Curbing Human Trafficking – Need for Collective Effort

Creating an awareness of gender issues among women, sharing information with them on related laws and legal rights, and building their confidence to demand action, as a collective, from the officials are some of the ways by which the heinous crime of human trafficking is being addressed in the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh

Introduction

H uman trafficking is prohibited by domestic and international laws, and yet thousands fall victim to the organized crime of human exploitation. Trafficking of women and children is a grave crime, extending beyond boundaries and jurisdictions. Capitalizing on economic desperation, low levels of literacy, and deep-seated gender inequality, traffickers prey on individuals most vulnerable to exploitation.

The Trafficking Protocol is an international agreement under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC), signed on 25 December, 2003. It defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transfer, transportation, harbouring and receipt of persons, by means of blatant force or violence, or subtle inducements that capitalize on an individual’s vulnerability to achieve consent.” It is marked by the intent to coerce, deceive and exploit.

Content

Human trafficking affects every country in the world, regardless of socio-economic status, history or political structure. Human traffickers cash in on a lucrative international market for trade in human beings, based on the demand for commercial sex and cheap labour.

An estimated 20.9 million men, women and children are trafficked for commercial sex or forced labour around the world today. Victims are trafficked both within and across international borders. Migrants and internally displaced persons are particularly vulnerable.