Bhelloriya & Lawyers

Trafficking in women and children for commercial sexual exploitation and other abusive purposes is rampant in India. The incidence of intra-country trafficking is also very high. Constitution of India under Article 23 prohibits trafficking in any form. There are special legislations like Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA), Bonded Labour Abolition Act, Juvenile Justice Act, etc. in addition to the provisions in the IPC (Indian Penal Code). Recently Government of India has proposed amendments to the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956.

The changes have been proposed since the existing framework is inadequate to counter trafficking. Human trafficking can be classified into three categories, (a) commercial sexual exploitation, (b) exploitative labour like domestic work, work in carpet industry, camel jockeying, etc. and (c) organ selling. The first category, i.e. commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) could be in brothels, massage parlors, beet bars or anywhere.

Even some of the ‘marriage bureaus’, especially in places where the female population is skewed have been trafficking women under the facade of marriage. Trafficking of exploitative labour (EL) could be for labour in industries, agriculture, domestic ambience, entertainment industry, etc. This includes children. men and women. The third category is of organ-trafficking.

The cause of trafficking is two dimensional. One is the demand factor and the other is the vulnerability’ of the person trafficked or likely to be trafficked. Where there is more demand, there is more crime. Human trafficking in any form is demand driven. The other dimension, i.e., vulnerability is not only due to poverty. It is a combination of several factors.

These factors include illiteracy, lack of awareness of rights, disparities in income, scope of exploitation of the person, poor law enforcement, lack of public awareness, etc. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 does not criminalize prostitution, but mostly punishes acts by third parties facilitating prostitution like brothel keeping, living off earnings, even where sex work is not forced. Government of India in the year 1950 ratified an international convention for repression of traffic in person and the exploitation of the prostitution.

The law was introduced in 1956 as SITA (The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act) and in 1986 it was amended as the current ITP A, in which the legal framework is same. Studies have shown that despite the noble intentions of Indian lawmakers, the police have used every means possible’ to harass sex workers.

Recently sex workers marched the streets of Delhi to draw public attention to the fact that the amendments would deny them their already meager’ livelihoods. Not only the sex workers, but the AIDS activists and peer educators are regularly harassed by police. Now the sex workers with the moral and material support from national and international celebrities and NGOs are saying with confidence we are here because we prefer this lifestyle. Give us the light to openly practice our trade.

They want the amendment of the existing law, which gives punishment for clients of sex workers and the pimps. They have valid arguments for their claim. Arrest and rescue operations by the police are mostly a drama to keep the terror alive, so that the sex workers and pimps dare not resist paying bribes. Actually, almost all brothels and those who run the sex trade function under the ‘protection’ of or with the connivance of the police. The more sex trade flourishes, the more money police make.

Again the police-pimp nexus makes it more dangerous for those women who are being forced into this profession but try to escape from this slavery. Amendment of law alone can not protect them. Infect a large number of Indian women do not become prostitutes only through trafficking. Women in India are tricked, forced and sold into this profession. And many enter the trade to earn a living in the absence of other opportunities for employment.

It is a result of their being in socially and economically backward position. If this profession is legalized then certain basic questions will arise. What does the term legalize actually mean? Does it mean that a sex worker can open a brothel anywhere she likes and advertise her services?

How many even among those, who are empathetic towards the plight’ of prostitutes, are willing to allow a brothel right next to their own house? How can we make our children understand that renting a women’s body for sex is considered a perfectly legitimate activity? How can law handle the high society call girls and their influential pimps? Those who demand that sex work be given the same ‘respect’ as any other profession need to explain whose duty it is to give or ensure respect.

A new central Scheme “Ujjawala- Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation,” has been launched. In our country, the overwhelming majority get involved into sex work due to poverty related compulsions or abusive family circumstances. Even in those countries where sex work is legal, sex workers do not command social respect.

So law cannot abolish the dehumanizing forms of sex slavery. The other known purposes of trafficking are for entertainment industry, domestic work, work in carpet, garment, fishing and brick industries, forced labour, camel jockeying, drug trafficking, begging, etc. Women and children are mainly involved in these professions. About seventy three million children belonging to the age group of 10-14 years are engaged in child labour all over the world.

