Africa, HIV prevalence among women in

prostitution is 70.4 percent. In Zambia it is 31 percent,
28.8 percent in Cambodia and 20 percent in Nepal, our
neighbouring country.
10.8 In addition, the HIV/AIDS epidemic may be spread by

TIP human trafficking. Some experts have linked sex trafficking
carries to the spread and mutation of the AIDS virus. They believe
HIV
that sex trafficking is aiding the global dispersion of HIV
61
subtypes. HIV cannot be controlled without preventing TIP.
10.9 Erosion of Government Authority :
Many governments struggle to exercise full law enforcement

authority over their national territory, particularly where
corruption is prevalent. Armed conflicts, natural disasters, and
political or ethnic struggles can create large populations of
internally displaced persons, who could be vulnerable to
trafficking. Human trafficking operations further undermine
government efforts to exert authority, threatening the security
of vulnerable populations. TIP includes big money parallel
economies that weakens legitimate governments. This is more
so in small and developing economies” (Trafficking in Persons
Report, 2005)
***
62
11.0 INDIAN SCENARIO

“India is the cradle of human race, the birth place of
human speech, the mother of history, the grand mother
India :
Source, of legend and the great grand mother of tradition”
transit and
destination
- Mark Twain
country India is an Origin, Transit and Destination country for
women, men, and children trafficked for the purposes
of sexual and labour exploitation. Indian men and
women are trafficked into situations of involuntary
servitude in countries in the Middle East and children
may be forced to work as beggars or camel jockeys.
Bangladeshi women and children are trafficked to India
or trafficked through India en route to Pakistan and the
Middle East for purposes of sexual exploitation, domestic
servitude, and forced labour. Nepalese women and girls
are trafficked to India for sexual exploitation, domestic
servitude, and forced labour. India is also a growing
destination for sex tourists form Europe, the United
States, and other Western countries. India is also home
to millions of victims of forced or bonded labour.
1 1 .1 Indian Contribution to Trafficking :
During a survey, interviews of over 4000 persons were

conducted of different stake-holders. Amongst the
63
survivors (Victims) of commercial sexual exploitation

it was revealed that:
52% of
victims are
from  51.7% were from deprived sections of society.
deprived
sections
 The age at first sexual experience of 41.35% was
Nearly between 7-15 years.
half of the
victims of
CSE were  The age of entry into commercial sexual exploitation
exploited
before they reach the age of 18 was 61.7% with 45.6%
before
they of those who had been sexually exploited even before
reached
16 years they reached the age of 16.
of age
11.2 From amongst the clients interviewed it was found that :
 10% were student and 82.3% were married below the

82% age of 35 years, having wives at home;
Clients
were  Only 67.9% used condoms and 32.1% did not go for
married
with any safe sex measures either,
wives
waiting
for them  82.6% of those interviewed stated that they had never
at homes encountered police in brothels, which just explains the
poor law enforcement against abusers.
11.3 The data collected by interviewing 852 police officials out

of the total 4006 persons revealed some shocking facts :
64
 40% of the police officials were not aware of the issue

of trafficking.
only
6.6%  54.8% police officials gave no priority at all to trafficking
Police while 25.3% gave it low priority.
Officers
are
sensitised  The reporting on trafficking was only of 40% cases and
the 60% of the cases go unreported.
 Only 6.6% of the police officials had undergone some

sort of training/sensitisation on the issue.
11.4 Comprehensive statistics on trafficking-related

Only 82
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences are
and 1,051
convi- not available. Available statistics show 195 prosecutions
ction in
2004 for and 82 convictions obtained for offences related to
sexual
trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2004. An estimated
exploi-
tation 2,058 prosecutions and 1,051 convictions for child labour
and child
labour offences in 2004.
offences
11.5 India being both a destination and a transit zone for
traffickers is faced with the problem of tackling inter-state
30% of
CSE as well as international trafficking. A survey sponsored
victims
are below by the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) in 1991 in six
18 years
metropolitan cities of India indicated that the population
of age
of women and children victims of commercial sexual
65
exploitation is between 70,000 to 1,00,000. It also reveals

that about 30% of them are below 18 years of age.
11.6 As many as 24,179 in the last 3 years were reported missing

in the country. As many as 7134 persons for the same period,
Where
are have were reported missing from Delhi, 2485 from West Bengal,
they
gone ? 2014 from Tamil Nadu, 1840 from Haryana & Kerala, 1671
.... from Orissa, 1344 from Maharashtra, 1157 from Uttar
24, 179
missing Pradesh, 1080 from Andhra Pradesh. Now, the question is
persons
where have they gone and what is the possibility of they
being trafficked, detained and exploited - sexually or
physically.
***
66
12.0 ADEQUACIES OF INDIAN

LAW ON TRAFFICKING
12.1 There are as many as 200 Criminal Acts in India or
Law
Enforce- perhaps more covering almost all types of crime under
ment
Agencies
the Sun. There is not one, but many Laws, Acts, Sections,
have done Rules and Regulations to invoke, if only, somebody is
very little
to contain serious to tackle the menace of Trafficking.
trafficking
12.2 The issue, here, is not of inadequacy of Law. The issue
is lack of heart and will to call a spade a spade.
12.3 Millions of Indian Citizens (how about you ?) continue

to feign ignorance of this problem. Millions have brushed
it under the carpet. Only few thousands have discovered,
with unfathomable cost, after IT occurred to the children in
their own Kith and Kin. Yet, the carpet is still there !!!
12.4 Administration, particularly Law Enforcement Agencies

have done very little to cause any dent on this menace; inspite
of the following draconian laws and legal framework :
12.5 Constitution of India
12.5.1 Article 15 (3), 23 and 39 of the Constitution of India clearly

establish every citizen’s right to freedom from exploitation
of all forms.
67
Article 15 (3) and Article 39 (f) are to be read together.
12.5.2 “Art. 15 (3) : Prohibition of discrimination on grounds

of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth :
The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on

grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any
of them.
Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from

making any special provision for women and
children”.
12.5.3 “Art. 21 : No person shall be deprived of his life, or

personal liberty except according to procedure established
by law.
Life: (1) Right to life, enshrined in Art.21 means

something more than survival, or animal existence
 (State of Maharashtra v. Chandrabhan, AIR 1983 SC

803 (paras 1, 20 : (1983) 3 SCC 387.
It would include the right to live with human dignity.
 (Francis Coralie Mullin v. Union Territory Delhi,

Administrator, AIR 1981 SC 746 (para 3) : (1981) 1
68
SCC 608; Olga Tellis v. Bombay Corpn, AIR 1986

SC 180 (paras 33-34) : (1985) 3 SCC 545.
(2) It would, thus, include -
(a) The right of a person not to be subjected to ‘bonded

labour’
 (Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, AIR 1984

SC 802 (para 10): (1984) 3 SCC 161)
or
to unfair conditions of labour
 (Peoples’ Union v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 1473;

(1982) 3 SCC 235.
(b) The right of a bonded labourer to rehabilitation

after release.
The State
 (Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of M.P., AIR 1984
shall
provide SC1099 paras,1, 5,11): (1984) 3 SCC 243.
free and
compul-
sory (c) Right to livelihood by means which are not illegal,
education immoral or opposed to public policy
 (Olga Tellis v. Bombay Corpn, AIR 1986 SC 180

(paras 33-34) : (1985) 3 SCC 545).
69
(d) Right of Women to be treated with decency and

proper dignity: It is a basic right of a female to be
treated with decency and property dignity and the
search of a woman by a person other than a female
officer is violative of it. (State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh
(1999) 6 SCC 172 (para 13) AIR 1999 SC 2378.
12.5.4 Art. 21 (A) : The State shall provide free and

compulsory education to all children of the age of six to
fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law
determine.
12.5.5 Article 23 prohibits Traffic in human beings and

other similar forms of forced labour.
12.5.6 Article 39 : Certain principles of policy to be

followed by the State: The State shall, in parti-cular, direct
its policy towards securing.
“·that the citizens, men and women equally, have the

right to an adequate means of livelihood;
 that the health and strength of workers, men and

women, and the tender age of children are not abused
and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity
to enter into avocations unsuited to their age or
strength;
70
 that children are given opportunities and facilities

to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of
freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth
are protected against exploitation and against moral”
12.5.7 Articles 21, 21(A) and 23 and the case laws thereof
makes the following Fundamental Rights :
(a) Right to life; free from bonded labour, immoral and

illegal means of livelihood;
(b) Right to Rehabilitation ;
(c) Right to free and compulsory education;
(d) Right to be free from Trafficking
12.5.8 The last two rights are solutions for each other.
12.6 The Indian Penal Code, 1860
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with a range of criminal

