Open Access Research Article
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: AN ANALYSIS ON HOW HUMAN TRAFFICKING LEADS TO FORCED PROSTITUTION. BY: CHIPPY.P
Published Paper
Article Details
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: AN ANALYSIS ON
HOW HUMAN TRAFFICKING LEADS TO FORCED PROSTITUTION.
AUTHORED BY:
CHIPPY.P
ABSTRACT
Every human being has the right to
live their life as they wish. It is a right ensured under Article 21 of the
Constitution of India.[1]
Even being that our moral duty to live and let live others with dignity, people
tend to break the morality for sexual pleasure and forced sex culture that
victimises people both mentally and physically. The worst our world has seen
and is facing is the trade of humans. This trade is termed as ‘HUMAN
TRAFFICKING’.
Human trafficking is the trade of
humans for money. They are trafficked for various illegal purposes like forced
sex slavery, pornography, forced labour work, extraction of organs, domestic
service and much more without considering their gender or age.
This paper will be mainly focusing on
forced sexual slavery and how it is globally termed as prostitution. This paper
will also look into how the trafficking can be brought out to the world and how
measures can be drawn to eradicate this despicable issue.
INTRODUCTION
Human trafficking, which is also
named as Modern Slavery[2] is
the greatest violations of human rights the world is facing. This trade is deep
rooted to the mankind where humans are traded over the borders and states. The
number of cases of human trafficking in the country is increasing and the main
existent affray of human trafficking is prostitution.[3]
The barbaric traffickers mainly
target helpless individuals who are ill-fated, unusual and immature at many at
many levels. These traffickers use the victim’s vulnerability and influence
them to surrender under their words. The victim somehow wants to come out of
their miserable lives, oblige to the words of the traffickers who give false
promises of better life.
To be more precise, human trafficking
is the buying and selling of humans for monetary gain. There are 3 elements of
trafficking:
I.
THE
ACT: What is done? {Recruitment, transformation, transfer, harbouring.}
II.
THE
MEANS: How it’s done? {Threat, force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception,
abuse of power, giving payments.}
III.
THE
PURPOSE: Why it’s done? {Sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, organ trade}[4]
No woman, child or adult is safe in a
country like India, with a wide range and rapid growth of trafficking rates.
Even though India has developed and flourished from the olden decades, still
the concern of poverty remains the same. People on the very verge of poverty
line and below the poverty line are increasing in number and this leads to
large scale of illiteracy rate.
These points out that, people have to
work hard to meet their needs which is usually labour works. As per their
knowledge the only job they will ever find will be of work which offers them
less wages for their hard work. The world is growing expensive and these people
find it hard to live with the money they earn. Human existence is getting agitated.
Due to this situation, the victims fall into the trap of traffickers who tries
to take benefit out of their weakness by assuring them with false hopes and
works.
Predominantly, these people are
trafficked and are sold to people across borders or interstates. Mostly in
India, only 10% of the people are trafficked across the border. The rest of the
90% are trafficked within the country. That is, the people are trafficked
inter-state. No information about the victims is then found after being
trafficked. Nobody knows what happened to them or where they went. The victims’
family thereafter live their rest of the life longing for the comeback of them
which sadly never happens.
So, from this it’s clear that it is
this particular section of the society which is worst pretentious by
trafficking. This does not imply that the trafficking only focuses on doing
such inhumane acts on poor people only. They dwell their way and come for
people belonging to middle class people who are economically stable.
Within the economical society, the
most affected by the trafficking is the modelling and acting industry. It is
sell known that trafficking happens in these place which draw bad images onto
them.
Majority of the industries have linked their
hands in human trafficking where they get into contract with innocent women and
without their knowledge they will be sold to bidders across the state or the
country.
According to the 2023 statistical
report, the number of human trafficking cases in India from 2015-2021 has
increased 1.6% cases per million population. Comparing to the values recorded a
year before it is reported as an increase.[5]
Human trafficking focuses on illegal
purposes and trading like exploitation, forced labour, organ trade and much
more. But mainly it aims on women, children and adults to be trafficked in to
the most heinous and dangerous part, i.e. forced sex slavery or forced
prostitution.[6] It is a
spiteful scenario if looked deeper and the information gathered is shocking. It
is unbelievable to know that across the other side there are actually humans
who are willing to pay and bid money on humans to be tamed as their slaves. Mostly
women and children are bided to become bidder’s slaves. Men are also sold to
the buyers but mostly for labour than sexual exploitation. Their main targets
are younger women and children who have not attained puberty.
As per reports of The National Crimes
Report Bureau[7] a total
of 4172 people were trafficked in 2020 from India, which includes 1952 women,
2222 children and other individuals.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF TRAFFICKERS AND TRAFFICKING
The human traffickers or the
exploiters are from the wide range of criminals or criminal enterprises, that
arrange, implement, and gain profit from trafficking human beings. They mostly
rely on enablers who provide them with goods and services to conduct their
business –both legal and illegal- which makes human trafficking possible and
profitable.
