Causes and Concerns of Child Trafficking in North-East India: A Socio-Legal Analysis

I. Introduction

Human trafficking is considered as the third largest criminal industry in the world.³ It is a problem not only of a single state or country of the world, but a global problem. It has gained global attention right after illegal arms and drugs trade.⁴ The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018 shows the increasing number of human trafficking cases and 30 percent of that was children.⁵ Also, adult women constituted the majority.⁶ Indian Position with regard to human trafficking is very concerning. According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, more than 79 lakh people are living in Modern Slavery in India.⁷ Despite the variation in statistics of various organisations, one fact that remains evident is the increasing menace of child trafficking. Thousands of children go missing every year and a large number of them are never traced. Report of the NHRC Committee on Missing Children pointed out that every year around 44,000 children go missing out of which 11,000 remain untraced.⁸ Large number of these untraced children conceivably become the victim of trafficking and enslaved in some brothel.⁹ Similarly, such instances are even alleged to have increased in the North-Eastern States of India due to poverty, insurgency, and unsecured border areas etc. This paper will thus make an attempt to highlight the gravity of seriousness that the issue of child trafficking holds in the North-Eastern regions of India and will also make an attempt to analyse the adequacy of the legal measures adopted by the States in order to tackle such issues.

II. Conceptualizing human and child trafficking

A Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defines “trafficking in persons” as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation”.¹⁰This definition can be divided into three components: act, means and purpose.

One of the most significant means of trafficking is “abuse of a position of vulnerability” (APOV). It is defined as an additional means through which any victim can be recruited, transported, transferred or received for the purpose of exploitation.¹¹

In India, the definition of “trafficking” has been provided under various legislations. Sections 5 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986 (ITPA 1986) speaks about procuring, taking and even inducing a person for the sake of prostitution. According to this Section, even attempt to take or cause a person to carry on prostitution amounts to trafficking. The scope of the definition is quite broad here.¹²

A detailed definition of “child trafficking” has been provided under the Goa Children’s Act, 2003. Section 2(z) of the Act defines “child trafficking” as “the procurement, recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, legally or illegally, within or across borders, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud , of deception, of abuse of power or of position of vulnerability or of giving or receiving payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for monetary gain or otherwise”.¹³

“Child” under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (JJ Act) is a person who has not attained the age of 18 years. Any child who is vulnerable to trafficking is considered as “person in need of care and protection”.¹⁴

Thus, from the above two definitions, the essential ingredients of “child trafficking” can be derived as follows:

• Displacement of a child from one place to another.
• Exploitation of the trafficked child.
• Commercialisation of the exploitation and commodification of the victim.¹⁵

Trafficking is an organised crime. Speaking specifically with reference to North-East India, there is a whole gang of traffickers working together for the commission of the offence. There are different reasons for trafficking, however, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is becoming an increasingly prevalent phenomenon around the world. Trafficking is a huge industry which has been identified as the fastest growing criminal industry in the world.¹⁶

Human trafficking is a trade in humans. Most common purposes of such trafficking are: sexual exploitation either by the traffickers themselves or others; forced labour; extraction of organs or tissues; surrogacy and oval removal; providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage etc. North-East India is a major source of human trafficking to other parts of India and foreign countries. Combination of various factors like poverty, ethnic conflicts, unemployment, gender inequality, inadequate legislation and law enforcement in the area has enabled trafficking to thrive. Search for employment, driven by poverty and insecurity of life has forced many women and girls to move towards uncertain destinations with unknown persons. Human trafficking in North-East India is a symptom of broader social and economic problems in the area. However, lack of awareness on the issue is a great barrier in dealing with this problem.¹⁷The United Nations considers human trafficking as a serious crime against a person because vital rights of a person viz. right to life, right to personal liberty, right to human dignity are at stake due to the curse of this crime. The matter becomes more serious when the subject of trafficking is a child.