offences and provides for criminal liability and
prosecution of offenders. It is the main criminal law of
the country.
The following offences as defined in IPC are applicable

to Trafficking :
71
Sl.No. Section of IPC Brief description
1. 195-A Threatening any person to give false

evidence: Whoever threatens another
with any injury to his person, reputa-
tion or property or to the person or
reputation of any one in whom that per-
son is interested, with intent to cause
that person to give false evidence shall
be punished with imprisonment of ei-
ther description for a term which may
extend to seven years, or with fine, or
with both;
And if innocent person is convicted

and sentenced in consequence of such
false evidence, with death or impris-
onment for more than seven years,
the person who threatens shall be pun-
ished with the same punishment and
sentence in the same manner and to
the same extent such innocent
person is punished and sentenced.
Procedure
The offence is cognizable, non-bail-
able, non-compoundable and triable
by Court by which the offence of
giving false evidence.
72
2. 319 to 329 Simple and grievous hurt
3. 339, 340-346 Wrongful restraint and wrongful

confinement
4. 350 and 351 Criminal force and criminal assault
5. 370 Import/export/removal/buying/
selling /disposing/accepting/
receiving/detaining of any
person as a slave.
6. 371 Habitual import/export/buying/

selling/trafficking/dealing in slaves
7. 361,362 and 363 Kidnapping and abduction
8. 365 Kidnapping/abduction for

wrongful confinement
9. 367 Kidnapping/abduction for slavery

or to subject a person to grievous
injury
10. 416 and 420 Fraud, cheating by personation,

cheating.
11. 465, 466, 468 Forgery and using forged

and 471 documents as genuine.
12. 503 and 506 Criminal intimidation
13. 360 Kidnapping and / or abduction for

export
73
14. 363 Kidnapping from India
15. 366-B Importation of girl from a foreign

country
16. Abetment of any of the offences

listed under IPC is punishable
under Chapter V of the Code.
17. 34,35,37,120A Deal with criminal conspiracy

and 120B and can also be applied.
12.7 Vulnerable groups belonging to Scheduled Castes and Sched-

SC/ST uled Tribes were discussed in chapter 9. Provisions of SC /
Atroci-
ties Act ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 are very much avail-
1989
able and should be pressed into, when the victims belong to
these vulnerable groups, over and in addition to the other
laws. In the same spirit, the Protection of Civil Rights Act,
1985 is also available.
74
Victim Protection :
12.6.1 For the sake of victim protection Sections 195 A IPC and
437 (3) Cr.P.C. can be used effectively.
(A) Section 195-A IPC : Threatening any person to give false

evidence: Whoever threatens another with any injury to his
person, reputation or property or to the person or reputation of
any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause
that person to give false evidence shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend
to seven years, or with fine, or with both;
And if innocent person is convicted and sentenced in

consequence of such false evidence, with death or imprisonment
for more than seven years, the person who threatens shall be
punished with the same punishment and sentence in the same
manner and to the same extent such innocent person is punished
and sentenced.
Procedure
The offence is cognizable, non-bailable, non-compoundable and
triable by Court by which the offence of giving false evidence.
(B) Section 437 (3) Cr.P.C. When a person accused or suspected
75
of the commission of an offence punishable with

imprisonment which may extend to seven years or more or
of an offence under Chapter VI, Chapter XVI, or Chapter
XVII of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), or abetment of,
or conspiracy or attempt to commit, any such offence, is
released on bail under sub-section (1), 2[the Court shall
impose the conditions :
(a) that such person shall attend in accordance with the

conditions of the bond executed under this Chapter;
(b) that such person shall not commit an offence similar to

the offence of which he is accused, or suspected, of the
commission of which he is suspected; and
(c) that such person shall not directly or indirectly make any
inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted
with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from
disclosing such facts to the Court or to any police officer
or tamper with the evidence.
and may also impose, in the interests of justice, such other

conditions as it considers necessary.
76
12.7 Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, 1976
The Bonded Labour Act is a special legislation which not

only penalises the persons who advance debt and extract work
under the bonded labour system but also has a penal provision
under two specific conditions :
a) Those who abet the offence (Say, Trafficker) and;
b) For omission or failure to restore possession of property

to bonded labour.
12.8 Interstate Migrant Workman’s Act, 1979.
The Act makes it mandatory for the firm to get registers, if

inter-state migrants are to be employed.
12.9 The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act,

2000
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act,

2000 (JJA) is a special legislation for children and defines a
‘child’ as a person up to 18 years of age. It deals with two
categories of children.
(a) those in need of care and protection; and
(b) those in conflict with law.
77
Trafficked children are treated as children in need of care and

protection under the JJA.
The juvenile
justice law
The Act recognises certain offences against provides both
children as special offences. These clearly institutional
and non-
address trafficking of children in general as well
institutional
as for begging and labour. These include: measures of
rehabilitation
 Cruelty against a child by a person having of trafficked
children,
charge of such child, including assault,
including
abandonment, exposure, willful neglect or placement in
foster care,
procuration of a child for any of these acts,
adoption and
in a manner that is likely to cause mental or sponsorship.
physical suffering to the child (Section 23);
 Employing, using or causing a child to beg (Sec.24 (I);
 Abetment of the employment or use of a child for begging

by a person having charge of such child (Section 24 (2));
 Procuring a child for hazardous employment, keeping such

child in bondage and withholding the child’s earnings for
one’s own use (Section 26).
The juvenile justice law provides both institutional and non-

institutional measures of rehabilitation of trafficked children,
including placement in foster care, adoption and sponsorship.
78
12.10 Under the ITPA, girls who are caught for soliciting become
offenders. If they are minors, under the JJA, they become
children in conflict with law. In such cases the girls will, and
have to, go through the legal process of trial including bail,
evidence, cross-examination etc, in the Juvenile Justice Boards
set up under the JJA specifically to deal with children who
commit crimes.
This is an inherent contradiction within the JJA that can only

be rectified if the ITPA is amended to treat all girls into
prostitution as victims rather than offenders, even if they are
found soliciting.
12.11 Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933 declares any

agreement by a parent or guardian to pledge the labour of a
child below 15 years of age for payment or benefit other than
reasonable wages, to be illegal and void. It also provides
punishment for such parent or guardian as well as those who
employ a child whose labour is pledged.
12.12 The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976

prohibits forcing a person into bonded labour for debt
repayment. The act extinguishes all debt agreements and
obligations. It prohibits creation of any new bondage
agreement and discharges bonded labourers from all debts
79
for which they were bonded. Compelling a

Punish-
person to render bonded labour is punishable ment for
parents
under the law. This includes punishment for who
pledge
parents who pledge their child or other family
their
members to work as a bonded labourer. children
12.13 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,

1986
The Child Labour Act of 1986 has adequate provisions for the
freeing and rehabilitation of children found in forced labour
conditions, but carries provisions for criminal sentences of a
maximum of only three years. Similarly, the Abolition of Bonded
Labour Act of 1976 provides adequate protections for victims of
bonded labour but carries only a maximum sentence of three
years’ imprisonment.
12.14 The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 restrains the

solemnisation of child marriages by laying down the
minimum age of marriage for both boys and girls.
12.15 The Andhra Pradesh Devadasis (Prohibition of

Dedication) Act, 1988 and the Karnataka Devadasi
(Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982.
Over the years, religious practices like the Devadasi tradition

and the Jogin or Matamma practices, whereby young girls
80
are dedicated to gods and goddesses, have come to be misused

by temple priests and influential people in their villages for
forcing them into prostitution or trafficking them for
prostitution. In the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,
legislations like the Andhra Pradesh Devadasis (Prohibition
Young of Dedication) Act, 1988 and the Karnataka Devadasi
girls of
vulner- (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982 were brought into
able force to put an end to such religious, social and customary
sections
prostitution rampant in these states.
are
dedi-
cated to These legislations ban customary dedication of girls to gods
gods and and goddesses and stipulate punishment for those who
god-
desses perform, promote, abet, and take part in the dedication
for ceremony.
sexual
exploita- Both these laws do not contain any provisions specific to
tion of
influen- trafficking and prostitution as such. However, while making
tial out a legal case they must be applied in order to ensure that
persons
all persons responsible for ‘dedicating’ young girls and hence
abetting the crime of trafficking can be brought to book.
Some landmark judgments of the Supreme Court of India

(e.g. Vishaljeet v. Union of India 1990 and Gaurav Jain v.
Union of India 1997) have influenced government policies,
programmes and schemes, as well as law enforcement with
81
respect to trafficking in women and children and their

commercial sexual exploitation.
12.16 The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

