Prevalence of Prostitution & Women Trafficking in India: Hindrance to Fundamental Rights

I. Introduction

Human trafficking is regarded as one of India's lesser-known issues. India has been listed as a tier 2 country by the United Nations for the past seven years, indicating that there is ongoing growth in human trafficking in the country. As a result, we are failing miserably in tracking the quantity of trafficking that still happens, as well as the lack of laws addressing its prevention and treatment. The prevalence of female trafficking is seen by various human rights and government organisations as a violation of human rights that must be addressed, but the widespread and intricate nature of human trafficking operations makes it difficult to prosecute and punish traffickers. Gender inequality and patriarchy have always regarded women as inferior to men and this is very much justified under the Manusmriti.

II. Evolution and dynamics of women trafficking

Women are one of the most susceptible sections of human tribes, according to many reports, and as a result, female exploitation is frequently widespread. Females of various ages are mostly utilised for sexual and economic motives, and they are coerced and treated like slaves, as well as sold across borders. Though it is widely acknowledged by various governmental and non-governmental organisations that female trafficking is on the rise in recent years, the complex process involved makes it impossible to combat the problem. Because males are involved in the process, the support makes it a rigid procedure with few options for punishing the traffickers in most cases. For ages, women are treated as second tiers and gender-based violence have increased the rate and ways of exploitation naming some are acid attacks, genital mutilation, dowry deaths, domestic violence, sexual harassment and many more. Since the era of Manusmriti women is treated as a burden to the family and have never been treated at par with their male counterparts. It is quite shameful to quote that through the United Nations report (2016) India has been categorized as a tier two country for almost seven years and the attempts to limit such trafficking has been bare minimum.

(A) History

Women's rights have been infringed for centuries, and they are viewed as a burden in the family. Paid sex has become a regular feature of life in India and other parts of the world. In India, the age-old devadasi and tawaifs system has been normalised, and the entire notion of prostitution has been justified in the name of ancient values. Women's positions have deteriorated throughout time as a result of exclusionary activities in society, such as gender discrimination and uneven literacy and employment, which have served to objectify women in general.

Traditional and religious belief

In the strong sense in India, religion and traditional beliefs are followed unquestionably. Thus, prostitution has been a result of blind practices like the “Devadasi system”. The literal meaning of “Devadasi” is the servant of God. In this process, a girl after she attains the age of puberty (approximately 13-14 years) is devoted to sexual slavery in the name of Goddess Yellamma.² In this ruthless system, a girl is said to be married to the deity and she is compelled to serve the men of her community for a lifetime. Even though these practices are prohibited by law but still this is prevailing in rural regions like the lower tribes and illiterate tribes believe that when a girl child is said to be given in the name of god this will help them purify their life and it is expected that they will get a birth in a higher caste in the next possible life. This act is prohibited through the Devadasi Prohibition act still in parts of Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil nandu females are violated for the sake of it. The question here is why is it always that since the Mughal period the physical appearance of women is objectified and she is expected to be a servant or a slave to male desires? Coming down to a particular aspect of religion or religious view it works the same way as tradition and cultural belief. As per the recent survey by the government, it is said that India has a population of three-quarters Hindus i.e. approximately eighty percent and thirteen percent of Muslims dwelling in different regions. Mostly, it is the Religious aspects of Hindus that has an upper hand on the caste system, policies and other agendas as well. Both Hindu and Muslim religions believe in a patriarchal system wherein the women are expected to be submissive to the desires of males. As pointed out by Carpenter in his research in 2016, “Hindu women are not socially restricted in India in the same way Muslim women are in other societies. However, women of both faiths are affected by the same socioeconomic problems including domestic abuse, poverty, and lack of education and literacy. Their patriarchal systems also are a strong similarity between the two religions.³” It is seen that since the institution of the caste system is influenced by Hinduism, the population discriminated in the name of untouchables are the most exploited ones. Estimation says that about 16% of the victims of sexual slaves belong to scheduled caste and tribes, girls of such tribes are given in the name of religious belief before puberty and once they attain the age of puberty, they are sold at market values for commercial sex exploitation. Even in the Law Book of Manu, it is said that women have no right to remarry nor have a right to own properties rather they are just properties of the males. It is always expected from a woman to sacrifice everything and keep at par with the qualities of Sita. Though it is the male counterpart who pays for such services and also majorly is involved in the trafficking process, this behaviour is termed as being acceptable in the name of masculine power and requirements.

