Context: Anti-trafficking policy exists in India, but where the system is found lacking is in the implementation of the laws.

No nation can call itself civilised if it tolerates the buying and selling of its daughters. Of what meaning is the wealth, power or progress of a nation if its children are traded as though in medieval slave trade, at a lower price than cattle?

• Human trafficking is a crime in itself, but it is also the propeller of several other crimes.

Background

• July 30 is United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons. It is also a time to reflect on India’s human trafficking crisis.
• Between April 2020 and June 2021, an estimated 9,000 children have been rescued after being trafficked for labour, according to a child rights non-governmental organisation (NGO).
• In other words, 21 children have been trafficked every day over nearly 15 months. The Childline India helpline received 44 lakh distress calls over 10 months. Over a year, 2,000 children have arrived at its shelter homes and 800 rescued from hazardous working conditions.

Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) and various civil society groups have campaigned for decades for a strong law to end this 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 and Trafficking

• COVID-19 has further intensified the need for the law. Traffickers are taking advantage of prolonged school closures and loss of family livelihood. 
• BBA with government agencies has rescued almost 9,000 children from trafficking since the first lockdown. 
• In comparison, about half this number of children were rescued during the same time period of 14 months preceding the pandemic.

Increased vulnerability

• Children as young as 12 are trafficked across States to work in factories in appalling conditions, where owners are turning to cheap labour to recoup their losses from the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

The factors causing increased vulnerability are identifiable:-

• Economic Crisis: “The [corona] virus has resulted in loss of income and economic crisis, causing families’ reduced capacity to care for children in the long-term. 
• Social Vulnerability: It has also caused, in some instances, loss of parental care due to death, illness or separation, thereby placing children at heightened risk for violence, neglect or exploitation.” 

Internet Curse: The increase in Internet access in current times has also led to cyber-trafficking.

• Traffickers are taking advantage of the loss of livelihoods and the increasing amount of time spent online to entrap victims, including by advertising false jobs on social media.
• In addition, there is an increased demand for child sexual exploitation material online due to lockdowns.

Challenges

• Most victims of trafficking are from low-income communities for whom the novel coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns have caused long-term financial distress. 
• Once removed from their locality, they face challenges of limited resources, unfamiliarity with the area and perhaps the local language.
• These factors are compounded by an erosion of some of the checks against child labour and child marriage provided by law, as well as the scrutiny of schools and society.

Governance loopholes

• India is still classified by the U.S. Department of State as a Tier-2 country in its  report on global human trafficking. 
• This means that the Government does not fully meet the minimum standards under U.S. and international law for eliminating trafficking, but is making significant efforts to comply. 
• The lack of implementation is illustrated by the state of the Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs). 

Note: AHTUs are specialised district task forces comprising police and government officials. 
What needs to be done?

• If properly staffed and funded, AHTUs could provide crucial ground-level data on the methods and patterns of traffickers, which in turn can strengthen community-based awareness and vigilance activities. 
• Global practices such as in Nigeria, Africa, should be encouraged in India, in consonance with a larger framework to protect women and children by incentivising education and creating safe employment opportunities.
• The draft Bill also provides for AHTUs/committees at the national, State and district levels, but as noted, their effective functioning cannot be taken for granted. Legislating without the political will to implement and monitor effectiveness is futile.

About the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill

• The Government of India has proposed the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021. 
• This Bill aims to tackle all aspects of trafficking including the social and economic causes of the crime, punishment to traffickers, and the protection and rehabilitation of survivors.

How essential is the legislation?

• Human trafficking is a crime in itself, but it is also the propeller of several other crimes. It creates a parallel black economy that fuels child labour, child marriage, prostitution, bonded labour, forced beggary, drug-related crimes, corruption, terrorism and other illicit businesses.
• Further, the architects of our Constitution established the severity of the crime of trafficking by making it the only offence punishable under the Constitution of India itself, besides untouchability.
• So, a strong anti-trafficking law is the moral and constitutional responsibility of our elected leaders, and a necessary step towards nation-building and economic progress.

Suggestions to end trafficking in India

• To protect and rehabilitate the trafficked persons, the Bill has to include the necessary checks and balances against potential misuse of power by agencies, periodic reviews of the law, and adequate allocation of resources for effective implementation.

Additional Information
About Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021
Objectives

• To prevent and counter trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
• To provide for care, protection, and rehabilitation to the victims, while respecting their rights
• To create a supportive legal, economic and social environment for the victims
• To ensure prosecution of offenders

The bill has increased the scope of the nature of offenses of trafficking as well as the kind of victims of these offenses with stringent penalties.

• Ministry: Women and Child Development (WCD)