INTRODUCTION:

Trafficking in women and children has become a matter of serious national and international
concern. Women and children- boys and girls have been exposed to unprecedented
vulnerabilities commercial exploitation of the vulnerabilities have become a massive
organised crime and a multimillion dollar business. Trafficking is prohibited by the
Constitution of India. Yet India is a source, destination and Transit country for human
trafficking primarily for commercial sexual exploitation and force labour, and with the falling
sex ratio trafficking for marriage is becoming another pull factor for- trafficking of women
and girl. The pernicious system of bonded labour continues despite legislation to combat it.
Because of the nature of the crime, human trafficking is difficult to quantify. Estimates on the
number of victims and offenders vary widely. It is important to remember that human
trafficking has many hidden victims, and there is still much that is unknown about the crime.
DEFINITION.
Human trafficking as defined by the UN is, the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or
receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms 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, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of
the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or service, slavery or
practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
The History of Human Trafficking:
There are several arguments about when human trafficking could have started. Some say that the
slave trade in which Africans were captured by slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic to the
Americas,was the first human trafficking.Others argue that the forced labor of children during the
1700s was the real beginning of what is now known as human trafficking. The kings in early age used
to conquest people after the war and make them their slaves. These slaves worked as agricultural or
domestic servants It was a very early practice, but now it has been made as illegal. internationally
Human trafficking for sexual purposes was first legally recognized by the term 'white
slavery'.According to Kristiina Kangaspunta,the Executive Officer of the Applied Research Program of
the UNICRI branch of the United Nations, 'white slavery' is obtaining of a white woman or girl- by the
use of force, drugs, or by dishonesty- for sex which is unwanted by the woman or girl(Kangaspunta).
Kangapunta, has also argued that international governments began to discuss 'white slavery' after
the transatlantic slave trade was made illegal.

The Fight Against Sex Trafficking:
The British were the first to make a law against slavery in 1807, when they passed a law that made
the Transatlantic Slave Trade illegal. In 1820,the United States followed Great Britain's example by
making the slave trade a crime that was punishable by death.
In 1899 and 1902, international conferences to talk about white slavery were organized in Paris,
France. Then in 1904, an international agreement against the 'white slave trade' was created, with a
focus on migrant women and children. In 1910, 13 countries signed the International Convention for
the Suppression of White Slave Trade to make this form of trafficking illegal. This International
Convention led to the creation of national committees to work against the trafficking of white
women. However, the first World War halted these efforts, and it wasn't until 1921 that the fight
against trafficking continued. In June of 1921, a the League of Nations held an international
conference in Geneva, in which the term 'white slavery' was changed to 'traffic of women and
children'. This was done to make sure that: the trafficking in all countries was dealt with , the victims
of races other than those termed 'white' were recognized, and that male children were also
recognized as victims. During this conference, 33 countries signed the International Convention for
the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children.
In 1923,the League of Nations had a group of experts carry out two studies on the trafficking of
women and children. These studies were created to answer the following questions:were there
many foreign women selling sex in the countries studied;was there a demand for foreign women
prostitutes, if so , why was there a demand;what areas of their home countries were these women
taken from and did they leave their home country by themselves or did someone help them; who
were the people trafficking these women; what countries did these women come from, why did they
leave their home countries, and how did they get to where they were. According to the results of the
first study, most of the women came from many different European countries and were sent to
countries in South America and Central America, and to Egypt, Algeria, and Tunis. The second study
focused specifically on the sex trafficking between Asia and Europe and America. The results showed
that very few Asian women were trafficked to Europe or America, and instead, mush of the
trafficking victims were Americans and Europeans that were trafficked to Asian countries. The
results of the second study also showed a pattern of Asian women being trafficked from one Asian
country to the next, and of Asian women trafficked to men of their own ethnic background who
were living in or visiting places outside of Asia. Both of these studies showed that the main ways
traffickers used to convince women to be trafficked was the use of force and deception.
In 1949,the United Nations Convention of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others was passed.This was the first convention about human trafficking that was
legally binding to the countries that signed it and required the countries to make prostitution illegal.
However, like all of the conventions before it,this convention still dealt only dealt with human
trafficking that had a sexual purpose. In 2000, the United Nations Protocol against Trafficking in
Persons was passed. It made all forms of human trafficking illegal.
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CAUSES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
The causes of human trafficking is different from one victim to another from one state to another
state. But the most common causes of human trafficking are due to poverty, lack of awareness, job
offer, marriage, Migration etc. It is not possible to list down the various causes of human trafficking
in India due to the nature of crimes.
EFFECTDS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
Human trafficking which is one of the most profitable business in the present world, has a numerous
effect on the victim. Let us see some of the effect whic is given below:

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Source http://juliewedam.blogspot.in/2010/02/history-of-human-trafficking.html
Psychological Effect:
Most traffickers recruit their victims between the ages of 6 to 24, because a young victim will easily
succumb to force and give in. They are forced into heavy physical labor in hazardous environments.
Many are also taught the use of weapons and are recruited as 'soldiers' in armed conflicts. The
children suffer from lack of self-esteem, emotional disturbance, disorientation, and depression and
are scarred for life. They develop deep psychological disorders that they struggle with for the rest of
their lives even if they have been rescued. Psychological vulnerability hinders them from having a
healthy state of mind in the future. The children are likely to become withdrawn and tend to be
suicidal. Any children born to the victims of prostitution are taken away at the time of birth causing
further mental agony to the mothers. In fact, the longer the victims have been enslaved, greater will
be their traumatic experience.

Health Effects
'Human Trafficking, Human Misery', a book written by Alexis Aronowitz, states that an estimated
80% victims of trafficking are sexually exploited, abused or forced into prostitution as most victims
are young women and children. Such a victim probably might have to cater to anywhere between 8
to 15 clients in a day. The use of sexual protection is negligible in this industry, leaving the exploited
at a high risk of contracting various sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS that they further
pass on to the men and their partners. In some cases, victims are also subjected to substance abuse
by being forced to take drugs. Such individuals also have to constantly battle with drug addiction.
Improper supply of meals and the lack of nutritious food causes malnourishment in these entrapped
victims. Poor living conditions also contribute to the development of various diseases that these
victims suffer from in later years. The victims are not given any medical aid to cure these ailments.
Those recruited in chemical factories are treated like modern-day slaves and when they succumb to
occupational diseases, are quickly replaced by another batch of victims.

Societal Effects
The victims may be used as bonded labor in their own country or transported to another country
whereupon arrival, their passports and migration documents are taken away from them, leaving
them helpless and immobile. Sadly, they are often charged as collaborators of the crimes rather than
being seen as victims. They are kept in very poor conditions with sub-standard clothing and food,
unhygienic living conditions and no provision for healthcare. They are also often physically and
sexually abused by their employers and 'clients' for non-compliance with demands. This is a very
gruesome picture of the face of our society, hiding behind a wall. Another point to be noted here is
that the victims are deprived of education and all human rights. The victims always struggle to gain
acceptance in society from the stigma after being rescued. This illegal trafficking often intermingles
with other crimes such as smuggling of drugs and ammunition. Corruption is so widespread in our
world that the greed for wealth only further encourages trafficking of humans to flourish, with no
barriers. In such a scenario, the development of a stable and robust society seems like a distant
dream
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DATA ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING:


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source http://www.buzzle.com/articles/effects-of-human-trafficking.html