Social and economic constraints

One of the main reasons behind the trafficking of women in poverty and the prevailing gender disparity. It is often seen that trafficking has become a trade in rural areas as compared to urban ones. Thus, mostly the poverty-stricken areas of northeastern India are involved in the vicious circle of trafficking. Poverty among women is high in India as they are made incompetent through social and biological constraints. Also, in India, the notion of educating a boy is different from that of a girl, as she is treated as a burden due to the demand or the dowry attached to her. Even though the dowry system has been made illegal in India but even to date it is an ongoing custom, dowry acts as a major economical bar for the families usually this drives them to sacrifice the daughter. Since they are not educated and they are stigmatised with social and biological constraints they have been treated as nothing more than a burden, thus when the whole point comes down to women being trafficked in huge numbers, it is being normalized as it is made obvious that since she is a financial burden she is the one who has to pay for it. Also, on top of all these mind-set, since a huge population in India are illiterate and unaware of their rights they are mostly exploited for the sake of hunger, it has been ascertained that in the month of July and August mostly the business of trafficking gets a hike as these are the months of harvest and when the people dependent on the agriculture get a bare minimum out of the same, thinking it as a last resort sell their daughters⁴. Even, in urban areas in name of fake employment and financial support girls and women are being exploited and are forced into the business of sexual slavery. While cross border trafficking is rampant the rise in a number of trafficking in India itself cannot be ignored, it is estimated that about ninety percent of sexual exploitation occurs within our boundaries. The societal and economic conditions of women are the major reason why they are forced into the sex trade, as their potential to earn is marginalised and they have to face huge gender discrimination in different forms and sectors, without left with any choice accept the exploitation, also they are largely controlled by the society and family, thus they pushed to early marriage as compared to men in our country and also in our country it is no new fact that they have a very limited say over their own body and rights. Often it is seen that the pimp or the brothel manager are male and also the majority of the service payers are male, but even our laws are discriminatory which holds a prostitute liable rather than the males involved in the whole process. In India, sex work is accepted in name of uncontrollable sex desires of men. Usually, it is seen that women and minor girls are sold by their own friends and relatives for a mere amount, in some cases, it is found that the girl is promised a family and a secured future and once she ties, she is being sold. It is sad how a girl is exploited in yet different forms in a country where the goddess is worshipped and spiritual believed. As documentaries and films are said to be a replica of society these struggles are rightly portrayed in the film “Love Sonia”, where a young girl has been sold by a poverty-driven father. More or less it is really painful as to how girls and women being sold are generalized and an accepted fact and yet not much is done by the government or organisation to drag them out of this.

III. Prohibition of human traff-icking under the constitution of India

Prohibition of human trafficking is provided under Article 23 of the Constitution of India which states that “Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour-

(1) Traffic in human beings and the beggar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with the law

(2) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for a public purpose, and in imposing such service the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any of them”⁵

This provision was inserted under the Constitution of India in compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which under Article 4 states that “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited.”⁶ Further, there is no proper definition of trafficking provided under the provision and thus it is said that trafficking is the movement or transportation of a person by way of coercion or deceit which results in the exploitation of that person.

(A) Loopholes under national legislation

On 2 December 1949, The United Nations General Assembly approved The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others⁷ under which the “State Parties were required to punish any person who procures, entices or leads away for the purposes of prostitution, another person, even with the consent of that person and exploits the prostitution of another person even with the consent of that person.”⁸ Further, Article 2 of the Convention states that “the State parties are also required to agree to punish any person who keeps or manages, or knowingly finances or takes part in the financing of a brothel and knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or any part thereof for the purpose of the prostitution of others.”⁹ India being a signatory to this Convention was obliged to implement the treaty by way of enacting domestic legislation in the Country. Thus in line with this obligation, the Parliament of India enacted “The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956 (SITA).”¹⁰ As the name suggests the act was enacted to abolish women and girls trafficking for prostitution and thus contains provisions to punish brothel-keeping¹¹, pimping¹², procuring¹³, detention of woman or girl for prostitution¹⁴ and seduction of woman or girl in custody¹⁵.

