{"id":122313,"date":"2021-07-30T19:15:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T13:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=122313"},"modified":"2021-07-30T19:14:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T13:44:49","slug":"human-trafficking-in-india-and-anti-trafficking-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/human-trafficking-in-india-and-anti-trafficking-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Human trafficking in India and anti-trafficking bill &#8211; Explained, pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) and various civil society groups have campaigned for decades for a strong\u00a0law to end the menace of human trafficking. In 2017, thousands of trafficking survivors marched a Bharat Yatra alongside students, governments, the judiciary, multifaith leaders, businesses and civil society to demand such a law.<\/p>\n<p>COVID-19 has<strong>\u00a0further intensified the need for the law<\/strong>.\u00a0<strong>Traffickers are taking advantage of prolonged school closures and loss of family livelihood<\/strong>. Although Anti-trafficking policies exist in India, where the system is found lacking is in the implementation of the laws.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Intense of Human trafficking during the pandemic<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Government agencies have rescued almost 9,000 children from trafficking since the first lockdown. In other words, <strong>21 children have been trafficked every day<\/strong> over nearly 15 months.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Children as young as 12 are trafficked across the States<\/strong> to work in factories in appalling conditions, where <strong>owners are turning to cheap labour to recoup their losses from the novel coronavirus pandemic<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The Childline India helpline received <strong>44 lakh distress calls over 10 months<\/strong>. Over a year, 2,000 children have arrived at its shelter homes and 800 rescued from hazardous working conditions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Child marriages are also rampant<\/strong> \u2014 over 10,000 cases were tracked between April and August 2020.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"background-color: #f2e9f1;\">\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">Read more: <a style=\"font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; background-color: var(--global--color-background);\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/needed-an-anti-trafficking-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Needed: an anti-trafficking law<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h5><strong>How the Pandemic made children vulnerable to Human trafficking?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>A <strong>child rights NGO<\/strong>, working with the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights has <strong>highlighted the problem of rampant child labour during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/strong>It pointed out reasons such as,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The children and their <strong>families faced a loss of income and economic crisis<\/strong>, causing families\u2019 reduced capacity to care for children in the long term.<\/li>\n<li>The pandemic has also caused, in some instances, <strong>loss of parental care<\/strong> due to death, illness, or separation. Thereby <strong>placing children at heightened risk for violence, neglect, or exploitation<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>This is <strong>compounded by an erosion of some checks<\/strong> <strong>against child labour and child marriage provided by law<\/strong>, as well as the scrutiny of schools and society.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>increase in Internet access<\/strong> in current times has also <strong>led to cyber-trafficking<\/strong>. A recent report by the <strong>United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime<\/strong> on the effects of the pandemic on trafficking mentions that the <strong>traffickers are taking advantage of the loss of livelihoods<\/strong> and the increasing amount of <strong>time spent online to entrap victims<\/strong>, including by advertising false jobs on social media.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"background-color: #f2e9f1;\">\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/pandemic-increased-vulnerability-to-human-trafficking-u-s-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pandemic increased vulnerability to human trafficking: U.S. report<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h5><strong>Why strong steps are essential to curb human trafficking?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Human trafficking is not a crime in itself, but it is also the propeller of several other crimes. It <strong>creates a parallel black economy<\/strong>\u00a0that fuels\u00a0<strong>child labour, child marriage, prostitution, bonded labour, forced beggary, drug-related crimes, corruption, terrorism, and other illicit businesses<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Further, the architects of our Constitution established the severity of the crime of trafficking by making it the\u00a0<strong>only offence punishable under the Constitution<\/strong>\u00a0of India itself,\u00a0<strong>besides untouchability<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>So, a\u00a0<strong>strong anti-trafficking law is the moral and constitutional responsibility<\/strong>\u00a0of our elected leaders, and a necessary step towards nation-building and economic progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Constitutional &amp; Legislative provisions related to Trafficking in India<\/b><\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Trafficking in Human Beings or Persons is prohibited under the Constitution of India under\u00a0<b>Article 23 (1).