The draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016, is an important step in India’s fight against human trafficking. Under existing laws, both the traffickers and the trafficked were regarded as criminals and liable to punishment with jail terms. The draft 2016 Bill proposes to change this. While criminalising trafficking and putting the onus on the trafficker to prove his innocence, the proposed legislation decriminalises victims of trafficking irrespective of the trade for which they were trafficked. Besides providing for measures to prevent and protect people from trafficking, it provides for rehabilitation of survivors and for special courts to try trafficking cases. The bill makes it mandatory for placement agencies to register themselves and provides for stern punishment for the use of alcohol and narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. It also forbids the disclosure of the identity of victims of trafficking.
Human trafficking is a cruel trade. It draws its profits from the exploitation of humans, their bodies, labour and services. Women and girls are its worst victims as they are trafficked for sexual exploitation but the trade’s preying on boys and men for the sex trade, camel racing, forced labour etc is no less worrying. The poorest and most marginalised sections of the society are its main victims. India is a major hub in the global trafficking trade, acting as a source, a transit and market for humans. While international trafficking is serious, the trafficking of people from rural India is far more serious. Rural women are lured to the city with promises of work in factories. They arrive there only to find themselves locked up in brothels. Getting out of the trade is often impossible as police are often hand in glove with the traffickers. Besides, trafficked women are rarely accepted back by their families and society.
The proposed legislation is a step in the right direction and was long overdue. But there are loopholes. There is little clarity on how the rehabilitation fund will be used. It could result in funds being misused or – like the Nirbhaya Fund – unutilised. Registration of placement agencies, which are an important ‘hub of trafficking’, is already compulsory and yet thousands of illegal ones exist. How does the government propose to bring them under the law’s ambit? The draft bill is silent. Then, enforcement of the law is important. But the police often facilitate trafficking. It will require breaking the nexus between traffickers and cops. Trafficking is a lucrative trade. There are powerful vested interests that will seek to defeat the law. They must not be allowed to triumph.
Human trafficking is a cruel trade. It draws its profits from the exploitation of humans, their bodies, labour and services. Women and girls are its worst victims as they are trafficked for sexual exploitation but the trade’s preying on boys and men for the sex trade, camel racing, forced labour etc is no less worrying. The poorest and most marginalised sections of the society are its main victims. India is a major hub in the global trafficking trade, acting as a source, a transit and market for humans. While international trafficking is serious, the trafficking of people from rural India is far more serious. Rural women are lured to the city with promises of work in factories. They arrive there only to find themselves locked up in brothels. Getting out of the trade is often impossible as police are often hand in glove with the traffickers. Besides, trafficked women are rarely accepted back by their families and society.
The proposed legislation is a step in the right direction and was long overdue. But there are loopholes. There is little clarity on how the rehabilitation fund will be used. It could result in funds being misused or – like the Nirbhaya Fund – unutilised. Registration of placement agencies, which are an important ‘hub of trafficking’, is already compulsory and yet thousands of illegal ones exist. How does the government propose to bring them under the law’s ambit? The draft bill is silent. Then, enforcement of the law is important. But the police often facilitate trafficking. It will require breaking the nexus between traffickers and cops. Trafficking is a lucrative trade. There are powerful vested interests that will seek to defeat the law. They must not be allowed to triumph.