Human trafficking has been
defined as the commercial trade of human beings, who are subjected to
involuntary acts such as begging, prostitution or forced labor. The United
States (US) has placed India on the Tier-2 Watch List for human trafficking for
the 5th consecutive year as India has failed to take effective measure in
combating it. According to its report, India is a source, destination, and
transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation.
The report also says that the
numbers of persons affected could be anywhere between 20 to 65 million.
According to some estimates, the estimated annual turnover of human trafficking
in India is around 20 billion rupees. What is distressing is that out of the
total number of persons affected by human trafficking; as many as 80 per cent
are women and 50 per cent are children (all the persons below 18 years of age
come in the category of children).
The causes are obvious. Despite
60 years of independence, the benefits of economic development have not
trickled down to the marginalized sections of the society and millions of
people still live below the poverty line. The poverty and hunger makes children
and women belonging to the poor sections of the society highly vulnerable to
human trafficking.
Recently a Case Happened in Mumbai which shocked entire India:
A 22-year-old photographer was
gang-raped by five men inside an abandoned textile mill in India’s financial
capital Mumbai, police said yesterday, and evoking memories of a similar attack
in New Delhi last December.
The woman, an intern in a local
magazine who suffered multiple internal injuries following the assault, is
undergoing treatment at a city hospital where doctors said her condition was
“stable”.
One of the five suspects, a man
in his early 20s, has been arrested, while police were yesterday combing the
port city for the other suspected perpetrators, using sketches based on
descriptions provided by the victim and by a male colleague who was with her
prior to the assault.
The incident comes just eight
months after a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped by five men in a moving bus in
Delhi while her male companion was beaten up. She died a fortnight after the
attack.
A trial is in its final stages in
that case, which sparked countrywide protests and resulted in the enactment of
stricter anti-rape legislation.
It also led to tougher laws
against other forms of sexual harassment and crimes such as voyeurism,
stalking, acid attacks on women and trafficking females for prostitution.
But women activists said these
measures had not deterred rapists nor reduced sexual harassment cases across
the country, which were in fact proliferating.
The rape in Mumbai sparked anger
on social media websites, and scores of journalist organizations protested in
the city with many holding placards that read: “Mumbai: India’s New Rape
Capital”.
The good news is not only that we can end human trafficking around the world,
we can end it within a generation. But to achieve that goal, everyone needs to
work together. Already, activists around the world are launching and winning
campaigns to hold governments and companies accountable for human trafficking,
create better laws, and prevent trafficking in their communities. You can also
fight trafficking by buying from companies that have transparent and slave-free
supply chains, volunteering for or donating to organizations fighting
trafficking, and talking to your friends and family about the issue. Together,
we can fight human trafficking … and win.
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