Human trafficking differs from human smuggling, which involves a person voluntarily requesting or hiring another individual to covertly transport him or her across international border, usually because the smuggled person would be denied entry into a country by legal channels. After entry into the destination country or arrival at the ultimate destination, the smuggled person is usually free to find his own way. According to the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), people smuggling is a violation of national immigration laws of the destination country and does not require violation of the rights of the smuggled person. On the other hand, human trafficking is a crime against a person, where the victim’s rights are violated through coercion and exploitation.¹⁸

Child trafficking unlike many other issues is found both in developing and developed nations. Trafficked children are used for prostitution, forced into marriage, illegally adopted, used as cheap or unpaid labour, used for sport and organ harvesting. Some children are recruited into armed groups. Trafficking exposes children to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. According to UNICEF, a child victim of trafficking is "any person under 18 who is recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received for the purpose of exploitation, either within or outside a country".¹⁹ Trafficking is one of the hardest crimes to track and investigate, hence data is hard to obtain. International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide every year.²⁰

Various NGOs estimate that 12,000 - 50,000 women and children are trafficked into India annually from the neighbouring countries for sex trade. Thousands of girls are trafficked from Bangladesh and Nepal. 200,000 Nepalese girls under 16 years are in prostitution in India. An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Indian children are smuggled out of the country every year to Saudi Arabia for begging during the Hajj. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have the largest number of people trafficked. Intra-state and inter-district trafficking is high in Rajasthan, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Delhi and Goa are the major receiver states. Trafficking from North-Eastern states are high but often overlooked. In 2008, 529 girls were trafficked from Assam alone.²¹

There is a rising demand for live-in maids in urban areas. This has resulted in trafficking of girls from villages in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to live under extremely poor conditions first in "placement agencies" and later in the employers homes. Placement agents keep the girls packed together in small unhygienic rooms. They are often made to do the placement agent's household work and subjected to sexual abuse.²²

Types of human trafficking

In India, different strategies are adopted to lure innocent persons. There are various methods through which human trafficking is organised. As per the study of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the several methods through which victims are being trapped and human trafficking is happening includes: offering jobs as domestic servants, promising jobs in film industry, jobs in factories, offering money, luring them with pleasure trips etc.²³In some cases, it is also found that children were trafficked by NGOs in return of heavy amount from abroad.²⁴

Nowadays, traffickers use the internet to trap minors, since usage of social networking sites have significantly increased among children²⁵. While new technologies can be used to assist law enforcement and anti-trafficking, the same is also used by traffickers to commit the crime.

III. Child trafficking in india and north-eastern regions

North-East India is a hotspot of human trafficking as the region shares many international borders, most of which are open and unmanned. These points provide an easy passage to the traffickers in and out of India and operate undetected. The highways in the area connect many national as well as international destinations. In Assam, truckers use the highway to transport illegal drugs and trafficked girls. Poverty, ethnic conflicts, unemployment, gender inequality, inadequate legislation and law enforcement in the area enables trafficking in girls to thrive. The poor families send their children to work in wealthy families in urban areas. These children generally do not have any access to education.²⁶

Major destinations for domestic servants are Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai; to certain extend Bangalore and Darjeeling. Trafficking of women and children from the North-Eastern states and bordering countries is a serious issue which has not drawn much public attention. Pangsa and Dimapurin Nagaland and Morey in Manipur are major trans-border transit and demand centres. Women and children from Assam and Bangladesh are trafficked to Morey and from there to Myanmar and other South-East Asian countries. The long drawn armed conflicts in the North-Eastern states have made women and children of the area highly vulnerable.²⁷

Ethnic violence, internal armed conflicts in the North-Eastern region have caused wide scale trafficking for different purpose. Large number of children in conflict zones are recruited as comrade by rebel groups. It is also revealed by the returnees that female members are made to perform sexual act with their superior and leaders from other rebel groups visiting the camps. Some returnees even informed that they were made to perform in blue films. Such films are made in order to raise fund to run the camps in deep jungle. Most of the films are sold to agents from foreign countries.²⁸

Poverty and lack of employment opportunity in the region is one of the root causes of the problem. In search of employment and money, many women and girls from North-East move to uncertain destination with unknown persons. Traffickers exploit these conditions and leave no option for the victims to return to their respective home towns. Trafficked women and children endure various forms of torture in the workplace.

In Manipur, a good number of children are trafficked to other parts of India. Some are rescued but most are never traced. Manipur being a poor state in terms of its governance and economy, has become one of the most vulnerable states to human trafficking in India.²⁹ In Assam and other North-Eastern states, girls from backward areas is the main target of the traffickers.