ENABLERS: Enablers are those individuals or entities that provide the
traffickers with goods and service either knowingly or unknowingly for the
trafficking to happen. This usually happens through criminal activities. Human
trafficking can happen legally or illegally. Perpetrators bribe officials,
actors in transportation, and advertising and finance groups for their
services. Some businesses knowing that their services are used keep quiet and
play along. And some unknowingly get exploited. Mostly it’s the legal
businesses that get exploited by traffickers and are forced to provide good
position and aids in its services. Even consumers are unknowingly enablers by
purchasing goods and services from supply chains that induce the hard work and
labour of victims of human trafficking[8].
There are 2 types of traffickers:
PRIMARY TRAFFICKERS and SECONDARY TRAFFICKERS.
PRIMARY TRAFFICKERS: Brothel owners,
trafficking gangs and organizations, crime syndicates and travellers.
SECONDARY TRAFFICKERS: Parents,
relatives, friends, leader’s abusive spouse.
To know about the background of
trafficking is very much important to know the current stage of the same. As
from the history of trafficking of humans it is clear that this is a never
ending circle of trade of humans. From centuries the trade of humans are
happening. It is also evident that many measures were taken to reduce the human
trade but at last it all failed miserably. Prostitution was prevalent in the
society from 2000 years ago. This shows how normal the said service is in our
life.
But later it was found that the women
working as prostitutes are not willingly doing their service but they were
forced, threatened and brought by fraudulent manners into it[9]. It
was also found that most of the women were not from the same country and was
trafficked and brought from across the borders. After rigorous legislations
only the depth of human trade was brought out to light. It was in 1904, when
the word trafficking was ever used as part of the white slave trade.
PROSTITUTION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING
From the above information gathered
we know what human trafficking is. But what is Prostitution? Is it same as
forced sex slavery? Why is that both prostitution and sex slavery termed the
same globally? These are some questions that lure behind our mind and head when
we read or see news, articles and reports on this topics. Firstly sex slavery
and prostitution are different from each other. They apparently hang on the
same thread but there is a thin grey line between them.
Prostitution[10]
is the service women do voluntarily for their daily living. A proper definition
of prostitution is provided in the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking, 1956.
Currently, the definition says exploitation or sexual abuse of persons for
commercial purposes.
Prostitution was already present this
society from the beginning. One cannot remember when it started or how. In
India, some women took that as an occupation for their livelihoods. The most
affected part of India is the north eastern parts of India. The human
trafficking is at its high risk because of the prostitution. Where women
willingly sell themselves for money, traffickers take that opportunity and
throw innocent women and girls into it. Every year 1000s of women and girls are
thrown into the racket of sex slavery that are trafficked from many countries
and brought to unfamiliar places for them. It’s heart wrenching to know that
those victims neither know where they are, why they are brought there or the
language to communicate.
Many women who are uneducated or are
from impoverished areas tend to fall into this work to run their family.
Married woman, widows voluntarily start to do sex work because of their
livelihood. They commit to do this to because of empty stomach or to provide
for their children. They do this because either they have an abusive partner or
they can’t provide for their family from their current work. From this work she
can make money faster. She may be under the pressure of her family to make more
money and prostitution tends to allow her to make the money she wants. Maybe
that’s her only option in sight seemingly.
Studies have showed that majority of
the prostituted women have to go through sexual assaults and violence. Many
were raped and they all said that they want to escape this urgently.[11]
Prostitution and the women doing it are
termed dirty and derogatory by the same men in the society who go to the
brothels and satisfy their lust. This shows the double standards of our
society. The shaming these women have to endure is out of contrary and they are
never seen with the eyes of humanity or helplessness of their situation. The
root of prostitution is so old that it is included in the Hindu mythology[12]
too.
THE GREY LINE BETWEEN PROSTITUTION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The narration is not between former and
the latter, it’s about the non-ending sexual exploitation in the country. There
are individuals who choose to work as prostitutes willingly but they are also
controlled and threatened by the pimps. It’s not just elderly women who are
engaged in this institution b but children also willingly work to earn
money. But they are also considered as
human trafficking victims as they are under age. And there are other women and
children who seem to be willingly working but in reality they are trafficked
from their country or state and are brought here and sold to brothels. They
agree to do it because of their outstanding debts to be paid and some
understand the situation that there is no escape out of it.
Many people in our country are still
not aware of trafficking and its cons. They hear news that people are being
kidnapped and there are no trails behind them to find them out. They talk about
it for few days and forget it. But the people who have been taken away against
their will suffer for their entire life. Their families who were tricked to
believe that their loved ones were going to find better job for their better
life live with the hope that they will return. Mostly women are targeted and
lured into the lies and taken away with the promise of better work. But only
after reaching the destination they will understand the conspiracy behind it.
They cannot reach out to their near ones as all their identities will be
confiscated before they reach. And at last they are thrown into brothels and
are sold as sex slaves against their will. They will be kept behind closed
doors without food or light until they agree to it. And at the end, the
trafficked women and the women willingly coming into this service are globally
termed as prostitutes.