But the Act neither prohibits prostitution nor abolishes prostitution or criminalizes it per se. Also, there were provisions under the Act which punished the victims of prostitution instead of the perpetrators which makes it discriminatory and in contravention of the Convention.¹⁶ The discriminatory nature of the Act is clear from its penalizing provisions which punish a woman for soliciting with up to one year of imprisonment and punishes a pimp for the same offence with up to three months of imprisonment. Under the Act, the definition of prostitution is provided under Section 2(f)¹⁷ which includes only women or girls as prostitutes and does not include men or boys under the act of prostitution. Further, the act was considered street prostitution only and prostitution behind closed doors was completely left alone which was the major reason behind the establishment of brothels.¹⁸ The Magistrate under Section 20 of the act has the power to remove any woman or girl who is believed to be a prostitute from her home or any other place in its jurisdiction.¹⁹ This provision violated Article 14²⁰ as well as Article 19 Clause 1 Sub-clause (d)and sub-clause (e)²¹ of the Constitution of India which guarantees the right to equality and protects the right to freedom of the citizen of India respectively. The High Court in the case of Kaushailiya v State²² stated that Section 20²³ of SITA is violative of fundamental rights as provided under the Constitution of India and thus it should be struck down.

The Court did not acknowledge the issue and stated that prostitution is an immoral activity and it is open to the State to impose a total ban on it. Justice Broome further stated that if such power as provided under section 20 is given to any Magistrate, it will become his discretion which will end up in allowing one prostitute to stay and the other one to be removed which is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.²⁴ Further, in the case of State of Uttar Pradesh v Kaushaila²⁵, the Uttar Pradesh government filed six appeals before the full bench of 5 Judges of the Supreme Court stating that Section 20 of SITA is in contravention with Article 14 and Article 19 (1) (d) and (e) of the Indian Constitution. The respondents, in this case, were prostitutes working around the city of Kanpur, who were issued a show-cause notice under Section 20 of SITA by the City Magistrate stating why they should not be forced to be removed from the places of their residence and thus barred from re-entering.²⁶

The objection filed by the respondents was rejected by the City Magistrate and later their revision petition was also rejected. After this, the Respondents filed a revision petition in the High Court of Allahabad, which accepted their revision petition and set aside the proceedings in other courts stating that Section 20 of SITA violated the fundamental rights provided under Article 14 and Article 19 (1) (d) and (e)²⁷ of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the High Court and stated that restrictions imposed under Section 20 are reasonable restrictions that are imposed in the interest of the public and further stated that the said provision does not infringe Article 14 as it does not prohibit reasonable classification for the purpose of the legislation and that such classification is based on intelligible differentia and thus differentiated between a woman being a prostitute and the other one who is not and placed them in different classes. This judgment in itself is a type of discrimination that shows prostitutes as inferior and degraded in status in comparison to those who are not prostitutes. The SITA was enacted to protect women and prostitutes who are victims of trafficking and to give effect to the Convention on Trafficking under which it is clearly mentioned that prostitutes cannot be punished as they are on the receiving end of exploitation and further the real offenders are those who actually take the benefits of exploitation, thus they should be punished in order to stop trafficking and dealing with the problem effectively.

Further, under this act, the client is not an offender and thus is not liable to be punished but in reality, they should be punished as they are also exploiting the sex traffickers.

Due to several loopholes under SITA, it was amended in the year 1986 by the Indian Parliament. The amended Act was the Immoral Traffic in Women and Children (Prevention) Act²⁸ also known as PITA. The amended act was not fundamentally different from SITA but the focus of the objectives shifted from suppression of prostitution in SITA to prevention of Prostitution in PITA.

Under the provisions of this act, the penalizing provisions which prohibit soliciting or seducing²⁹, procuring³⁰, detaining³¹, brothel-keeping or abetment to brothel-keeping, renting premises for the purpose of prostitution³² now include severe punishments and thus have a wider scope. Also, now the burden of proof is on the owner or the landlord to prove whether the said place is a brothel or not. Now the Act also includes childhood with respect to prostitution and thus have increased the penal provision with respect to the children in prostitution. The new substitution under the amended act is the replacement of “women or girls” with “persons” which now recognizes male prostitution as well.³³ The amended law still lacks neutrality as on one hand the female prostitutes will be convicted for soliciting or seduction for prostitution with up to six months of imprisonment and on the other hand for the same offence the male offenders will be convicted for seven days to three months.³⁴ This proves that the law even after an amendment is gender-biased but all other provisions show the good intention of the legislature in preventing sex trafficking. Since we all know that there is a huge gap between the laws being enacted and the laws being implemented there lacks the effectiveness of the existing laws.

To overcome all the flaws under PITA and to strengthen laws against sex trafficking in India a bill³⁵ was introduced in the year 2006 in the Indian parliament as an amendment to PITA. The bill aimed at deleting the provisions with respect to penalizing the prostitutes and added a provision that will penalize the clients who will visit the brothels to sexually exploit the victims of sexual trafficking. This bill never came into effect. All these loopholes in the laws are the reason behind growing women trafficking resulting in prostitution, thus there is a need for stringent legislation and its proper implementation to prevent the exploitation of women.