Regarding the rise of child prostitution in North-East India, a Guwahati-based NGO along with the police revealed that 20 percent of those involved in prostitution in the region are aged between 11 to 17 years. The study lists poverty and displacement of population behind the increase in number of children as commercial sex-workers in the region. It is mostly the children of poor families who are forced to take the route of prostitution to earn money for the family. The report also stated that most of the children are victims of severe physical torture. Almost half of the child prostitutes were from Assam, followed by Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.³⁰

In Manipur, children are trafficked by armed groups for recruitment as child soldiers. About 9500 went missing from 2007 to 2014 in Assam, out of which only 3840 were rescued from different places in the country either by the police or by NGOs working for children. In the past, many children belonging to poor families in Assam and Manipur had been rescued from various children-homes in South-Indian states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.³¹

North-East India is a region full of various potentials but most of the time it does not get the required attention. The region, rich in natural resources is regarded as a hotspot of biodiversity. It is home to many ethnic groups. All these potentials should be tapped, utilised and developed. Industries should be set up to create job opportunities. Insurgency is along unsettled problem in the region. The long drawn conflicts have retarded and crippled development in the region. To curb human trafficking in the region, all the transit points should be checked and stringent actions should be taken against the perpetrators as per law. Every ward or village should keep records of the inhabitants and report in case of any missing person(s). People should be made aware of the crime of trafficking and the various tactics used by traffickers to lure innocent person. Some NGOs in the North-East suggest that anti-trafficking units in India need a software for systematic documentation of trafficking cases.³² The software will register information on the victims’ personal details, family background, information on disappearance, suspected traffickers, suspected trafficking route, probe-information and others. Lack of knowledge is a barrier which is preventing effective anti-trafficking measures. Until human trafficking is understood as a mainstream term, it will remain an underground crime.³³

The North-Eastern region of India is comprised of eight states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. This region covers a geographical area of 262,230 square kilometre which is nearly 8 percent of the total geographical area of the country.³⁴According to 2011 Census report, the region has a total population of 45 million. Although the region has plenty of natural resources in the form of bio-diversity, hydro-potential, oil and coal reserves and wealthy forest covers; economically this region is lagging behind other states of India. This region is surrounded by international borders: China in the North, Bhutan in the West, Myanmar in the East and Bangladesh in the South, which is a key factor fuelling human trafficking in the area. So, this problem of trafficking remains a tricky one for the region. In the past years, this threat of child trafficking has reached an alarming level. Although child trafficking is prevalent all over the country, its prevalence is quite high in the North-Eastern region. In Assam, most of the human trafficking cases occur in the area of tea-estates where people are ignorant and poor. Trafficking takes place within the North-Eastern states or other parts of India and also across the border with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan inspired mainly by illiteracy, unemployment and poverty. In the North-East, places vulnerable to trafficking includes Mushalpur, Baksa, Dumni-Chaki, Lakhimpur, Arunachal Pradesh, Dhubri etc.³⁵ Data from Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Ulubari, Assam, revealed that during the period of 2005 to 2010, 42.03 percent children were trafficked to Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and West Bengal; 31.88 percent children were sent to metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata etc.; 14.49 percent children were sent to unknown destinations; 7.25 percent were trafficked within the North-Eastern region and 4.35 percent children were sent to others places.³⁶ Women and children continue to remain unsafe in Assam. More than 20,000 cases of crime against women were reported in 2015.³⁷ Similarly, till October, 2015, about 1386 minors including girls were reported missing from across the state.³⁸ In the preceding year, a total of 1577 children went missing.³⁹ Due to the open national and international borders and weak security conditions of the region, human trafficking has become almost an unresolvable problem in the area.

Causes of child trafficking in North-East

Before discussing any other cause, one prime cause of child trafficking in India is the skewed child sex ratio in the country. Economic theory suggests that all else being equal, shortage of girls actually increase the worth of girls both socially and economically in a society.⁴⁰In fact, in India, in the past few years, value of girls has increased although in a negative way in the form of bride trafficking and child prostitution. Children, specially, the girls are trafficked mostly from the North-Eastern part of the country to use them as a reproductive machine in the male dominated Indian society. The trafficked girls are forcefully married in places where number of girls are very low.⁴¹ The role of these girls are merely to serve as a mother of the kids. They do not get the dignity of a wife. The sole purpose of such marriage is sexual exploitation of the girls in the hands of many husbands.

