Human Trafficking Peddling of a Girl's Innocence

The article 'Human Trafficking Peddling of a Girl's Innocence' focuses on the harrowing issue of human trafficking, a grave violation of human rights.

This article will be dealing with the various issues regarding the trafficking of women and shed light on how they can be resolved.

Introduction

Women have been mistreated, raped, sexually assaulted, domestically violated, mentally tortured and tortured for dowry throughout times but the most inhumane and barbaric deed is women getting sold like inanimate objects. Women and girl children are the most prone groups to human trafficking.

According to the reports of the Ministry of Women and child development, it was reported that 200,000 to 250,000 women and children are trafficked in India every year.

Women are sold for a variety of reasons, including sex work, slavery, organ trafficking, forced labour, and child labour. In the contemporary world, one of the major reasons why a woman is sold is for prostitution. A lot of women every year are exported to different brothels across the country without their consent. This practice has been followed since ancient times. In ancient times as well women slaves were sold at very high prices. Despite being one of the most heinous crimes not just against women but also mankind, it is still being practised all over the world without facing any major issues. 

Definition

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, trafficking refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, to exploit them for profit. Trafficking of women is carried out on international borders as well as the within the countries. An umpteen amount of women and girl children are trafficked to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan from India. Whereas Indian women are majorly sent to Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kenya, South Africa, the Philippines and other Middle East countries.

Circumstances Leading to Trafficking

The following are the main reasons why women are sold:

1. Bonded Labour: People sell their children because of poverty and they want cash for their survival. These girl children are used as labourers in various agricultural farms, hazardous factories, and house help. Women are usually coerced and tortured to work under harsh conditions which are both mentally and physically abusive after being sold by their families.

2. Forced Marriages: Girl children at a very young age are sold into marriages by their parents to men who are considerably older than these children. They believe that once the girl has been sold their burden will be removed and they also will be financially benefited. But the other side of the coin is these children are usually raped and domestically abused. This practice in India is mainly followed in Rajasthan, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.

3. Prostitution: Women could be tricked into joining the sex trade by making false claims of getting a job, getting married, or getting an education, or they might be kidnapped or sold into slavery by criminal gangs or family members. Victims of trafficking for prostitution often face physical and physiological abuse. They don’t have control over their working hours. They are mistreated by their clients and they are not even able to seek any kind of help because sex work is considered a stigma. Sex workers are marginalized, alienated, disrespected and abused by society at large.

4. Organ Trafficking: Women who are victims of getting sold for organ trafficking are usually given money or other benefits in return for their organs, but they are frequently pressured or forced into doing so. Physical harm, threats, or other forms of intimidation may be used in this. Women may be targeted in particular situations because it is thought that they are weaker or more susceptible to manipulation than men. After harvesting their organs women are left in worse conditions without giving them the proper medical supervision they require and even left for dead.

Statistics of Trafficking in Various States in India

In India, victims of trafficking are most frequently women and children, with female victims accounting for over 60% of all victims.

90% of trafficking victims in India are thought to have been coerced into the sex trade, making this the most prevalent kind of trafficking. 20% of victims constitute forced labourers. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of the case reported followed by Maharashtra with 1,746 cases reported then West Bengal with 1,676 cases after that Bihar with 1492 cases then Rajasthan with 1400 cases.

Legal Provisions Against Human Trafficking

Three Articles of the Indian Constitution address this issue. Articles 23 prohibits human trafficking, begging, and other similar forms of forced labour, as well as Articles 39(e) and 39(f) that state that children and youth must be protected from exploitation and that no one shall be subjected to cruel treatment because of his or her age or physical condition.

Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956: It is the only piece of legislation that expressly targets trafficking and is yet subject to change. It punishes the trafficking of women and children to engage in commercial sex exploitation.

There are some more legislations which directly or indirectly deal with human trafficking:- Indian Penal Code, 1860; Bonded labour system (Abolition) Act, 1976; Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 ; 3 Juvenile Justice Act, 2000; Goa Children Act, 2002; Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013, also known as the Nirbhaya Act, came into effect and replaced Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code with Section 370A (IPC), which outlines comprehensive measures to combat the problem of human trafficking, including the trafficking of children for any form of exploitation, including physical or sexual exploitation, slavery, servitude, or the forced removal of organs.

The Government has also taken measures from their sides to put an end to this grievous crime The Government of India through the Ministry of Home Affairs, in association with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has initiated a two-year project for training the Law Enforcement Officers on human trafficking in four States, namely Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

The Government has coordinated meetings relating to human trafficking with states and started a certificate course in association with Indra Gandhi Open University and the ministry of home affairs has seated up an anti-trafficking cell. A proposal to establish 332 AntiHuman Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in various districts across the country has also been passed. Financial support is provided to States and UTs to host Human Trafficking Conferences to educate and raise awareness among law enforcement officials and other stakeholders about the need to stop the threat of trafficking. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing “Ujjawala” – A Comprehensive Scheme for the Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation, Re-integration and Repatriation of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

Conclusion

India has been a country prone to serious and grievous crimes since the beginning of time. India has often been portrayed as one of the most dangerous countries with a high crime rate including human trafficking which is true to a certain extent. As mentioned in the article, we observed that the Article 23 of the Indian Constitution prohibits human trafficking, begging, and other similar forms of forced labour and yet these evil practices are deeply entrenched in the roots of the society.

In many instances, parents turn out to be the perpetrators who agree to sell their girl children for an amount as meagre as thousand rupees. In such cases, the girl child’s faith is completely shattered as the protector of her rights turns out to be the violator of her rights. The legal framework that has been designed to tackle the problem of trafficking of girl children has not been effective and has not been able to achieve its purpose and people are bending laws and finding loopholes in them according to their wishes and fantasies.

Women are said to be homemakers they build the foundation of the houses in which we live, they raise us, they feed us and still their own families sell them. Women are constantly disrespected, disregarded, abused, and raped. The world needs to respect at least their fundamental rights. Crime against women like human trafficking should be put an end to as soon as possible and such types of crime should be removed from the face of the planet altogether.

References

[1] Constitution of India, Article 23 

[2] Constitution of India, Article 39(e) 

[3] Constitution of India, Article 39(f) 

[4] Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, Act No. 104 of 1956 (India).

[5] Indian Penal Code, Act No. 45 of 1860 (India).

[6] Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Act No. 19 of 1976 (India).

[7] Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Act No. 61 of 1986 (India).

[8] Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, Act No. 56 of 2000 (India).

[9] Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, Act No. 56 of 2000 (India).

[10] The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, Act No. 56 of 2000 (India).

[11] Goa Children's Act, 2003, Act No. 35 of 2003 (India).

[12] Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, Act No. 6 of 2007 (India).

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