Act, 1985
This law declares illegal the production, possession,

transportation, purchase and sale of any narcotic drug
or psychotropic substance and makes the person,
addict/trafficker liable for punishment.
Use or threat of use of violence or arms by the offender,

use of minors for the commission of offence, commission
of the offence in an educational institution or social
service facility are some of the grounds for higher
punishment.
12.17 The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs

and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988
Under this law, people who use children for drug

trafficking can be booked as abettors or conspirators to
the act.
The sections on kidnapping and abduction in the IPC

can always be used to book a case where children have
been enticed or kidnapped to consume, sell or smuggle
drugs.
82
12.18 Young Persons Harmful Publications Act, 1956 prevents

the dissemination of certain publications that are harmful to
young persons.
12.19 The Information Technology Act, 2000 amongst other

things stipulates that publishing, or transmitting, or causing
to be published, pornographic material in electronic form
shall be punishable (Section 67).
12.20 The Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 makes

removal of human organs without authority and commercial
dealing in human organs criminally liable.
12.21 The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
Legal aid, though avilable, is yet to become popular with the

victims. The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 lays down
the entitlements to legal services. Section 12 of the Act
provides the criteria for giving legal services.
12.22 The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956,

unfortunately does not define trafficking per se. Though, it
does refer to trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, at
length, it does not refer to other types and forms of trafficking.
This is a serious lacuna. The Act does not clearly define.
83
(a) The acts amounting to trafficking; and
(b) The act that promote trafficking.
However, the act does provide powers to law enforcement

agencies to ;
(a) close a brothel ;
(b) cancel the licence of hotel;
(c) externment of offenders; and
(d) Eviction from a premises used as a brothel.
(e) The Act is not only a penal Act, but also delineates
various welfare steps such as
(i) rescue;
(ii) intermediated custody;
(iii) protective homes, etc.
(f) But the punishment under the Act is not adequate

to deter the offenders.
84
12.23 “SALIENT POINTS OF ITP ACT, 1956 *

Section of Law) Application
(ITPA)
Sec.3 Keeping
a brothel or  When the place is a brothel
allowing any  When the person owns or keeps or manages or
premise to be occupies or acts / assists in keeping or managing
used as a the brothel.
brothel
Sec.4 Living on  When the Person is above 18 years of age

the earnings of  Source of income is prostituting others, even if
prostitution part of the income comes from this source.
 or that the person is living with a prostitute
 or that the person is habitually in the company of a
prostitute.
 or exercises control over the prostitutes by way of
aiding, abetting, compelling
 of acts as a tout or pimp on behalf of the
prostitute
Sec. 5 Procur-
ing, inducing or  Procures or attempts to do the same (with or with-
taking persons out consent)
for prostitution  Induces a person (with intention) to prostitute
 Takes or attempts to take a person for prostitution
 Causes or induces a person to prostitute
85
Section of Law) Application

(ITPA)
Sec. 6 Detain-
 Detaining anybody with or without consent
ing a person in
premises where  In any brothel
prostitution is  Or any place with intention for sexual exploitation
carried on  If there was consent, whether it was under duress,
coercion, force, lure, deceit etc.
Sec.7 Prostitu-  Existence of brothel or place of exploitation

tion in or in the  That it is located within a notified area or within
vicinity of two hundred metres from a place of worship / edu-
public places cational institution / hostel / hospital / nursing home
or any such area notified by the Commissioner of
Police or the District Magistrate or Sub Divisional
Magistrate
 Graver punishment if the detained person is a child
/ minor
 If the offence takes place in a hotel, the license is
liable to be suspended / cancelled.
 Liability extends to the keeper of a public place, the
tenant, lessee, occupier or manager of the premises
and the owner, lesser or landlord or their agents,
provided they had the knowledge / intention.
Sec. 9  Any person who has the custody or charge or care of

Seduction any person or a position of authority over another
of a person person
in custody  Causes or aids or abets the seduction for prostitu-
tion of that person
86
Section of Application
Law) (ITPA)
Sec.18 Closure  A Judicial Magistrate convicting a person u/s.3 or
of brothel and 7 ITPA can order closure of the brothel and
eviction of eviction of the offenders (without any further
notice)
offenders from
the premises  If an DM/SDM receives information from police or
otherwise (could be NGO too) that any room /
house / place in a public place (as defined u/s 7)
is being run or used as a brothel or as a place to
carry on prostitution
 Issue notice to the owner lesser / landlord / agent

/ tenant / lessee / occupier / person in charge of
the place / house / hostel etc.
 Show cause within 7 days of the receipt of notice
 As to why the place should not be attached for

improper usage
 The Magistrate has to hear the person
 If satisfied thereafter, direct eviction within 7

days.
 Direct that further letting out requires prior

approval
 Orders passed by the court / Magistrate is not

appealable nor stayable nor can be set aside by
any court.
 Enhanced punishment, if the victim is a child.
 Lease / agreement regarding the house becomes

void and inoperative on conviction”
(Hand Book for Law Enforcement Agencies in India)
87
12.24 State Laws
Goa is the only state that has framed a law to deal with offences
against children, including child trafficking. The Goa
Children’s Act, 2003 not only defines ‘child trafficking’ but
also provides punishment for abuse and assault of children
through child trafficking for different purposes such as labour,
sale of body parts / organs, adoption, sexual offences of
paedophilia, child prostitution, child pornography and child
sex tourism. Airport authorities, border police, railway
police, traffic police, hotel owners, have all been made
responsible under the law for protection of children and for
reporting offences against children.
12.25 Thus, we find that the Law Enforcement Agencies in India

are equipped and armed with plethora of laws, though
unconnected and disjointed, to tackle the menace.
Law is not wanting, Enforcement is wanting.
12.26 Therefore, in different situations the following Acts can be

applied :
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
12.31, 12.32 & 12.33
98
99
100
101
13.0 INADEQUACIES OF INDIAN

LAW ON TRAFFICKING
13.1 Trafficking, as an issue, troubled the minds of the Law
makers, world over, ever since 1904. In 1904, one of the first
international Conventions “International Agreement for the
Suppression of the White Slave Traffic 1904” was held.
13.2 Ever since, as many as twenty three international conventions

were held, on the subject.
13.3 “The U.N. Convention of the suppression of the Traffic in

persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of others
1949” is definitely the watershed of legal regime, to the extent,
India as a country, is concerned.
This convention is a compilation of four previous international

conventions - 1904, 1910, 1921 and 1933.
13.4 Act 104 of 1956 now called as “The Immoral Traffic (Prevention)
Act, 1956 was passed after the 1949 U.N. Convention.
13.5 The Act was twice amended, once in 1978 and later in 1986.
No amendments were made, after 1986, though eight important
international conventions and eight more regional conventions
took place after 1986; passing several resolutions; which matter
a lot to the Indian Law. To that extent, the Indian Law on
Trafficking has remained plastic after 1986.
102
13.6 To start with the ITP Act, though uses the word “Trafficking”
in its title, does not define “Trafficking.” The U.N. protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially
Women and Children 2000 defined ‘trafficking in persons’ in
Article 3(a). Since, ITPA 1956 was not amended after 2000,
the critical aspect of defining Trafficking legally is missing,
thereby giving rise to lot of confusion.
13.7 Recommended Changes In ITP Act :
13.7.1 Firstly, the Act should define “Trafficking” per se.

The following definition may be adopted.
Any person or persons or Organisation or body or Syndicate or

Criminal Gang or Organised Gang or Company or Establishment
which:
- Recruits,
Move-
ment - Transports,
- Transfers,
- Harbours,
- Provides, or
- Receives person, or
- Confines, or
103
- Restrains person(s) or abets any of the

above;
Using any means, other than legal, such as :
- Threat,
Means - Force,
- Coercion,
- Abduction,
- Intimation,
- Fraud; for Employment, Placement :

Studies etc,
- Deception; Marriage, Adoption etc,
- Abuse of Power, Abuse of Vulnerability,
- Giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve

the consent of the victim or abets any one of the above;
For the purposes of exploitation of any nature, including ;
Labour:
 Bonded Labour;
Purpose  Domestic work;
 Agricultural labour;
 Construction work,
 Carpet industry;
104
 Garment industry;
 Film industry;
Illegal Activities
 Begging
 Organ trade
 Faction Crime
Sexual Exploitation
 Forced prostitution
Purpose  Socially and religiously (Devadasi)
sanctified forms of prostitution
 Sex tourism
Entertainment and Sports
 Circus
 dance troupes
105
 beer bars
 Camel jockeys
 For and through Marriage
 For and through Adoption
 As child soldiers or combatants in armed

conflicts or abets any one of the above;
and / or
deals in any illegal manner, with the money gained by

involving in any one of the above mentioned acts is said to
have trafficked.
13.7.2 Secondly, it should be explicitly stated that the ‘victim /

survivors are not to be prosecuted, should be protected,
rescued, rehabilitated and reintegrated.
13.7.3 A law student would have sat down to lay down the process
of Trafficking, clearly listing out the various activities, acts,
omissions and commissions that would amount to conducting
and encouraging Trafficking. Then weave the legal terms around
them to define the offender. Such as (only illustrative and not
exhaustive) :
13.8 Acts of Trafficking in Persons - It should beunlawful for

any person to commit any of the following acts:
106
(1) To recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, Confines,

