Trafficking in Persons

Why in news?

• UN has designated July 30 as World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

How many people are trafficked - the modern day slavery, every year?

• 25 lac people and 12 lac children
• Kailash Satyarthi:

"Girls are sold like cigarette packets and boys given arms than toys and books."

Details of the problem

• Technology --> Knowledge, information --> But:
• still slavery exists and that too in various forms like  sexual exploitation, forced labour, other forms of labour exploitation, forced marriages, and the abuse of children in armed conflicts.
• Present in almost all countries of world
• Most lucrative illicit trade, after drugs and arms
• And illicit trade is for money --> this is black money generated through sexual exploitation of trafficked people like girls. So solution lies in stopping this black money. 

What is law to stop this problem?

• International level (protocol)
• United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Palermo Protocol) in 2000
• National Level (Protocol, Constitution, Law, Report)
• India ratified this Palermo Protocol after case filed by Sayarthi's organisation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
• Untouchability and Trafficking prohibited under Constitution
• But Comprehensive law could come only in 2013 which made trafficking a criminal offence.  
• The Justice Verma committee report has dedicated two entire chapters to the issue on the basis of suggestions and recommendations from BBA.
• Executive action
• Delayed action by Police and govt administration --> widespread incidence of trafficking into forced labour in hazardous work and factories to the seemingly innocuous trafficking into domestic labour across the country.
• 15 children go missing every hour in India and 8 are never found - official data
• The international nexus of trafficking has manifestations right inside our homes. Under the garb of supplying cheap domestic help, placement agencies traffic people, making this a large organised crime, especially in metropolitan cities. 

"The problem hence needs not just organisational solutions but societal involvement too."

• Is there any justice?
• Not much so far. Children in armed conflicts, illegal adoptions, the sale of organs, and trafficking for marriage are some of the other ugly heads of trafficking that have emerged in the past few years.

Solution: Concerted and cohesive effort

• Fighting trafficking through course of law: Filling policy gaps to counter trafficking, especially in the area of rehabilitation, Efficient legal response to all reported cases of trafficking and Enforcement of law and the subsequent enforcement of justice
• Trafficking is an organised crime that needs concerted inter-state and inter-agency efforts. Arresting a guilty placement agent, or shutting down a factory that employs trafficked persons is not enough. The entire money trail needs to be tracked and everyone involved tried as per law.

Rehabilitation

• Safe social and economic rehabilitation. 
• Higher budgetary allocations for immediate help and counselling, besides making arrangements for their vocational training, housing and repatriation. 
• The reintroduction to education is also a must. Also, changes in the education system to include rights-based information, if given to each child, can lay the foundations of an aware and secure generation. 
• Schools and parents must make children aware of the dangers of trafficking and prepare them to recognise and tackle it.

Dedicated public participation.

• Our social conscience has to treat trafficking for what it is, a crime and an evil. 
• Stay vigilant and inform the authorities whenever you see a case of exploitation, do not frequent restaurants or shops that employ child labour, report homes that employ children, be sensitive towards victims of sexual abuse, and participate actively in dialogue against trafficking and slavery. Businesses and corporate houses must self-monitor and map their supply chain to ensure there is no trafficking or forced labour.

Conclusion
Kailash Satyarthi Ji said this:

"Freedom is a non-negotiable right and each one of us, irrespective of our economic and social status, deserves to have it. The shackles of slavery can never be stronger than the quest for freedom."

Reference: The Hindu