Multiple reasons are responsible for child trafficking and human trafficking as a whole around the globe. Child trafficking is a part of human trafficking and the root causes are same in both the cases. Some of the causes can be categorised as follows:

• Economic causes: economic causes include unemployment, poverty, economic inequality, migration, depression or displacement caused by climate change or environmental degradation etc.
• Social causes: some of the social causes are gender inequality, violence against women and girls, male dominated social systems, increasing demand for cheap labour, poor social protection etc.
• Political causes: political causes include corruption both at national and international level, terrorism, war, armed conflicts etc.

In all of the above mentioned causes, sexual exploitation of the victims is a cause that needs to be highlighted. Globally, about 80% of the human trafficking is done for sexual exploitation and the remaining 20% is done for bonded labour and others.⁴² India is considered as a hub of human trafficking in Asia and demand for commercial sex is one of the major causes of the crime in the area. A considerable number of girls from the North-Eastern region are trafficked to Thailand, Singapore and Japan as sex workers because of high demand of their Mongoloid look. Poverty coupled with alcoholism has made most of the parents vulnerable to the lure of money in exchange of their girl child to the unknown world.⁴³

IV. International and national legal framework for regulating offences of child trafficking

Throughout the centuries several government measures have been taken to prevent the menace of human trafficking both nationally and internationally. The World Anti-Slavery Convention 1840, the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, International Labour Law, International Human Rights Law, Child Rights Law etc. are some examples. In India also, government has taken several anti-trafficking measures to prevent the exploitation of women and children from the threat of human trafficking. The Indian Constitution under Article 23 (1) provides that trafficking in human beings are prohibited and any contravention of this prohibition shall be an offence and punishable. Article 39(f) imposes duty on the state to direct its policy towards ensuring that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in condition of freedom and dignity and also protect childhood and youth against exploitation. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA) (amended in 1986) is the main legal instrument against trafficking of human being in the country. In 1998, the Government of India formulated a National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children with objective to mainstream and reintegrate the women and child victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the society.⁴⁴

International Legal Framework

International law lays down standards that have been agreed upon by two or more countries. By ratifying an international law, a country agrees to implement the same. To ensure compatibility and implementation, the domestic law of a country has to reflect the standards set forth and agreed upon in the international conventions, treaties, protocols etc. Implementing procedures are to be put in place as needed and the same must be properly enforced.

The following are some of the most important international laws dealing with trafficking of children:

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989- it has been enacted in order to protect the inherent human rights of the children that have been enlisted in the Charter of United Nations and to entrust upon its member states the responsibility to protect such human rights of children which even includes protection from child trafficking.
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, 2000- this is an exclusive International Legal Instrument for preventing sexual abuses as well as non-sexual abuses on children. Since child trafficking is mostly conducted for purposes of prostitution, pornography, forced labour, etc., this Protocol is a binding set of Regulations that specifies the responsibilities of the States for preventing such offences thereby regulating child trafficking.
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000- this Convention basically aims for controlling all organized crimes that are committed across International Borders. Child Trafficking is the third most organized criminal industry in the whole world that is operated through agencies from cross borders. Thus this Convention has a major role to play in preventing child trafficking.
• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000- this Protocol is a special instrument that was enacted in addition to the above Convention for introducing a unique framework to prevent organized criminal activities like child trafficking in its member states.
• Declaration on Social and Legal Principles relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children, with special reference to Foster Placement and Adoption Nationally and Internationally, 1986- this Convention besides laying down the standards for welfare of children, also provides for adequate measures for rehabilitation of such children who faced inhuman tortures in their life time.
• SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia, 2002- this is a regional Instrument which is applicable even on India and it aims for welfare of all the children within the region of South Asia and thereby prohibits child trafficking and other inhuman offences against children.
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979- although the basic objectives of this Convention is to protect and safeguard the human rights of the women from any sorts of discrimination, it also aims for safeguarding all girl children from sexual or non-sexual discriminations across the globe.

National laws

Apart from the provisions in the Constitution, India has a fairly wide framework of laws enacted by the Parliament as well as by some State legislatures dealing with human trafficking. Article 23 of the Constitution of India guarantees right against exploitation. It prohibits traffic in human beings and forced labour and makes their practice punishable under the law. Article 24 Prohibits employment of children below 14 years of age in factories, mines or other hazardous employment.