Restrains, provide, or receive a person by any means,
including those done under the pretext of domestic or
overseas employment or training or apprenticeship, for
the purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual
exploitation, forced labour, bonded labour, slavery,
involuntary servitude, debt bondage; begging smuggling
of drugs, smuggling of weapons and chemicals, any illegal
activity;
(2) To introduce or match for money, profit, or material,

economic or other consideration, any person to a foreign
national, for marriage for the purpose of acquiring,
buying, offering, selling or trading him/her to engage in
prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced
labour, bonded labour, slavery, involuntary servitude,
debt bondage, any illegal activity;
(3) To contract marriage, for the purpose of acquiring,

buying, offering, selling, or trading them to engage in
prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced
labour or slavery, involuntary servitude, debt bondage,
any illegal activity;
(4) To undertake or organize tours and travel plans
107
consisting of tourism packages or activities for the purpose

of utilizing and offering persons for prostitution,
pornography, sexual exploitation, any illegal activity;
(5) To maintain or hire a person to engage in prostitution or

pornography, or any illegal activity;
(6) To adopt or facilitate the adoption of persons for the

purpose of prostitution, pornography, sexual
exploitation, forced-labour, slavery, involuntary
servitude, debt bondage, any illegal activity;
(7) To recruit, hire, adopt, transport or abduct a person, by

means of threat or use of force, fraud, deceit, violence,
coercion, or intimidation for the purpose of removal or
sale of organs of said person;
(8) To recruit, transport or adopt a child to engage in armed

activities in India or abroad, or any such illegal activity;
(9) To cheat, deceive, a vulnerable person into sexual

exploitation; as in false promise to marry; or as is done in
Devadasi System and other social and religiously
sponsored form of prostitution.
(10) To hire, recruit, transport, bound a vulnerable person
108
to commit crime such as faction crime, rival warfare,

hired assassins and armed warfare;
(11) To abduct, transport, adopt a person and ‘convert’ that

person as a transgender for the purpose of begging and
servitude.
(12) To recruit, transport, transfer harbour, provide, or

receive a person and confine such person under coercion,
threat or use of force or intimidation for labour in
construction, carpet, garment, film, fish/prawn, tiles and
other such organised and unorganized industry.
OR
(13 To
- Recruits,
- Transports,
Move-
ment
- Transfers,
- Harbours,
- Provides, or
- Receives person, or
109
- Confines, or
- Restrains person(s) or abets any of the above;
Using any means, other than legal, such as :
- Threat,
Means - Force,
- Coercion,
- Abduction,
- Intimation,
- Fraud; for Employment, Placement :
Studies etc,
- Deception; Marriage, Adoption etc,
- Abuse of Power, Abuse of Vulnerability,

- Giving or receiving of payments or
benefits to achieve the consent of the

victim or abets any one of the above;
For the purposes of exploitation of any nature,

including;
110
Labour:
 Bonded Labour;
 Domestic work;
 Agricultural labour;
Purpose
 Construction work,
 Carpet industry;
 Garment industry;
 Film industry;
Illegal Activities
 Begging
 Organ trade
 Faction Crime
Sexual Exploitation
Purpose  Forced prostitution
 Socially and religiously (Devadasi) sanctified

forms of prostitution
111
 Sex tourism
Entertainment and Sports
 Circus
 dance troupes
 beer bars
 Camel jockeys
 For and through Marriage
 For and through Adoption
 As child soldiers or combatants in armed

conflicts or abets any one of the above;
and / or
deals in any illegal manner, with the money gained by involving
in any one of the above mentioned acts is said to have trafficked.
112
13.8 (14) MPP - OTD Matrix
113
Trafficking
in persons
114
115
116
13.8.1 The ITP Act, 1956 does not define Trafficking, per se. The above
thirteen trafficking Acts can be in troduced in the Act to complete the
definition of the Criminal Act.
13.9 Acts that Promote Trafficking in Persons :-

The following acts which promote or facilitate trafficking in
persons, should be unlawful :
(1) To knowingly sell, lease or sublease, use or allow to be

used any house, building or establishment for the
purpose of promoting trafficking in persons ;
(2) To advertise, publish, print, broadcast or distribute, or

cause the advertisement, publication, printing,
broadcasting or distribution by any means, including the
use of information technology and the internet, or any
brochure, flyer, or any propaganda material that
promotes trafficking in persons;
(3) To facilitate, assist or help in the exit and entry of persons

from/to the country at international and local airports,
territorial boundaries and seaports who are in possession
of unissued, tampers or fraudulent travel documents for
the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons;
(4) To confiscate, conceal, or destroy the passport, travel
117
documents, or personal documents or belongings of

trafficked persons in furtherance of trafficking or to
prevent them from leaving the country or seeking
redress from the government or appropriate agencies;
(5) To knowingly benefit from, financial or otherwise, or

make use of, the labour or services of a person held to a
condition of involuntary servitude, forced labour, or
slavery.
13.9.1 Acts as mentioned in 13.9 (1) and (5) do find a place in the
ITP Act, others do not. They should be inserted.
13.10 Legal Protection to Trafficked persons : The Trafficked

persons should be recognised as victims of the act or acts of
Trafficking and as such should not be penalized for crimes
directly or indirectly related to the acts of trafficking. The
victims should be entitled to the victim / witness protection
program of the country (Please see 12.6.1).
13.10.1 Under Section 8 of the ITP Act, the victims are

prosecuted. This section should be deleted.
13.10.2 The recently amended Sections 195 A IPC and 437 (3)
Cr.P.C. are handy to provide protection to the victims.
13.11 Penalties : The following penalties also should be

118
enumerated :
(1) If the offender is a corporation, partnership, association,

club or establishment the penalty shall be imposed upon
the management, and/or any responsible officer who
participated in the commission of the crime or who
knowingly permitted or failed to prevent its commission;
(2) Any government officer who issued or approved the

issuance of travel exit clearances, passports, registration
certificates, counselling certificates, marriage license, and
other similar documents to persons, whether juridical or
natural, recruitment agencies, establishments or other
individuals or groups, who fail to observe the prescribed
procedures and the requirement as provided for by laws,
rules and regulations, should be held administratively
liable, without prejudice to criminal liability under this
Act. The concerned government official or employee
should, upon conviction, be dismissed from the service
and be barred permanently to hold public office. His/
her retirement and other benefits should likewise be
forfeited; and
(3) No offence amounting to Act of Trafficking should be

punished with an imprisonment of less than seven years.
119
Infact, the punishment should range between seven

to fourteen years.
(4) All offences amounting to Act of Trafficking should

be punished with imprisonment and (as well as)
seizure, forfeiture and auction of all the assets (including
money) believed to be earned by the offender on
Trafficking and the amount should be put in a
Rehabilitation Fund (Rehab Fund).
13.12 Rehabilitation Fund (Rehab Fund) – All fines

imposed under this Act and the proceeds of properties
forfeited and confiscated should accrue to a Rehabilitation
Key
Strategy- Fund to be administered and managed by the
Rehab
Fund
Government to be used exclusively for programs that
will prevent acts of trafficking and protect, rehabilitate,
reintegrate trafficked persons into the mainstream of
society. Such programmes shall include, but not limited
to, the following;
a) Provision for mandatory services such as:
To ensure recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration into

the mainstream of society, concerned government
agencies should make available the following services to
trafficked persons:
120
(i) Emergency shelter or appropriate housing;
(ii) Counseling;
(iii) Free legal services which shall include information

about the victims’ rights and the procedure for filing
complaints, claiming compensation and such other legal
remedies available to them, in a language understood by the
trafficked person;
(iv) Medical or psychological services;
(v) Livelihood and skills training; and
(vi) Educational assistance to a trafficked child.
Sustained supervision and follow through mechanism that

will track the progress of recovery, rehabilitation and
reintegration of the trafficked persons should be adopted and
carried out.
(b) Sponsorship of a national research program on trafficking

and establishment of a data collection system for monitoring
and evaluation purposes ;
(c) Provision of necessary technical and material support services

to appropriate government agencies and non-government
121
organisations (NGOs); Faith Based Organisation (FBOs) ;
(d) Sponsorship of conferences and seminars to provide venue

for consensus building amongst the public, the academe,
government, NGOs and international organisations; and
(e) Promotion of information and education campaign on

trafficking;
(f) Running of Rescue Homes
13.13 All the above recommendations will make the ITP Act
comprehensive and stronger.
***
122
14.0 EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO

COMBAT TRAFFICKING:
14.1 The prosecution part of the offender has been extensively
dealt in the previous and the subsequent chapter. In this
chapter, I would like to segregate the prosecution ‘P’ and
Concentrate on the other two ‘Ps’ – which revolve around
the victim. In reality also, one needs to segregate the offender
and the victim and treat them altogether differently.
14.2 The two ‘Ps’ revolving around the

Victim are :
PREVENTION PROTECTION
VICTIM
a) Prevention
PROSECUTION OF
b) Protection OFFENDER
(TRAFFICKER)
14.3 Prevention and protection are proactive programmes of the

States to ensure that the victims’ vulnerability is decimated
and they are protected against retrafficking, once they are
rescued.
14.4 On the prevention side the following steps, depending on

the local conditions, may be taken up, in appropriate
combinations :
123
PREVENTION PROTECTION
Publicity Rescuing, Rehabilitation &
Education Reintegration
Co-ord’n
Vulnerable groups
State/District/FBOs/NGos
Dedicated agencies in the Govt.
PROSECUTION
Co-ord’n
MHA/CBI/CID/SsP
SITs involving states on the Source /
Transit / Destination Maps
14.4.1 Recognising and resolving the vulnerability factors:

As discussed earlier, in 5.11, 6.10, 8.4, and 9.0 the
following are the most vulnerable groups :
(a) Women
(b) Children
(c) Women and Children amongst lower classes / castes.
(d) Women and Children in communities disturbed and

uprooted by civil disorders, infrastructure projects,
migrations etc.
Recognize The most important step is to recognise the presence of

the vulnera-
bility such vulnerabilities. This is the starting point. A State
factors which is reluctant to recognise these vulnerabilities is
likely to be condemned to move in circles without being
able to zero in on the actual causative factors.
124
Identify
After recognising and identifying the vulnerable groups
the specific social and economic empowerment programmes
vulnera-
bility should be chalked out and launched with abundance of
factors
energy, zeal and money. The empowerment programmes
should necessarily include primary education, primary
health and employment opportunities including skill
upgradation and wage earning capacities.
It is very important to emphasise here the presence of

Vulner-
able geographically vulnerable areas such as the bordering
Areas villages of Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh with India.
Several villages in different States such as Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar, Orissa and U.P. etc.
Apart from the vulnerable areas, there are vulnerable

groups, typically belonging to the low caste
Vulner-
able communities. It is not difficult to visualise that such
groups
vulnerable low caste communities located in the
vulnerable regions become doubly vulnerable.
Therefore, the need for mapping the vulnerable areas

and the groups.
125
126
14.4.2 Mapping of vulnerable areas and groups: Every State

should conduct an immediate exercise of mapping the
vulnerable areas and the vulnerable groups. Every effort
should be made to identify the vulnerable groups within
the vulnerable areas, so that, preventive steps can be taken
up on war footing basis on the vulnerable groups within
the vulnerable areas.
14.4.3 Free and Compulsory Education as a key preventive

tool: Since, children are the most vulnerable group
and in any case it is the responsibility of the State,
A child
out of a) to ensure “facilities to develop in a healthy manner and
school
in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood
is a child
trafficked and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral
and material abandonment” (Art.39 (f) Constitution of
India); and
b) “the State shall, …. make effective provision for securing

the right to work, to education and to public assistance in
cases of unemployment …, and in other cases of undeserved
want” (Art.41 Constitution of India).
14.4.3.1 “Give them schools or they will be child labour
It is good that different methods of learning are being
127
innovated with commendable results. But what about more

than a crore children who are in the age group of 6-14 years
who are not able to even enter a school? A child out of
school is child labour. He or she is not out of school because,
as is generally believed, the parents want the child to work
and fetch some pennies. The brutal reality is that there is no
accessible functioning school.
A National Meet on Abolition of Child Labour and Right

to Education, held in New Delhi, August 25-26, 2006, heard
voices outraged at the apathy of the government from
representatives from 17 States who have been working for
Give children’s Right to Education and abolition of child labour.
them
They were unanimous that “there is an explosive demand
schools
or they for education”. The poor parents are indeed making
will be
child enormous sacrifices as they regard education as the only
labour
way in which they can seek dignity. Pity is that those in the
establishment continue to argue that the poor cannot send
their children to school because they depend on their
children’s income. This is an uninformed if not biased view.
The government’s Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is for children only

up to class five. Where on earth are they supposed to go
after that ? One whole decade of investment in primary
education generated enormous demand but the system never
128
cared to anticipate that there children would want to

continue in school after class five. So they get dropped out
to join the labour force. The government thinks fifth class is
good enough for the poor and the ‘model bill’ aims to reach them
merely up to class eight.
Prof. Krishna Kumar, director, NCERT, was anguished that even

after 100 years of what Gokhale had started, “ we are still discussing
the issue of education and we are nowhere near that goal of
achieving education for all. “The Constitution states that any
child till 14 years is to be given free and compulsory education
but it is being restricted only to children in the age group of 6-14
years. If you want a child to be in school from 5-8 years it is not
possible. The Right to Education bill must be re-written and the
age category from 6-14 years should be changed to 0-14 years
because “by the time the child reaches 6 years he/she either dies
or get into child labour to keep alive.”
“Are we a civilised society ?” asked Prof. Yash Pal, former

chairperson UGC. “No country in the world denies its children
education. The middle class is the main problem in our society
today and that is the reason why problems like child labour and
illiteracy continue to breed and perpetuate.” Swami Agnivesh
reiterated that any child who is not in school is a child labour.
He stressed that The Bonded Labour Act of 1976 should be
enforced.
129
There was unanimity on abolition of all forms of child

labour and children’s right to education up to class ten. The
250 million children in the 6-14 years age group and 160
million children in 0-6 years age group are the responsibility
of the nation which the Union government chooses to ignore.
In fact some sordid attempts are being made by the Centre
to pass on the responsibility to the States. Children’s Right
to Education must conform to the over-40-year old Kothari
Commission recommendations of the Common School. Says
Shanta Sinha, “I know that children hidden, invisible,
unnoticed and uncared for are listening and waiting to see
if at least now adults would help them in their liberation
through education.”
Adults, are you listening ?” (L.C. Jain, Article on “Give them
Schools or they will be Child Labour”–Deccan Chronicle 3rd Sept., 2006)
- L.C. Jain , 3rd Sept. 2006 - Deccan Chronicle
14.4.3.2 The States should make all arrangements, residential

schooling where required, to ensure that the children are
Free and
Compul- provided and ensured with compulsory education,
sory
educa- including regionally appropriate vocational training, until
tion to
the age of 18. This will ensure the requirement and
Children
physical presence of the children either in the parental
130
homes or residential schools until the age of 18. This will

prevent the abduction, transport, sale or purchase of children
for various types of trafficking. It will be easy to identify
and locate any missing child.
14.4.4 Public Awareness campaigns : Faith based organisations,

community based organisations, non-governmental
organisations and media should be provided with data and
money to carry on a “Movement” based awareness
campaigns to alert the vulnerable sections against the
exploitations and to make them aware about their rights.
14.4.5 Mapping of Demand Areas : The Demand Areas such as

Red Light areas, Industries using child labour, bonded labour
etc, should be mapped and published. Law enforcement
agencies should name the individuals, groups, syndicates and
companies directly or indirectly involved in trafficking.
14.4.6 Public Exposure campaigns: All those involved in

trafficking particularly the influential people should be
named and shamed by giving press statements, posters and
all events such as arrests, seizure of property, convictions
should be given wide publicity.
14.4.7 Training to Government Officials : All the connected

Ministries, Departments should be brought to a common
platform and sensitised. It is very common that the
networking within the departments, forget about networking
131
between Departments and NGOs, does not take place in the

fashion the networking takes place between the syndicates
involved in trafficking.
14.4.8 Networking NGOs and GOs: Therefore, all the

concerned NGOs and Government Officials should take
effective steps to identify and curb the trafficking. This is not
possible if they are not jointly sensitised, brought to a
common platform and networked for a common purpose
with a convergence of goals and objectives.
14.4.9 Cultural issues and Value System in Vulnerable Groups :

