Human Trafficking in India

This paper addresses the situation of human trafficking in India. It argues that the focus on trafficking either as an issue of illegal migration or prostitution still dominates the discourse of trafficking, although illegal under Indian law, remains a significant problem. People are frequently illegally trafficked through India for commercial sexual exploitation and forced/bonded labor. Estimate this problem affects 20 to 65 million Indians. Men, women, and children are trafficked in India for diverse reasons. Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. Every year, thousands of women and children fall into the hands of traffickers in their own countries and abroad. Almost every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for the victims. Human trafficking has been identified as the third largest source of profit for organized crime. Women and children are generally trafficked for begging, organ trade, drug smuggling, bonded labor, domestic work, agricultural labor, construction work, carpet industry, forced prostitution, sex tourism, and pornography, and also for entertainment and sports which include beer bars, camel jockey and circus troops. This paper argues that emphasis needs to be given to such underlying root causes and modes and also crimes related to human trafficking, that threaten the human security of the trafficked persons in India. Accordingly, it provides some preventive measures to address and deal with the problem.