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) contains several provisions dealing with child trafficking. Some of such provisions are:

• Section 366A – procuration of a minor girl (below 18 years of age) from one part of the country to another for sexual exploitation is punishable.
• Section 366B – importation of a girl below 21 years of age from a foreign country for sexual exploitation is punishable.
• Section 370 – recruiting, transporting, harbouring, transferring or receiving person(s) for the purpose of exploitation amounts to trafficking. This provision provides for a more aggravated form of punishment for the trafficking of a minor.
• Section 370A –any person engaging a trafficked minor in any form of sexual exploitation shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years and may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
• Section 372 and 373 – selling and buying of a minor under the age of 18 years for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse is punishable.
• Section 374 – provides punishment for compelling any person to labour against his or her will.

In 1956, the Indian Parliament passed the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act (SITA). This Act was amended and renamed as Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA) which was further amended in 1986. ITPA exclusively deals with the offence of human trafficking. One major objective of this legislation is to inhibit traffic in women and girls for the purpose of prostitution as an organized means of living. Some of the offences specified in the Act are:

• Procuring, inducing or taking person for prostitution
• Detaining a person in premises where prostitution is carried on
• Prostitution in or in the vicinity of public places
• Seducing or soliciting for the purpose of prostitution
• Living on the earnings of prostitution
• Seduction of a person in custody
• Keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel

The major drawback of this Act is that it is not gender neutral and does not provide for any comprehensive means of reintegration of those trafficked victims into the mainstream of society. This Act emphasises on trafficking for prostitution whereas there are several other reasons responsible for human or child trafficking such as child labour, domestic work, forced marriage, organ harvesting etc.

The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 was passed in Lok Sabha in 2018 and currently pending in Rajya Sabha. This Bill provides for investigation, rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked victims. It includes trafficking for various purposes such as forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced removal of organs, begging etc. It proposes to establish investigation and rehabilitation authorities at district, state and national level. Further, protection homes and rehabilitation homes may be set up to provide long term relief to the victims. However, one important point to note here is that, this Bill doesn’t replace or repeal the existing legal framework dealing with trafficking cases but adds to it. India is already having a wide range of laws such as Bonded Labour Act, Immoral Traffic Act, Juvenile Justice Act, Indian Penal Code etc. to deal with commercial sexual exploitation and sexual exploitation of children. Each of these laws are having its own procedure for enforcement and rehabilitation. In this scenario it becomes confusing as to which procedure will apply in different cases of trafficking. This is likely to result in overlapping in the implementation of the laws.⁴⁵

Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (amended in 2016) imposes a complete ban on the employment of children below 14 years of age. For children above 14 years of age, detailed provisions have been made to ensure safe working conditions for the children. Employment of children in certain specified occupations which is regarded as hazardous is prohibited.⁴⁶

The Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended in 2008) under section 67 and 67A penalises for “publishing and transmitting obscene material in electronic form”⁴⁷ and “material containing sexually explicit act…”⁴⁸Further, under section 67B the Act specifically deals with the offence of child pornography (under 18 years of age) and provides for stringent punishments. It criminalises child porn and abusing or predating child online. India has also adopted a Code of Conduct for Internet Service Providers with the objective “to enunciate and maintain high standards of Ethical and Professional Practises in the field of Internet Services”.⁴⁹

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015was enacted in consonance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It consolidates and amends the law relating to children in conflict with law and the children in need of care and protection.⁵⁰ This Act is especially relevant to children who constitute a vulnerable section of the society and therefore likely to become victim of trafficking.

Few State Legislatures have also passed several legislations for dealing with such issues like- The Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982 prohibits the act of dedication of women (of any age) as devadasis. The act of offering women and children as devadasis is a common practice in India.⁵¹ Children are dedicated as devadasis to deities, idols, objects of worship, temples and other religions institutions or places of worship. Often such dedication leads to prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation. It is one of the goals with which children are trafficked in the country. Legislations like this are effective in discouraging human trafficking specially of young females. Similar acts are in place in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The Goa Children’s Act, 2003 is aimed at protecting, promoting and preserving the interests of children and developing a society which is child friendly.⁵² It defines ‘Child’ as a person who has not completed the age of 18 years. The Act gives a very broad definition of ‘sexual offences’. It includes “grave sexual assault” like sexual intercourse of different types, injury to sex organs and making children pose for pornographic photos or films. ‘Sexual offence’ also covers assaults like sexual touching, voyeurism, exhibitionism, verbally abusing or threating to sexual abuse a minor, showing pornographic films to minors or making children watch others engage in sexual activity. Besides, ‘sexual offence’ covers incest, which is sexual offence by an adult on a child who is a relative.⁵³ The responsibility to ensure safety of children in hotel premises is assigned to the owner and manager of the establishment. Photo-studios are required to periodically report to the police that they have not sought obscene photographs of children. Stringent control measures are established under the Act to regulate access of children to pornographic materials.