Faith Based Organisation (FBOs), Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) should be exhorted to :
(a) Form community vigilance committees (CVC) who are

empowered to do community policing, to the extent, they
should be encouraged to hold :
(i) monthly cultural programmes clearly depicting the plight

of trafficked victims and their families.
(ii) conduct rescue operation on the traffickers in their

neighbourhood.
(iii) Prefer complaints in the local Police stations.
(iv) Participate in the prevention, protection and prosecution

side of the PPP triangle.
(b) Conduct monthly Workshops / Seminars/Roadshows to :
132
(i) target the youth and sensitise them
(ii) address the family members (vulnerable) about the

role, responsibility each member of the family should
play to prevent trafficking in their family.
(c) Oppose socially, culturally and religiously sponsored

prostitution and other forms of exploitation and inform
the district administration from time to time.
133
14.4.9.1
Treatment of Vulnerable Groups
Direction of Barrier One Barrier Two Barrier Three
Trafficking
Parents
Aunt / Uncle
Vulnerable Cultural
Public
Siblings Community
Groups Issues and
Awareness
Village elders Policing
Value System
134
Campaign
Teachers (CVCs)
Brokers
Madam
Trafficking
R E HAB FUND
 No. of arrows indicate the quantum of Trafficking
 Repeated ‘Barriers’ will help in preventing / reducing Trafficking
in persons
14.4.10 Socially & Religiously sponsored practices such as

Devadasi should be countered by suitable legislation such as
Devadasi (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982 of
Karnataka.
14.4.11 Community Policing : Police should take the Village

Defence Squads (VDS) or the Community Vigilance
Committees (CVCs) into confidence and attach a Head
Constable or a Police Constable to each of them to take
immediate action, as well, instill confidence in them that they
are not alone when helpless.
14.4.12 CVCs, FBOs, NGOs and Police should be networked:
14.4.13 It is necessary to take the above pro-active steps

to prevent trafficking leap frog.
14.5 Protection
14.5.1 The first step of Protection is Rescue
14.5.2 Rescue should be followed with providing of physical safety

of victim
135
14.5.1.1
PROTECTION CHART
Rescue Rehabilitation Reintegration
136
Trafficking
in persons
14.5.3 Human Rights of the Victims during the Rescue operation

and after, should be well protected.
14.5.4 The Rescued victims should be kept out of bound, of the

offenders / Traffickers
14.5.5 Legal Aid should be provided to the victims.
14.5.6 Medical care should be provided immediately after rescue

operation.
137
14.5.6.1
POST - RESCUE CARE
Rescue
Protect
Kept out Human Rehabilitation
of bonds Programme
Physical Rights of
of Traf-
fickers Safety the
Victims
138
Medical
Care
Trafficking
Legal Psychological
Counselling
Aid
in persons
14.5.7 The victims were subjected to years of trauma. Immediately

after rescue, they should be allowed to go through an elaborate
and detailed psychological counselling processing, perhaps
for a month or two.
14.5.8 All the above are possible only if there is a strong network
of NGOs, FBOs, Police. Therefore, networking is a
conscious ‘movement’ oriented action and should be done.
14.5.9 Rescue should be followed by Rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation is best valid if it is in the victims interest and
suit micro managerial skills of the victim either acquired or
natural. Hence, plenty of time should be spent with the
victims to access the aptitude, skills and ability to manage
small and petty vocation on their own. A dosage of skill
upgradation of about six months will be an added advantage,
which is likely to give confidence, awareness of rights and
understanding of market dynamics.
14.5.10 However, all the rescued victims may not be in a position

to undertake small and / or petty business on their own.
Therefore, there can not be a simple, routine and generalised
formulae of rehabilitation such as “a buffalo and a calf”. The
rehabilitation package should be customised to suit each
victim or group of victims.
139
14.5.11 Therefore, some of the rescued victims may have to be

rehabilitised with “Wage Employment Programs”rather than
“Asset Owning Programmes” (AOPs). Wage Employment
Programms (WEPs), by design, require an organisation to
run them. These organisations can be Faith Based
Organisations (FBOs), Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs), Government Organisations (GOs) etc. The Wage
Employment Programms (WEPs) can be
(a) road laying;
(b) desiltation of tanks, wells etc.
(c) cottage industry;
(d) printing;
(e) paper mache, toys etc.
140
14.5.11.1
STEPS OF REHABILITATION
Assessment of
victims aptitude Skill
upgradation Reassessment
and skill set
Wage Employ-
Asset Owning ment Programme
Program
141
Desiltation of Self-Help Groups
Shop tanks
Communi- Laying Roads
cation kiosk
Digging Wells
Sweet shop
Constructing
Cottage Start a Join an
Schools
Trafficking
industry new SHG existing SHG

Building
Land Houses
REHAB FUND
in persons
14.5.12. It is not common to find rescued victims belonging to the

same village or habitation. If it happens, they can be clubbed
together and hand-holded to form Self-Help Groups (SHGs)
to take up either Wage Employment Programms (WEPs) or
Asset Owning Programmes (AOPs). In case, they are not in
sufficient number or in solitary, they can be clubbed or
admitted into existing Self-Help Groups SHGs of the village.
14.5.13. It is easy to comprehend that all the above is possible, on

a sustainable basis, only if there is
(a) Networking and strong coordination with governmental

agencies, and
(b) adequate money is made available (from Rehab Fund)

(See13.12)
14.6 Reintegration : is the most difficult part of protection of

victim. Reintegration involves many places and parties who
either played direct or indirect role in the trafficking of the
same person, in the same settings. Many a time, the family
members played ‘conspiracy of silence’. Their guilt will
resurface with much more ugly face with the resurfacing of
the victim. The ‘brokers’ are still lurking in the
neighbourhood. The presence of a ‘trafficked - rescued -
142
reintegrated’ girl in the village hits them in their face as an

insult, and challenges their writ every moment.
It is against all such forces, perhaps few more, that the

reintegration has to take place. This calls for family
counselling, community support, help of FBOs, CVCs and
SHGs.
143
14.7 Prosecution :
14.7.1 Collection and sharing of data: It is essential for all
the law enforcement agencies at Origin, Transit and
Absence Destination to collect, document and share information
of data is
a serious about trafficked victims, traffickers and end users. One
handicap
of the biggest handicaps in law enforcement of trafficking
is absence of data and information. There exists, not a
single law enforcement agency in the world that can spare
information with atleast 25% accuracy.
14.7.2 Data with respect to the Demand side should be

collected and raids and rescue operations should be
conducted. This data can be compiled by the law
enforcement agencies located in the same place where
Informa-
tion at the ‘demand’ market is located. Such information about
Destina-
tion
‘Demand’ markets should be shared with all, perhaps
with a central Control Room, such as CBI in India,
Interpol internationally. Law enforcement agencies will
be sending data about missing persons to these agencies
located in ‘demand’ markets. So that, identification of
individual at the time of rescue operation will become
easy.
144
14.7.3 There is scant data regarding the routes adopted by the

Traffickers. All details about the modus operandi adopted
by each gang including the Origin - Transit - Destination
along with all the players and their contact numbers
should be collected, so that a syndicate can be busted
comprehensively, instead of doing it in bits and pieces.
14.7.4 While breaking the nexus of the syndicate groups, all

efforts should be made to seize their properties such as
buildings, hotels, houses, vehicles, jewellery etc. They
Rehab
Fund should be confiscated and auctioned. The auction
proceeds should be pooled into a Fund called
‘Rehabilitation Fund’ - Rehab Fund, which can be utilised
for rescue and rehabilitation purposes.
14.7.5 There is a need for shift in paradigm while presenting

the various players in the menace. The shift is that the
victims are not to be touched, harassed, arrested or
prosecuted, any more. The traffickers and others who
benefit economically from the menace should be arrested,
prosecuted and their properties seized.
14.7.6 One Victim – Several FIRs
In Criminal Jurisprudence, it is common to see that the

set of victims, offenders, offences and hence criminal cases
145
booked do not change. Unlike in most cases, in the case of

Trafficking, the victim is same but the offenders keep
changing. Different offenders commit different types of
offences on the same victim – at different places, different
conditions and at different times; continuously. Many legal
experts argued with me that on the basis of the statement of
the victim, only one FIR (case) should be registered, as it is a
continuous offence. I strongly and stoutly disagree with
them. Take the example of our poor Sudha (See Chapter
1.1) who was subjected to Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
Sudha’s case study is picked up here for its simplicity in
description. The actual cases are much more complex and
involve lot more people (offenders).
The following table illustrates the legal web around the

miseries showered on Sudha :
146
14.7.7
ORIGIN
PLACE Village in West Godavari
OFFENDER (S) Somasekhar, the Sarpanch Sunitha
OFFENCES COMMITTED  Selling a Minor for the  Cheating (Sec.420 IPC)