<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">The\u00a0<b>Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA)\u00a0<\/b>is the premier legislation for the prevention of human trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013<\/b>\u00a0has come into force wherein\u00a0<b>Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code has been substituted with Section 370 and 370A IPC<\/b>\u00a0which provide for comprehensive measures to counter the menace of human trafficking.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h5><strong>Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>The Government of India has proposed the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021. This Bill aims to\u00a0<strong>tackle all aspects of trafficking<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>including the social and economic causes<\/strong>\u00a0of the crime, punishment to traffickers, and the\u00a0<strong>protection and rehabilitation of survivors<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Salient provisions of the anti-trafficking bill<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Definition:\u00a0<\/strong>The bill defines exploitation to include the exploitation of the person for prostitution or other forms. Which includes pornography, forced labour, forced removal of organs, or illegal clinical drug trials.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Includes Transgender:\u00a0<\/strong>The bill extends beyond the protection of women and children as victims. It now includes transgenders as well as any person who may be a victim of trafficking.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Victim Definition:\u00a0<\/strong>The bill does away with the provision that a victim necessarily needs to be transported from one place to another to be defined as a victim of trafficking.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nodal Investigative Agency:\u00a0<\/strong>National Investigation Agency (NIA) shall act as the national investigating and coordinating agency responsible for the prevention and combating of trafficking in persons.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Punishment<\/strong>: The Punishment will be for a minimum of seven years period, which can go up to imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. However, in cases of the trafficking of more than one child, the penalty is life imprisonment. In certain cases, even the death penalty can be sought.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>More severe penalties<\/strong> in case of aggravated offences, like the death of a victim.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><strong>Issues with the draft bill<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>There is <strong>no shortage of anti-trafficking policies<\/strong> in India. Where the system is found <strong>lacking is in the implementation<\/strong> of the laws.<\/li>\n<li>The bill prescribes stringent laws, including the death penalty as an option in some cases. It is <strong>not proven<\/strong> that more <strong>stringent laws have any greater deterrent<\/strong> effect on crime.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Low conviction rates and lengthy trials<\/strong>: There were 140 acquittals and only 38 convictions in 2019, according to government data. This points to a failure of investigation and cannot be solved by the draft Bill\u2019s provision that accused traffickers must be presumed guilty unless they can prove the contrary. Further, trials can drag on for years, with <strong>victims sometimes withdrawing their complaints after being intimidated by traffickers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><strong>Suggestions<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Proper case management<\/strong> must be introduced to give meaning to the \u201cfast track\u201d courts and proper investigation of trafficking cases.<\/li>\n<li>To protect and rehabilitate the trafficked persons, the Bill has to include the\u00a0<strong>necessary checks and balances<\/strong> against potential misuse of power by agencies.<\/li>\n<li>The bill also has to include <strong>periodic reviews<\/strong> of the law and its performance.<\/li>\n<li>Above all, the government has to <strong>allocate adequate resources<\/strong> for the effective implementation of the existing laws and the bill (if enacted).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong><span class=\"TextRun SCXW44574069 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW44574069 BCX0\">Terms to know<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW44574069 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW44574069 BCX0\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"Hyperlink SCXW44574069 BCX0\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/trafficking-in-persons-prevention-care-and-rehabilitation-bill-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW44574069 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW44574069 BCX0\" data-ccp-charstyle=\"Hyperlink\">Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill<\/span><\/span><\/a><span class=\"EOP SCXW44574069 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) and various civil society groups have campaigned for decades for a strong\u00a0law to end the menace of human trafficking. In 2017, thousands of trafficking survivors marched a Bharat Yatra alongside students, governments, the judiciary, multifaith leaders, businesses and civil society to demand such a law. COVID-19 has\u00a0further intensified the need&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/human-trafficking-in-india-and-anti-trafficking-bill\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Human trafficking in India and anti-trafficking bill &#8211; Explained, pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[8636,212,8131,8470],"class_list":["post-122313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","tag-anti-trafficking-law","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-social-issues","tag-trafficking","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122313\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}