V. Suggestions

Human trafficking is a global phenomenon and one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world.⁵⁴To stop this heinous crime, every person needs to be informed, alert and active. There are few measures which might prove to be effective in controlling this crime:

• Strict implementation of the law prohibiting human trafficking in the country: The government should impose strict law against traffickers in the country. The traffickers should be given exemplary punishment with deterrent effect.
• The vulnerable areas should be identified and awareness campaigns should be conducted in those places with the help of NGOs and local people.
• The principle of shared responsibility between the Union and the states should be exercised. The Union and the states should co-operate with each other in tackling this menace.
• Political corruption should be controlled and the border areas should have strict vigilance by the concerned authority.
• Education and awareness has a key role to play in controlling human trafficking. The government, NGOs and other social organisations should spread education and awareness in the remote and vulnerable areas. Sometimes, due to lack of sensitivity, even educated women and girls find themselves in the trap of traffickers.
• The concerned authority should take the missing person’s report seriously and take necessary action without fail.
• Declined social value of girl child combined with male domination has caused their treatment as second class citizens. Because of preference of male child, the sex ratio in several Indian states are quite imbalanced.⁵⁵ So, trafficking of girl child becomes a regular trade in these states. Effective implementation of the various women empowerment programmes can reduce this bias from the society.
• Rehabilitation centres should be established for the rescued women and girls so that they get proper treatment and counselling.
• Illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, migration, violence, displacement and lack of awareness are the prime causes of human trafficking in North-East India. Proper action plan should be kept in place to gradually mitigate these issues.
• As directed by the Supreme Court of India back in 2015, the Organized Crimes Investigating Agency (OCIA), a body to probe exclusively the human trafficking cases, should be established to curb trafficking in the country.⁵⁶ Effective action by this agency can go a long way in controlling this crime.
• The Supreme Court, in a PIL filed by an NGO in 2004, also suggested bringing in a comprehensive legislation to deal specifically with human trafficking cases and rescue and rehabilitation of victims.⁵⁷ Such a legislation will give the law enforcement agencies the much needed power to deal with this criminal activity.

After the rescue of a child, understanding the child’s perception of his or her identity as a victim plays an important role in post-trafficking adjustment in the family and society. Children who cooperated with the perpetrators or enjoyed aspects of their experience (fine clothes, drugs, alcohol) may be more susceptible to trauma and more resistant to therapy. Their self-identity, understanding of their situation and subsequent goals often conflict with the goals of the law enforcement officers. Thus, proper rehabilitation of a child victim is important.⁵⁸

VI. Conclusion

Child trafficking is a crime against whole humanity. The world must unite its efforts to free the victims and curb this heinous crime. We should channelize our efforts unitedly to prevent this criminal activity. Child trafficking is a multifaceted problem and it is happening in all types of societies. It is harmful to all genders and ages; irrespective of religious affiliations or country of origin. This evil of child trafficking should be strictly monitored and prevented before it annihilates our society. It is high time for the society to realise the dignity of a child and unite to fight against this heinous crime and save the future.

Looking at the magnitude of the problem and only partial success of the law in controlling, it is observed that the government at local level and vulnerable areas should create awareness and compulsory high quality education, employment opportunities and income generation programmes. Government should produce relevant Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials; promote sensitisation programmes for teachers in government schools, parents and community workers. Government should also introduce subjects of child sexual abuse and trafficking in school curricula. The governments of different nations must share timely information with each other to evolve a programme that will help all the countries to prevent trafficking of children effectively.

In States like North-East India, it is essential that people are made aware about their Rights and Duties. Since poverty is one of the biggest reasons in the region that leads to child trafficking, it is essential that employment and skill development schemes shall be properly implemented amongst the local communities. However, we must also acknowledge that the governments have taken out several policies for empowerment of such communities but the important issue is the lack of awareness of those who are in actual need of such policies. As such it is the role of the NGO to make such policies reachable to the actual needy ones.

*****