AND SECTION OF LAW purpose of prostitution
(Sec.372 IPC)  Selling a Minor for the purpose of
prostitution (Sec.372 IPC)
 Cheating (Sec.420 IPC)
 Procuring, inducing or taking of a person
 Breach of contract to for the purpose of prosti-tution (Sec.5
attend on and supply (iii) ITP Act)
147
wants of helpless person
(Sec.491 IPC)
 Living on the earnings of
the prosti-tution of
others (Sec.4 (ii) ITP
Act)
Trafficking
 Procuring, inducing or
taking of a person for
the purpose of prosti-
tution (Sec.5 (iii) ITP
Act)
in persons
TRANSIT
PLACE Hyderabad
OFFENDER (S) Sunitha Suraj
OFFENCES COMMITTED  Criminal intimidation  Voluntarily causing hurt (Sec.323 IPC)

AND SECTION OF LAW (Sec.506 IPC)
 Wrongfully restraining any person
 Word, gesture or act (Sec.341 IPC)
intended to insult the
modest of a woman  Assault or criminal force to woman with
(Sec.509 IPC) intent to outrage her modesty
(Sec.354 IPC)
148
 Procuration of minor girls for illicit
intercourse (Sec.366-A IPC)
 Wrongfully concealing or keeping in

confinement kidnapped or abducted
person (Sec.368 IPC)
Trafficking
 Buying Minor Girls for the purpose of

prostitution (Sec.373 IPC)
in persons
TRANSIT
PLACE Hyderabad
OFFENDER (S) Sunitha Suraj
OFFENCES COMMITTED  Criminal intimidation (Sec.506 IPC)

AND SECTION OF LAW
 Word, gesture or act intended to insult
the modesty of a woman (Sec.509 IPC)
 Procuring, inducing or taking of a

person for the purpose of prostitution
(Sec.5 (iii) ITP Act)
149
Trafficking
in persons
DESTINATION
PLACE MUMBAI
OFFENDER (S) Sunitha Suraj Saroja Musclemen Clients
OFFENCES COMMITTED  Living on  Selling a  Voluntarily  Voluntarily

 Rape
AND SECTION OF LAW the earn- Minor for causing hurt causing hurt
(Sec.
ings of the the purpose (Sec.323 IPC) (Sec. 323 IPC)
376
prostitution of prostitu-
 Wrongfully IPC)
of others tion  Wrongfully
(Sec.4 (ii) (Sec.372 restraining any restraining any
ITP Act) IPC) person (Sec.341 person
IPC) (Sec. 341 IPC)
150
 Living on
 Assault or crimi-
the earn-  Assault or
nal force to
ings of the criminal force
woman with
prosti- to woman with
intent to outrage
tution of intent to
her modesty
others outrage her
(Sec.354 IPC)
(Sec.4 (ii) modesty
Trafficking
ITP Act)  Procurement of (Sec.354 IPC)

minor girls for
illicit intercourse
(Sec.366-A IPC)
in persons
DESTINATION
PLACE MUMBAI
OFFENCES COMMITTED  Wrongfully  Criminal intimi-

AND SECTION OF LAW concealing or dation (Sec.506
keeping in IPC) Word,
confinement gesture or act
kidnapped or intended to
abducted person insult the
(Sec.368 IPC) modesty of a
woman
151
 Selling a Minor (Sec.509 IPC)
for the purpose of
prostitution  Living on the
(Sec.372 IPC) earnings of the
prostitution of
 Buying Minor Girls others (Sec.4
for the purpose of (ii) ITP Act)
prostitution
Trafficking
(Sec. 373 IPC)  Detaining a

person in a
 Criminal intimi- brothel (Sec.6
dation (iv) ITP Act)
(Sec. 506 IPC)
in persons
DESTINATION
PLACE MUMBAI
OFFENCES COMMITTED  Word, gesture or

AND SECTION OF LAW act intended to
insult the mod-
esty of a woman
(Sec.509 IPC)
 Running or mana-
ging of a brothel
152
or the allowing of
premises to be
used as a brothel
(Sec.3 (i) ITP Act)
 Living on the
earnings of the
prostitution of
Trafficking
others (Sec.4 (ii)

ITP Act)
in persons
DESTINATION
PLACE MUMBAI
OFFENCES COMMITTED  Procuring,

AND SECTION OF LAW inducing or taking
of a person for
the purpose of
prostitution
(Sec.5 (iii) ITP
Act)
153
 Detaining a
person in a
brothel (Sec.6
(iv) ITP Act)
Trafficking
in persons
14.7.8 Thus, we find that though victim is same, several offences

were committed on her at different places (sometimes states)
by different people. In the instant case it is easy to see that
three cases should be registered – one at Origin, one at Tran-
sit and the third at Destination. Therefore, though the vic-
tim is the same, it calls for three different cases (FIRs) at dif-
ferent places; where different IOs will investigate and file
charge sheets in different Courts. There is not double jeop-
ardy involved. Perhaps, if convicted, the network which is
spread over three different locations is behind the bars –
simultaneously. Networks should be broken and that is the
prime concern, anyway.
***
154
15.0 PARADIGM SHIFT

To be effective, anti-trafficking strategies
must target all the three sides of triangle,
a) the supply side
b) the Distribution side–the traffickers,

and
c) the demand side – the owners.
15.1 Traditionally, the law enforcement agencies have been

Tradition- targeting the sex workers (victims) and arresting them in
ally, the large numbers and prosecuting them. Very little has been
victims
have done to prosecute the perpetrators of this evil. The
been
pros- organised criminals and the Syndicates continue to have
ecuted their sway on the victims, continue to make tonnes of
and
harassed money, continue to make a mockery of this law of the
country. PITA act now provides an opportunity to crack
down on these perpetrators, aptly using sections 3, 4, 5
& 6 of the act.
155
SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION
Women and children Trafficker
Protect and Rehabilitate Secs.3,4,5,6 of ITP Act
Identify Vulnerable Groups
Economically empower the
DEMAND
Customer/User/Buyer
Name and shame them
15.2 Thus, in the supply , demand and distribution triangle,

the present strategy demands a shift to the distribution,
Victims
should which needs to be broken down to crack the network.
not be
pros-
The network of the traffickers should be crippled.
ecuted
15.3 Regarding traffickers, law enforcement must vigorously
prosecute traffickers identify and plug trafficking routes
through better intelligence gathering and coordination.
Traffick-
ers, and The clarity should be there in the entire enforcement
not
agencies that the victim is not the problem. The problem
victims
should is the traffickers, the pimp, the madam and the pusher.
be
pros- Therefore, prosecution should be against traffickers and
ecuted
not against the victim.
15.4 Thus, the first paradigm shift is, on the prosecution side
- Go after the offender (Trafficker) and not the Victim.
156
15.5  On the supply side,
 The conditions that drive trafficking must be

Supply side
dealt with through programs that alert
provide
economic
communities to the dangers of trafficking,
opportu-
nities to
 Improve and expand educational and economic
vulnerable opportunities to vulnerable groups,
groups
 Promote equal access to education,
 Educate people regarding their legal rights, and
 Create better and broader life opportunities.
 Launch massive publicity and awareness

programmes.
15.6 Thus, the second paradigm shift is on the supply side,

instead of harassing the victims now, the much required
shift is to rescue them, protect, rehabilitate and
reintegrate them. It involves, identification of the target
groups and economically empowering them and there
by calls for a strong will and huge budget. A Rehab Fund
(Para 13.12) should be instituted to make the above
possible.
15.7 The 3rd paradigm shift is on the demand side, where in a

customer / user/ buyer should be targeted, arrested,
named publicised and shamed.
157
15.8 PARADIGM SHIFT

EARLIER NOW
1. Victims Arrested, Rescue, Protect, Rehabilitation and
Harassed, Reintegrate
Prosecuted
2. Traffickers Sparingly He is the main culprit.

prosecuted Arrest & Prosecute, Seize his property
3. Customer Not touched Name & shame, Arrest, Prosecute
4. Trafficking Not touched Expose them. Crush them.