Article 24 of the Constitution of India bans child labour below 14 years of age. More than 20 per cent child laborers aged 5-14, in India, are toiling in the fields or hunting in forests for a livelihood. Children work in farms, plantations, fisheries and cottage industries. They do not go to school as they have to work to add to the income of the family.

With globalization and increasing competition, there is a growing demand by employers for cheap labour of women and children. Many children are lured out of their homes by false promises of love, marriage or work. They may accompany their friends, acquaintances and then find themselves trapped in a vulnerable situation. Camel Race is a very popular game in some countries of Middle East.

Children are mostly preferred for camel jockeying. A recent report says that many children from Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh is trafficked for this inhuman profession. Living environment is deplorable-: the physical facilities provided in the so called work areas are below any acceptable living standards.

Wages paid are very low and sometimes they are not paid at all. They have no access to health or medical facilities. The employer takes advantage of their docile nature and their willingness to do monotonous jobs. So the rescue operations of minors, in prostitution or any kind of illegal work is primarily the State’s responsibility. NGOs however have done a much better job by themselves throughout the country.

The organ trafficking is not new to the world and India is considered to be one of its biggest centers. Human Organs Transplant Act was enacted in 1994. But it resurfaced in 1998 after discovery of organized rackets in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka that year. Kidney is a paired organ in the human body and one of the kidneys can be removed from an alive person and thus, is most preferred organ in trafficking business.

There is a yawning gap between the demand and supply of kidneys worldwide and this leads to black marketing of kidney. The rich people are ready to pay huge sums of money to save their lives, and there is a set of donors who donate for the sake of money only. The donors are mainly poor people, who are lured by very lucrative’ offers for jobs but are paid a meager sum by brokers involved in the racket, while the hefty’ financial gains are enjoyed by ‘middle men’.

World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that ten percent of all transplant involved patients from developed countries went to poor countries to buy organs. The various policies and strategies to boost the donations have not been successful. Till date, the supply of transplant organ is left to altruism’.

We need to encourage a law of ‘presumed consent’ which authorizes the doctors to remove organs from a ‘brain-dead’ individual if there are no objections from the family members. Several European countries like Austria, Belgium, France and Italy have legalized this transplant and they have witnessed increase in the number of donations. Ethically thinking, we may feel that buying and selling of organs is wrong, but is it morally right to let a patient suffer and die on dialysis when something can be done to save his life? Unless and until we bridge the ever-widening gap of demand and supply, such rackets will continue to flourish.

The Government of India formulated a National Plan of Action to combat immoral trafficking in 1998. It was formulated by the joint efforts of the Department of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Human Resource Development. This committee was formed to look into the problems of trafficking and has brought together NGOs and other organizations who work on this issue.

Anti human trafficking is an area which beckons all those who are concerned with human rights. There is much to do and something to be done by everybody. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), New Delhi, in partnership with Government of India and state government agencies has set up Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) in several states. All who are committed to human rights must join hands in this global initiative in fighting human trafficking.

Aid to Vocabulary:

1. Gravest–extremely threatening

2. Skewed-fair, normal

3. Vulnerability- exposed to damage

4. Meager-lacking in amount or quantity

5. Plight- condition or stale, especially an unfortunate one

6. Deplorable-exceedingly bad

7. Lucrative-profitable

8. Hefty–big and heavy

9. Altruism-the fact of caring about the happiness and needs of other people more than your own.

Points to Remember:

1. Human trafficking is one of the gravest violations of human rights and dignity.

2. Trafficking can be classified into three categories -

a. Commercial sexual exploitation

b. Exploitative labour

(c) Organ selling

3. The cause of trafficking is two dimensional. i.e., demand factors and vulnerability of the person trafficked.

4. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act of 1956 does not criminalize prostitution, but punishes the person who facilitates it.

5. Women and children are mainly involved in exploitative labour as they are paid low wages by the employers.

6. Human Organ Transplant Act of 1994 could not control organ trafficking.

7. Government of India has formulated a National” Plan of Action to combat immoral trafficking.