IV. Rehabilitation- the rescue process

The process of rehabilitation is a complex process in our Country, even in instances where a prostitute luckily gets out of the persisting sex trade she is not accepted in the society rather she is emotionally and mentally stigmatized. Even when a limited attempt is made in the process of rescuing her this process is widely suppressed by external forces. It was rightly pointed out by Margaret Alva, the Former Minister of State in the Department of Youth Affairs and sports and women and child development, “the difficulties faced while marrying off prostitutes, and states that there are powerful forces that are prepared to fight any effort at rehabilitating these girls”.³⁶

The whole process of rehabilitation of women in prostitution has been made a sympathetic business as the men who wish to marry prostitutes are given priorities like loans, jobs and land. Ironically, laws concerning the rehabilitation process are absent and the rights of the victims are ignored. This comprises their detention in protective homes even without their consent. Also, the PITA has no provisions with respect to the rights of the victims rather it gives the sole authority to the respective State Governments to decide on the provisions related to corrective and protective institutions. Since no concrete base is formed with respect to rehabilitation the State Governments take a limited effort as per their budgets.

Evidence has shown that due to deficiency in the budget the protective and corrective homes are poorly maintained and also provisions with respect to legal counselling of victims for health and education is completely absent. Since victimization of women has been widely generalized the laws and their implementation are not taken seriously. The lack of seriousness in the whole rehabilitation process can be seen through the heart-breaking case of Uprendra Baxi and Lotika Sarkar v State of Uttar Pradesh³⁷ also known as the Agra Home Case. The case was filed through a PIL against the protective home formed under Sections 17, 19 and 21 of SITA in Agra. This case kept on being debated in the Court for a tenure of 16 years. A shocking picture of the protective home was revealed through the INDIAN EXPRESS. The home which claimed to be a corrective and protective institution for the rescued women had been actually a hell house for them. The average capacity of the home was for 100-125 women wherein the rooms had no ventilation and drainage facilities also there was just one latrine. There was no bathroom facility and they were provided with a kitchen without wire gauze. Since they were mentally and physically ill-treated for years without any medical treatment most of them turned out to be insane.³⁸ Even though this case was taken into consideration by the Supreme Court the lack of seriousness towards the functioning of protective homes and poor implementation of laws resulted in a violation of the Victim’s rights. Also, the Supreme Court failed at taking any action in this case.

Even though India States like Jharkhand, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Odisha, Haryana, Punjab and the Northern States have a high rate of sexual exploitation and internal women trafficking, not much is done through the laws and government agencies rather for the rescue and rehabilitation process they are highly dependent on the Non- Governmental Organizations. For instance, Bharati Kisan Sangh, an organization in Jharkhand, 2009 took a step to help rescue and rehabilitate the survivors by introducing innovative security guard training with an aim to provide a livelihood for the women.³⁹ This organization with the help of UNODC has established a placement agency in order to provide employment to the survivors between the age of 18-25 years.⁴⁰ This organization has helped in rescuing and rehabilitating through its training program a batch of 25 tribal girls who are now economically sound.⁴¹

Though there is a provision for rehabilitation of the survivors under PITA not much has been seen in actions. The provision in PITA which talks about the authority being given to the respective state government makes it quite limited and authoritative. As seen the survivors are not accepted both socially and in their families and are treated as a shame, thus the scope of the rehabilitative process should be widened and to enhance the scope of it there needs to be a systematic law and a supervisory body to keep a check on the law.

V. Conclusion

Victimization of women and sexual slavery has been prevailing in India since the Mughal era. In the name of religion and tradition exploitation of women has been generalised. Traditional beliefs like the devdasi which means sacrificing a girl as a servant of God, in a way she is pushed into sexual slavery for the sake of traditional and religious beliefs. Gender discrimination, poverty and a patriarchal mindset are an add-on to the ways in which the rights of women are being violated. Though, the involvement of males is huge in this sex trade, from the selling of women to taking advantage of them in the name of male desires it is the women who are being penalised for the act of prostitution. Ironically, the prescribed law PITA does not even acknowledge a proper definition of trafficking, even though it has been enacted to prevent women trafficking and illegal sexual assault. Also, the provisions in PITA give discretionary power to the State Governments in matters of rescue and rehabilitation process for which at present there is a lack of seriousness. At present, there is a need for a systematic and stringent law along with a supervisory authority that would ensure proper regulation and would control the rampant women trafficking.

VI. Suggestions

• Despite the fact that there are laws against the Devadasi culture and women trafficking, it is still thriving commerce in many regions of India; consequently, to entirely eradicate such heinous activities, these laws must be strictly enforced.
• Because the rate of women trafficking is higher in rural regions due to a lack of awareness and knowledge of rights, periodic awareness programmes should be held in these areas.
• Because gender discrimination and patriarchal mindsets operate as catalysts in the violation of women's rights, certain laws and agendas must be made and established to ensure that these discriminations are eliminated. There needs to be a proper collaboration between the government and the NGOs in order to ensure better corrective and rehabilitative facilities.
• The lack of systematic inspections at immigration points, both domestically and at cross-border stages, has made it a rife business; consequently, adequate checks and scrutiny at each level are required.
• A clear definition of human trafficking should be included in the current PITA statute, and more well-equipped rehabilitative homes should be constructed to provide a better life for survivors.

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VII. References

STATUTES

• The Constitution of India, 1950
• The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956 (SITA)
• The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986 (PITA)

CASES

• Kaushailiya v State, AIR 1963 ALL 71
• State of Uttar Pradesh v Kaushaila, (1964) 4 S.C.R. 1002
• Upendra Baxi and Lotika Sarkar v State of Uttar Pradesh, (1983) 2 SCC 308

JOURNAL ARTICLES

• Jean D’Cunha, “Prostitution in a Patriarchal Society: A Critical Review of the SIT Act”, Economic and Political Weekly, 7 November, 1987 Vol 22, No.45

ONLINE JOURNALS

• Dr. Saraswati Raju Iyer and Mrs. N. Radha, “Women Trafficking in India- a critical analysis” (2016), Vol 4, Issue 2, Shanlax journals<http://www.shanlaxjournals.in/pdf/ASH/V4N2/Ash_V4_N2_017.pdf>
• Krista Buda, Stephen Perz, “Sex trafficking in India, A sociological perspective on the growth of the illegal sex trade in India and the measures to improve human rights” (July 2016)<https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/04/79/55/00001/SeniorThesisrevSGPAutosaved.pdf>
• Nicole J. Karlebach, “Recognizing Women's Worth: The Human Rights Argument for Ending Prostitutionin India”, 28 B.C. Third World L.J. 483 (2008) <https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/twlj/vol28/iss2/7/>
• Kumar Negmi, “Trafficking into prostitution in India and the Indian Judiciary”(2006) IHRLR 23, 381<https://www.stu.edu/portals/law/docs/human-rights/ihrlr/volumes/1/373-406-kumarregmi-traffickingintoprostitutioninindiaandtheindianjudiciary.pdf>
• Sanjoy Roy, Chandan Chaman, “Human Rights and Trafficking in women and Children in India”, (2017) JHAAS Vol 1 Issue 5, ISSN: 2573-2897<https://medcraveonline.com/JHAAS/human-rights-and-trafficking-in-women-and-children-in-india.html>

WEBSITES AND BLOGS

• Gangoli, Geetanjali, “International Approaches to Prostitution: Law and Policy in Europe and Asia” (books.google.co.in)https://books.google.co.in/books?id=rxQKtfQJFr0C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=loopholes+in+SITA+and+PITA+resulting+in+women+trafficking&source=bl&ots=BFbeg8d5v3&sig=ACfU3U31lS5-y4ad_IT5zqFJ-tFjYkq_wA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOyviJ0qztAhVn8HMBHWhWBxc4ChDoATAGegQIBxAC#v=onepage&q=loopholes%20in%20SITA%20and%20PITA%20resulting%20in%20women%20trafficking&f=false
• UNODC, “India: Trafficking survivors earn their livelihood as security guards” (UNODC.org, February 2010)<https://www.unodc.org/southasia//frontpage/2010/February/india-trafficking-survivors-trained-as-security-guards.html>
• Missing Link Trust in History, sex work, society, “Tracing the History of prostitution and sex Trafficking In India”(4^th November,2020)<https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2020/11/tracing-the-history-of-prostitution-and-sex-trafficking-in-india/>

REPORTS

• Human Rights Watch, “Rape for Profit- Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India’s brothels”

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Footnotes

1. Author is an Assistant Professor at Alliance School of Law, Alliance University Bangalore, India.

2. Missing Link Trust in History, sex work , society, “Tracing the History of prostitution and sex Trafficking In India” (youthkiawaaz.com, 4 November 2020)<https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2020/11/tracing-the-history-of-prostitution-and-sex-trafficking-in-india/>accessed 2 November, 2020 ↩

3. Krista Buda, Stephen Perz, “Sex trafficking in India, A sociological perspective on the growth of the illegal sex trade in India and the measures to improve human rights” (July 2016) <https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.ed u/AA/00/04/79/55/00001/SeniorThesisrevSGPAutosaved.pdf> accessed 8 November 2021 ↩

4. Nicole J. Karlebach, “Recognizing Women's Worth: The Human Rights Argument for Ending Prostitution in India”, 28 B.C. Third World L.J. 483 (2008)<https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/twlj/vol28/iss2/7/> accessed 25 November 2021 ↩

5. The Constitution of India 1950, Article 23 ↩

6. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 4 ↩

7. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, 2 December, 1949 ↩

8. Ibid, Article 1 ↩

9. Supra 3, Article 2 ↩

10. The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, enacted on 30 December, 1956- Preamble- An Act to provide in pursuance of the International Convention signed at New York on the 9^th day of May, 1950, for the suppression of immoral traffic in women and girls. ↩

11. Supra 6, Section 3- Punishment for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel ↩

12. Ibid, Section 4- Punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution ↩

13. Ibid, Section 5- Procuring, inducing or taking woman or girl for the sake of prostitution ↩

14. Ibid, Section 6- Detaining a woman or girl in premises where prostitution is carried on ↩

15. Ibid, Section 9- Seduction of a woman or girl in custody ↩

16. Kumar Negmi, “Trafficking into prostitution in India and the Indian Judiciary”(2006) IHRLR 23, 381<https://www.stu.edu/portals/law/docs/human-rights/ihrlr/volumes/1/373-406-kumarregmi-traffickingintoprostitutioninindiaandtheindianjudiciary.pdf> accessed 2 December, 2020 ↩

17. Supra 6, Section 2(f)-“prostitution” means the act of a female offering her .body for promiscuous sexual intercourse for hire, whether in money or in kind; ↩

18. Human Rights Watch, “Rape for Profit- Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India’s brothels”, 91 ↩

19. Supra 6, Section 20- Removal of prostitute from any place ↩

20. Supra 4, Article 14-Equality before law The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth ↩

21. Supra 4, Article 19 (1) All citizens shall have the right- (d) to move freely throughout the territory of India (e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India ↩

22. Kaushailiya v State, AIR 1963 ALL 71 ↩

23. Supra 18 ↩

24. Supra 21 ↩

25. State of Uttar Pradesh v Kaushaila, (1964) 4 S.C.R. 1002 ↩

26. Ibid ↩

27. Supra 20 ↩

28. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986 ↩

29. Ibid, Section 8- Seducing or soliciting for purpose of prostitution ↩

30. Ibid, Section 5- procuring, inducing or taking person for the sake of prostitution ↩

31. Ibid, Section 6- Detaining a person in premises where prostitution is carried on ↩

32. Ibid, Section 3- Punishment for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel ↩

33. Ibid, Section 2 (f)- “prostitution” means the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons for commercial purpose, and the expression “prostitute” shall be construed accordingly ↩

34. Supra 28 ↩

35. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2006 ↩

36. Gangoli, Geetanjali, “International Approaches to Prostitution: Law and Policy in Europe and Asia” (books.google.co.in)<https://books.google.co.in/books?id=rxQKtfQJFr0C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=loopholes+in+SITA+and+PITA+resulting+in+women+trafficking&source=bl&ots=BFbeg8d5v3&sig=ACfU3U31lS5-y4ad_IT5zqFJ-tFjYkq_wA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOyviJ0qztAhVn8HMBHWhWBxc4ChDoATAGegQIBxAC#v=onepage&q=loopholes%20in%20SITA%20and%20PITA%20resulting%20in%20women%20trafficking&f=false> Pg 120 accessed 2 December, 2020 ↩

37. Upendra Baxi and Lotika Sarkar v State of Uttar Pradesh, (1983) 2 SCC 308 ↩

38. Supra 36 ↩

39. UNODC, “ India: Trafficking survivors earn their livelihood as security guards” (UNODC.org, February 2010)<https://www.unodc.org/southasia//frontpage/2010/February/india-trafficking-survivors-trained-as-security-guards.html> accessed 2 December, 2020 ↩

40. Ibid ↩

41. Ibid ↩