Networks Cripple them.
5. Ill gotten Not seized Should be seized, forfeited.

money
6. Rehab Fund None Build one. Use it for funding and

existed rewarding NGOs involved Rescue,
Protection, Rehabilitation and
Reintegration
7. Vulnerable - Map them

Area
8. Vulnerable - Map them

Groups
9. Empower- Not Design and implement focussed

ment focussed and meaningful programmes
programme
158
159
Conclusions And Recommendations

15.10 About two million persons are trafficked every year, worldwide.
127 countries traffick persons to 137 countries. Countries
can be - Origin, Transit or Destination. Typically, the poorer
nations are the Origin countries.
15.11 Vulnerability factor such as poverty, lack of education etc;

Demand for ill-gotten money; and Flawed Systems of
governance are prime causes of Trafficking.
15.12 Trafficked Victims are exploited - Physically, mentally and /

or sexually. They are subjected to exploitation such as Forced
(bonded) labour, Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Illegal
activities, Entertainment and sports, Organ Trade, Adoption,
Child soldier and many more.
15.13 Children are the most Vulnerable group. Impact on such

children is emotional, physical, sexual and psychosocial;
magnitude is very high and often irreversible. They invariably
carry a perennial threat of contracting HIV/AIDS.
15.14 Free and compulsory education, is the only solution to keep

children safe.
15.14.1 About 42 million persons, worldwide, are living with AIDS.

The vulnerability factors for both Trafficking and AIDS are
the same.
160
15.15 Women and Children are most vulnerable to trafficking. Socially

disadvantaged groups are highly vulnerable and women and
children of socially disadvantage groups are doubly vulnerable.
15.16 India is a very High, Origin Country. Law enforcement in

India, so far, has been very very poor.
15.17 There are plethora of Laws in India that can be applied to

prevent trafficking. Application is wanting.
15.18 However, inadequacies in law are also plenty. Even the ITP
Act does not define ‘Trafficking’ and is not exhaustive and
comprehensive. Paras 13.7 to 13.13 are important
recommendations to make the Act stronger.
15.19 There is an urgent need to get focussed on ‘Prevention’.

Vulnerable Groups and Vulnerable Areas should be mapped.
Vulnerable Groups should be empowered with the help of
Asset Owning programmes (AOPs) and Wage Employment
Programmes (WEPs).
15.20 Education should be made free and compulsory. Article

21(A) of Indian Constitution should be strictly implemented.
15.21 Massive Public Awareness Programmes should be launched

to sensitise the parents, siblings, etc, of vulnerable groups using
Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) and Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs).
161
15.22 Adequate care should be taken during and after the Rescue
Operation to de-traumatise the victim (s).
15.23 Assessment of aptitude and skill and perhaps skill upgradation

should precede Rehabilitation package. An array of packages
including Asset Owning Programmes, Wage Employment
Programmes, Self-Help Groups can be considered for
Rehabilitation Programmes.
15.24 A Rehab Fund in place, will make all the above, possible
and feasible.
15.25 Children have no place in the streets. At that tender age they
should be in protected environs. Article 21 (A) of Indian
Constitution has promised them a safe and secure right to
education. In fact, children were promised Free education by
the Constitution. But, it is not happening. Statistics lie. Still,
about 25 % children of this country, contrary to the statistical
claims, are outside schools waiting to be hunted by the lurking
Traffickers.They need to be given protection.the best place is
The School.Hence,my mnost important recommendation is :
to provide FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION
TO ALL CHILDREN
***
162
16.0 COORDINATION
16.1 Prevention requires coordination at National and State level
where electronic and print media is effectively used to reach
the millions of Indians particularly the vulnerable groups.
16.2 Protection requires coordination between the state govern-
ments, district administration, Faith Based Organisations
(FBOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), corpo-
rate bodies. Budget requirement is huge and implementation
requires focused, special exclusive agencies on a dedicated
basis and not the same old agencies which implement one
hundred and odd other things. Creation of a Rehab Fund
will go a long way.
16.3 Vulnerable areas should be mapped immediately. Vulnerable
social groups within the vulnerable areas should be identi-
fied without any further loss of time. Special projects should
be launched with Officers on Special Duties (OSD) with
swaying powers and budget for each of these vulnerable ar-
eas/ vulnerable groups akin to the ITDA concept with a
clear cut sub plan.
16.4 The prosecution requires a close coordination between
Interpol, Ministry of Home affairs, CBI, State CIDs and state
police. Special Investigation Teams (SIT) should be formed
involving the districts / states on the source – transit – des-
tination map of the country.
163
16.5 After all about 2 million (twenty lakhs) persons are trafficked
every year, world wide. The effort suggested above is not
only worthwhile, but is essential and necessary. Right now !!
History was rewritten on 18th August 2006. How common is it
to find all the Honorable judges of Supreme Court as well as all
the High Courts of the country in one place, at the same time,
for three days. Unbeleivable !!!!.But it happened. Thanks to the
vision and efforts of Honorable Justice Mr Y K Sabharwal and
Honorable justice Mr K G Balakrishnan, National Legal Ser-
vices Authority (NALSA) conducted a highly professionally or-
ganized conference on “Mandating Equality and Rights of Jus-
tice to Survivors of Social Discrimination and Gender Violence,
Trafficking & HIV/AIDS” (bold mine).The proceedings were
conducted with all sincerity and seriousness. Not only it involved
all the Judicial Officers of the country from Supreme Court to
the Taluka level courts, but also representatives from Execu-
tive and Legislature which included several IAS and IPS offic-
ers, NGOs and even Chief Ministers !!!
16.6 Unfortunately, such a concerted act of coordination was not

put up by others, after that. Judiciary has demonstrated its grave
concern. Its time for Executive and Legislative to respond.
16.7 After all,about 2 million persons are trafficked every

year,worldwide. The recommendations suggested in this book
are essential and necessary.Without any further delay !!!
***
164
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***
171

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Trafficking in persons

1.0 Trafficking : Trafficking in Persons (TIP), is indeed a TIP of

These siblings are now determined to lurk into your bedroom

1.1 Sexual Exploitation : Sudha (15 years) in a village in West

Suraj and Sunitha forcibly took Sudha in a car to Mumbai.

1.2 Film Star :

But, Shanthi was having a secret desire to become a film star.

Believing Shama, Shanthi left for Mumbai without telling

who promised Shanthi a chance and took her to a Flat where

Shanthi was never given a chance to act in movies, but she

Meanwhile, the parents of Shanthi made all hectic attempts

In the counselling that perused, Shanthi refused to recognise

1.3 Begging & Child Labour : Sathyam, 8 years old, in

1.4 Child Camel Jockeys

Today, thousands of children, such as Salim (6 years), some

“These children live in an oppressive environment and endure

They are harassed by the handlers, who often beat them.

1.5 Sandhya, Soujanya, Suman and Subhan the victims of

2.2 The UN Trafficking Protocol of the Transnational

 “The recruitment, transportation, transfer,

 “For the purpose of exploitation” (the purpose).

2.3 The Protocol notes that “exploitation shall include, at a

2.4 Trafficking in persons is a process and sequence of

2.5 “The process of human trafficking begins with the

2.6 It continues with the transportation from the place of origin

2.7 This is followed by the exploitation phase during which the

2.8 A further phase may occur that essentially involves the

2.9 Human trafficking can hence be categorised in terms of the

b) Transportation and potentially the illegal entry of the

c) The exploitation phase;

d) The subsequent phase of profit laundering.”

2.9.1 Thus, the definition of trafficking can be extended beyond

2.10 The traffickers employ an array of methods to enslave

2.11 Trafficking, Smuggling and Migration

While the definition of trafficking contains the element of

Therefore, those who get trafficked are victims of a trafficker

2.12 In this, the discussion is restricted to the former one, i.e.,

3.0 COMMON MYTHS

4. Trafficking necessarily involves 4. Trafficking can take place

5. The persons who are trafficked, 5. The victims are tricked,

3.2 Several myths are ‘floated’ by the perpetrators / benefactors of

7. “They are addicted to Alcohol, 7. The victims are “opiated” to

8. “They are addicted to luxurious 8. The living conditions are

9. Since they are used to a luxuri- 9. Suitable rehabilitation will

10. The persons who are trafficked, 10.The traffickers lay an

11. “Their behaviour is compulsively 11. The victims are beaten by

15. “Their living conditions are 15.Living conditions are abso-

17. With children there is no ques- 17. The consent of a child is of no

18. The ‘problem’ is ‘out there’, it 18. In fact, in this fast-paced

19. Traffickers target only poor, 19.It may be any “unaccompa-

3.4 Similarly, the traffickers of children spread rumours that

 “Though, poverty forces some families to send their

 Lack of education and lack of knowledge of the realities

 Parents may know that the job prospect awaiting their

 Parents may in some cases ‘rent’ their children to some-

I saw the angel in the marble and

4. EXTENT AND MAGNITUDE

4.1 Human trafficking is certainly a big business. According

4.2 Generally speaking, almost every country in the world

4.3 Global Patterns:

“Human trafficking is widespread – data taken from

4.4 “Even though all human trafficking cases have their

4.5 India, an Origin :

4.5.2 Similarly, the neighbouring countries figured as