PROSTITUTION AND INDIA
Prostitution is an old profession
practised from ages in our country India. It’s said that prostitution is
illegal in India but that’s not correct. On May 27, 2022 the Supreme Court of
India issued a verdict that Prostitution is like any other profession in the
country. Sex workers are to be treated equally as any other person with equal
status and protection under the law of the country. A three-judge bench was
headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao. The bench said “Sex workers are also
entitled to equal protection and dignity in the eyes of the law. A sex worker
is an adult and is doing so subject to consent. In this case, the police will
not be able to intervene unnecessarily. Article 21 of the Constitution gives
every citizen of the country the right to live a dignified life.”[13]
So from this it’s clear that
Prostitution is legal in India but some activities relating to it is illegal
like pimping, owning and managing brothels, living with the money earned by the
prostitutes, kidnapping or inducing girls for prostitution, detaining girls in
brothels, seducing a person under custody for prostitution and carrying out
prostitution within 200 meters of any public place like schools, colleges,
temples, hospitals, etc.[14]
There are laws to prevent forced
prostitution in our country like Indian Penal Code, 1980[15]
which penalizes child prostitution namely selling and buying of minors for
prostitution. Section 372 of IPC issues punishment up to 10years for selling
minors into prostitution. And Section 373 of IPC issues punishment up to 10
years for buying minors for prostitution.
FORCED PROSTITUTION AND CHILD ABUSE A MAJOR FACTOR OF HUMAN
TRAFFICKING
Child prostitution is the worst form
of child abuse. To know child prostitution it is must to know what prostitution
is and who comes under the term child.
What is prostitution was clearly
mentioned above. Now who is a child? This is explained in the Prevention of
Immoral Trafficking Act, 1956. According to the definition in Prevention of
Immoral Trafficking Act, 1956 Section 2{aa} defines child as ‘a person who has
not completed 16 years of age. A minor under this Act means a person whose age
lies between 16 and 18 years.’
Child prostitution happens when
someone earns benefits from some commercial purposes for which the child is
sexually exploited. Exploiters or intermediary people control the children and
manages the transactions and negotiate directly with the children. Children get
involved in prostitution when they get sexually engaged for their basic needs.
At times the child prostitution is not just an organised activity but small
scale acts when handled by pimps and large scale when handled by any criminal
networks.
In the present era, men are indulging
themselves into sex and for their mere pleasure they are breaking all norms and
morality by exploiting the children sexually. Just for their sexual pleasure
and to release their lust they are becoming blind to see the difference a grown
adult and children. Child prostitution and sex trafficking are the menace of
our country which is increasing a rapid pace and the aftereffects are heart
breaking. The people who get affected by these horrendous acts are the victim
and their families. The most heart wrenching part of this scenario is that the
traffickers are left to live freely[16][17]. Child
prostitution is used to confine them by threatening and forcing them to do
child labour as the traffickers know they cannot do anything to release themselves.
It is a commercial exploitation of children and minors who are sexually abused
for money. They kidnap these children and abuse them mentally and physically to
do pornography, prostitution and other illegal purposes. They are thrown into
forced labour, slavery and other unlawful activities for the gain of the
traffickers. The kids are treated as slaves and abused in all kinds. They are
kept as captives and for their rest of their lives they have to live a
submissive life without proper food and safety. Many of the children are
malnourished and get caught of diseases.
Deceased former Supreme Court Chief
Justice J.S. Verma, released an investigation report in response to the outcry
to end violence against women and children in India on January 2013. The report
showed that millions of girls around the age of 11 years are made to do
prostitution in which majority of them were trafficked[18].
CONCLUSION
This paper mainly tries to bring out
the current situation of our country to the daylight. Human trafficking is not
a small problem but a massive syndicate which is trying to ruin our society.
From various news reports, statistic reports, and investigations it is clear
that not human trafficking is mainly focusing on prostitution. women, children,
and adults are being subjected to the darkness of sex slavery.
Together we can join hands and take
initiatives to bring our country back to light and can save our future nation
from darkness. The only way is to eradicate poverty from our country and to
help built better lives for the needed ones.
[3] Prostitution: the
practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment
[7] NCRB was set up in 1986 to
function as repository of information in crime and criminals. It is entrusted
to maintain national database of sexual offenders.
[8] The
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 prevents the exploitation against humans
and provides aids and punishments against the offenders.
[15] Indian
Penal Code, 1980 defines and provides crimes and punishments for the wrong
actions done.
[16] Vishal Jeet vs. Union of India and
Ors (1990 AIR 1412)
[17] Again in the Bachpan Bachao Andolan vs. Union
of India
(2011) 5 SCC
Article Information
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: AN ANALYSIS ON HOW HUMAN TRAFFICKING LEADS TO FORCED PROSTITUTION. BY: CHIPPY.P
Authors: CHIPPY.P
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/10/25
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Access Open Access
- License CC 4.0
All research articles published in International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis are open access and available to read, download and share, subject to proper citation of the original work.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis.