Introduction
Human trafficking is among the most serious forms of human rights violation where individuals are recruited, transported or harbored through force, coercion, abuses to exploit women, men and/or children as forced labour, sexual exploitation or servitude.[1]
Trafficking in India is a problem that is both prevalent and complex, involving bonded labour, sexual exploitation, begging, organ trade and abuse of the informal sector, with millions being trafficked.[2] Estimates show that millions of people are affected, and official figures reporting 5,934 identified as victims in 2023, with a large number of perpetrators involved in the labour and sex trade.[3] The problem is widespread such as in states like uttar Pradesh , Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Gujurat reporting higher incidents.[4]
Trafficking is also caused by both structural and personal reasons such as poverty, inequality, violence and the need to have cheap and unregulated labour,[5] therefore as a result of this, Article 23 of the Constitution of India expressly prohibits such exploitation, whilst Article 39(e) and 39(f) of the Constitution of India stipulates that vulnerable groups should be protected. They are contained in laws like Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.[6]
The enactment of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita in 2024 that substituted the Indian Penal Code was a major reform. Section 143 of the BNS is designed as a graded punishment structure, with imprisonment ranging between seven years to life, defines trafficking using acts (recruitment, transport), means (coercion, deception), as well as purpose (exploitation), specifying that where the unlawful methods are applied, consent is immaterial.[7]
The article is consistent with international provisions in the Palermo Protocol and includes localized expressions such as beggary.[8]
This paper provides a detailed discussion of trafficking in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, its legal remit, system of punishment, constitutional and international basis, its comparison with the previous legislation, and the difficulty of effective, victim-centric enforcement.
Understanding the Concept of Human Trafficking
Definition and meaning of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking, at its core, involves the illegal and coercive control of individuals for exploitation and profit. It includes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of persons for purposes such as forced labour, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and other forms of abuse.[9] It is not a marginal offence but a widespread global crime, affecting virtually every country as a source, transit, or destination for victims.[10]
The most authoritative legal definition is given by the Palermo Protocol that defines trafficking as the recruitment, transport, transfer, maintenance, or reception of persons by use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, power abuse or inducement, with the objective of exploiting the person.[11] The exploitation includes, but is not limited to sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or practices that are similar to slavery, servitude, and organ removal.
The concept of international law frames trafficking based on three key components: the act (recruitment or movement), the means (force, fraud, coercion, or abuse of vulnerability), and the purpose (exploitation).[12] The combination of all three factors usually makes up trafficking. The main characteristic of such framework is that the consent of the victim does not actually matter in the legal aspect, as long as any forbidden means are in place since free will cannot be effectively practiced on the basis of coercion or mislead.[13]
There is a major difference between trafficking and smuggling of migrants. Although smuggling is associated with voluntary cross-border movement that ceases upon arrival, trafficking does not necessitate cross-border movement, makes consent immaterial, and is essentially devoted to continued exploitation.[14] It is important to note that even without any physical movements, terms like “harboring” and “receipt” can also impose liability.[15]
Trafficking is a wide-range and dynamic area encompassing both men, women and children, in various fields. Nevertheless, there are those groups that are still disproportionately vulnerable. Victims in India, especially women and children, are trafficked to perform activities such as bonded labour, begging, domestic and agricultural labour, construction labour, organ trade, sexual exploitation, and other informal sector activities.[16] Child trafficking receives heightened legal protection on the ground that trafficking of a minor to any form of exploitation in any form such as mere recruitment or transfer of a minor, irrespective of the means used is trafficking.[17]
Human trafficking is therefore an issue of causation as well as effect of violation of human rights. Effective law systems should, therefore, not only criminalise but identify, protect and rehabilitate victims of the crime, a philosophy that forms the basis of contemporary legislation such as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Forms of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking takes various and usually discontinuous forms of exploitation, each of which has its own vulnerabilities in different populations and industries. Globally recognized manifestations include forced labour, sexual exploitation, child trafficking, organ removal, forced marriage, and new forms of trafficking such as forced begging and criminality.[18] Although these categories are broad in nature, the nature of trafficking in India has been developed by the fact that the country has deep-seated structural inequalities, such as poverty, caste-based marginalization, gender imbalance, and vast forms of internal and cross-border migration.[19]
(i) Forced Labor and Bonded labor.
Forced labour is the most widely spread in the world and it is the most prevalent form of trafficking as it encompasses an estimate of about 42 per cent of all the victims and the debt-based forms of coercion are applied in this country to lure individuals to exploitative forms of labour in sectors like agriculture, brick kilns, textiles, construction, and mining.[20] Intergenerational bonded labour, where debts are passed down through the family, also perpetuates exploitation cycles, as migrant workers, both domestic and foreign, victims of exploitative labour conditions and low skills in the gulf and southeast Asian low-skill sectors.[21]
(ii) Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking.
A very high percentage around 90% although not accurate of world trafficking is sex trafficking, where about 61% of the victims as per the 2022 reports were woman and girls which predominantly impacts them.[22] Neighboring countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh, are both sources and transit locations of the sex trade, and exploitation is being moved into the privacy of domestic and hotel rooms and other hidden places, thus making its use a cultural norm.[23]
(iii) Child Trafficking
Children are a highly vulnerable group of trafficking victims, and according to global trends, an increasing number of trafficking victims identified in 2023 are children, who have been forcibly enrolled in non-state armed activities as well as in the domestic work, agriculture, textiles, and informal sectors.
(iv) Organ Trafficking
Organ removal trafficking, albeit a relatively uncommon form of exploitation, is one of the most extreme types of exploitation as it frequently involves organized transnational networks, as is the case in India, even though it is regulated by law. The vulnerable people are often lured in or baited with false hopes of getting paid or the promise of financial rewards on a case whereby they are subjected to exploitative and un-safe medical practices.
(v) Forced Marriage and Unlawful Adoption.
In India, skewed sex ratios in some states have created the demand of trafficked brides and women are often misled in false marriages and become sexually exploited and servants in their homes.
(vi) Forced Begging and Emerging Forms.
Forced begging is a manifestation of underreported but visible forms of trafficking, with children being mainly dominated by organised structures. New types, such as trafficking of forced criminality and cyber-enabled fraud, indicate the new forms of trafficking activities. The traffickers are progressively using online space to attract victims by falsely promising jobs, especially in online fraudulent scams in Southeast Asia.
In India around 5,934 victims in 2023, 44% children, 62% female as suggested by various reports.[24] In all its variations, one thing stays constant: the systematic exploitation of structural vulnerabilities. The trafficking situation in India is based on both traditional trafficking as bonded labour and emerging threats that are brought by technology and transnational networks. This means that any sound legal action even as per the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita must be multidimensional and victim-oriented in its application, that is, it needs to deal with the criminal act and its socio-economic determinants.
Human Trafficking Legal evolution in India
A) Legal Position under the Indian Penal Code
The legislative efforts against human trafficking in India are based on the Indian Penal Code, 1860 that was adopted in the colonial period. Although the IPC covered some issues of exploitation, especially those related to kidnapping, abduction, and the purchase and sale of persons, its initial provisions failed to comprehensively discuss the issue of trafficking as a crime and had a definite broad definition of it.[25]
Section 370 criminalized the trafficking of persons and contained acts such as recruitment, transporting, harbouring or receiving of persons through threats, force, coercion, abduction, fraud or deceit and was punishable by a sentence of seven to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and fine. Section 371 fell under the criminalization of habitual dealing in slaves and included the acts of selling and buying minors and subjected them to a life imprisonment or rigorous imprisonment of up to ten years and a fine.[26]
Coupled with the IPC, there are other specialised laws that dealt with different aspects of trafficking. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 criminalized commercial sexual exploitation trafficking,[27] and the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976 was aimed at eliminating debt-based coercion,[28] and the Child and Adolescent Labour (prohibition and regulation) Act, 1986 focused on the removal of trafficking of children into forms of labour exploitation.[29]
Subsequent legislative advances were Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act, 2012 that enhanced the protection of trafficked children and victims of sex work.[30] The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 aimed to regulate organ removal and curb trafficking in organs.[31]
Despite this legislative architecture the framework suffered from fragmentation. Legislation was compartmentalized, law enforcement was uneven, and the vagueness of definitions used to permit various types of the activities to be conducted, especially bonded labour, forced begging and organ trade without efficient law enforcement.[32] Broader socio-economic factors such as poverty, migration and inequality also enabled trafficking rackets to persist and multiply.[33]
B) Need for Criminal Law Reforms
The insufficiency of the current framework was further enhanced as the trafficking networks became bigger and more advanced. This was a turning point when the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 replaced Section 370 IPC and added Section 370A in it to be more in line with the international standards.[34]
Nonetheless, this reform was still not enough to establish a holistic anti-trafficking regime. Another Bill, the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 was aimed at harmonizing the current legislation and providing a holistic approach to the prevention, protection, and rehabilitation, yet it was not adopted.[35]
Scholarly and policymaking analyses have long pointed out that structural weaknesses like poverty, gender inequality and migration are key to the success of trafficking and that there was a need to reform the law to be more victim-oriented and comprehensive.[36] The necessity to reform was also supported by international commitments made by the Palermo Protocol.[37]
It is within this context of domestic issues and foreign examination that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was passed as part of a larger reform of the Indian criminal law that became effective on July 1, 2024.[38]
C) Legal Provisions in the BNS on Human trafficking.
Section 143 of the Bharathiya Sanhita Nyaya
The BNS criminalizes trafficking of persons conducted by: (a) threats; (b) use of force or coercion; (c) abduction; (d) fraud or deception; (e) power abuse; or (f) inducement such as giving or receiving payments to carry out the purpose. In the explanation 1, exploitation means physical exploitation, sexual exploitation, slavery, slavery-like practices, servitude, begging, or forced removal of organs. Explanation 2 explains that the consent of the victim is immaterial.[39]
Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The violation of 144 BNS punishes any person who, knowing exist, has engaged in a trafficked person sexually: five to ten years of rigorous imprisonment in case of child victims; three to seven years in case of adult victims; and fines. It is aimed at the demand aspect of trafficking.[40]
(D) Penalties and Punishment under BNS.
- The BNS recommends a progressive sentence system:
- Basic offence: Not less than 7 years in prison, and may be increased to 10 years, together with a fine.
- More than a single person trafficked: 10 years to life imprisonment fine.
- Child victim: not less than 10 years to life imprisonment and fine.
- Over one child trafficked: Not less than 14 years to life imprisonment with fine.
- Child trafficking- repeat conviction: Fine and imprisonment remainder of natural life.
- Police officer or public servant involved: Fine, imprisonment for remainder of natural life.
Aggravated forms of Human Trafficking.
(i) Trafficking of Minors
Where the punishment is the trafficking of a child under the age of eighteen, it will be punishable by strict imprisonment at least ten years up to a life sentence.[41] In the cases when it concerns more than one child, the minimum age is fourteen, which can be life imprisonment.[42] Under the Palermo protocol the law sets that in the case of child victims there should be no evidence of force or deception, but only the act and the exploitative intent must have been confirmed.[43]
Furthermore, under section 144(1) of BNS proposed stringent punishment for sexual exploitation of children, reinforcing a victim centric approach.[44] Empirical data supports this approach as 44% of identified trafficked victims in 2023 are children.[45]
(ii) Multiple Victim and Organized Crime Trafficking.
In instances, where the crime is trafficking a group of over one individual, the penalty varies between a period of ten years to life imprisonment.[46] The third biggest activity that generates profit to organized crime in the world is human trafficking.[47] The professional networks can be conducted interstate and international boundaries taking advantage of jurisdictions.[48] These massive, organized activities are directly addressed by the BNS in terms of equally harsh punishments.[49]
(iii) Public Servant Liability and Repeat Offences.
Recidivists and repeat child traffickers as well as those that are public servants or police officers who engage in trafficking are punished with a sentence of life imprisonment.[50] This is a direct provision considering the recorded state involvement in the trafficking networks. Natural life imprisonment imposed on the public servants will send a clear signal that the misuse of institutional power to aid trafficking will receive the most serious repercussions in the Indian penal law.[51]
Protection and Rehabilitation of the victims.
Rights and Protection of Trafficking Victims.
- Victim Identity protection
Trafficking has been caused by and has been an outcome of violation of human rights. Anti-trafficking needs to center on the protection of all human rights. The human rights commissions (NHRC and state level) have offered various remedies to enhance the interaction of law enforcers with the victims. Other states have come up with Standard Operating Procedures to avoid re-traumatization during referral to care.[52] Indian courts also permit in-camera proceedings and restrict disclosure in such cases, especially involving children and sexual offences
- Support mechanisms and Legal Advice
The right to locate, secure the protection and assistance of trafficking victims is one of the fundamental State duties in the international human rights law. Some states have women and child development departments that offer counselling services, shelter and health care to survivors. Victims must have access to remedies, compensation, and legal aid. The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 also ensures legal assistance to the victims of trafficking.[53] The court approval to put the victims in shelters has been viewed as a major bottleneck.
- Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs)
The Nirbhaya Fund has been utilized to empower AHTUs in India accross various districts. Currently, 788 AHTUs are operational, 30 of which are part of the Border Guarding Forces, including the BSF and SSB, and are the primary institutional response to trafficking in the most vulnerable districts and border zones of India.[54]
Role of Rehabilitation Programmes
- Shelter Homes
The protection and rehabilitation homes offer shelter, food, clothing, counselling, primary health facilities, and other day-to-day needs of the trafficking victims, majority of whom are children.[55] Mission Shakti under Ujjawala Homes and SwadharGreh have amalgamated and are now called Shakti Sadan – an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home to women in distress situations.[56]
- Mission Vatsalya -Child Rehabilitation.
Mission Vatsalya is an organization that seeks to enhance the lives of children in the challenging situations and minimize the possibility of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and family separation.[57] The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (section 53) establishes rehabilitation services, such as education, health, nutrition, de-addiction, vocational training, skill development, education in life skills, mental health intervention, counselling and recreation.[58]
- Counselling Services
Long-term recovery of survivors with a high rate of complex post-traumatic stress is centred on psychological counselling. A survivor-centered model of service delivery Organisations like Prajwala have crisis counselling centers in police stations and therapeutic shelter homes and 70 per cent of its employees were victims reflecting the survivor-centred model of service delivery.[59]
- Reintegration Programmes
The ultimate objective of rehabilitation is successful reintegration of the survivors in dignity, safety and economic independence. Some of these organisations include Rescue Foundation which offers education, healthcare, counselling, vocational training, legal assistance and repatriation of survivors to Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand. Reintegration should concern not only economic aspects (skill training, vocational education, livelihood assistance) but also social ones (community sensitization, family counselling, etc.).[60]
Difficulties in fighting Human Trafficking in India.
(A) Socio-Economic Factors
A complicated combination of socio-economic elements such as poverty, education and unemployment opportunities, social exclusion, gender inequality, caste-based discrimination, armed conflict, natural catastrophes, and migration contribute to human trafficking in India.[61] Weak communities, i.e. the poor, distant and conflict regions are especially at risk. Human beings are especially susceptible in distress migration and in disaster prone regions where displacement provides such traffickers exploit them through fraudulent recruitment.[62]
The issue of gender inequality magnifies vulnerability in an immense way. Women in South Asia are more susceptible to unequal power relations.[63] There is the economic aspect (most trafficked women are economically exploited), health aspect (exposure to HIV and STDs) and social/gender aspect because structural discrimination is used to perpetuate vulnerability to exploitation.
(B) Enforcement and Investigation Challenges
- Cross-Border Trafficking Networks.
India has long porous borders with Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar; hence it is a highly vulnerable country to cross-border defiance. The MHA constituted a working group of DGPs of concerned states who were to study cross-border trafficking.[64] Indian, Bangladesh, and Nepalese scholars have highlighted that information sharing, tracking systems, and capacity development at all levels of stakeholders are required.[65]
- Absence of Evidence and Investigative ability.
The trafficking activities are strategically burrowed and cross-jurisdictional, and therefore it becomes quite hard to collect evidence.[66] The Bureau of Police Research and Development has already made training manuals available to the investigators and it has developed resource books on the anti-human trafficking investigation with the collaboration of UNODC and in partnership with them, twelve books have been made in Hindi, Telugu, and Marathi.[67] Nonetheless, there is still disproportionate uptake and implementation of this training.
- Fear Among Victims to Report
Provisions that target exploiters are rarely invoked as regards provisions that target victims, as seen in section 8 and 20 of the mmoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 leading to re-victimization. Instead, it is recommended that Section 3, Section 6 and 7 regarding pimps, brothel owners and clients should be invoked. To confirm this, law enforcement should consider the victim-centric approach to investigation to reach the victim reluctance to report.[68]
(C) Legal and Procedural Limitations.
- Slow Judicial Processes
The criminal justice system of India is overwhelmed with heavy numbers of cases. Cases of trafficking with more than one accused victim, cross-jurisdiction, and vulnerable witnesses are especially vulnerable to extended court proceedings.[69] In Section 22-A of the ITPA, the states have the discretion to institute special courts to have speedy trials, which has been done inconsistently.[70]
- Interagency Co-ordination.
The existence of numerous agencies is a challenge to the coordination: MHA, Ministry of Women and Child Development, state police, NHRC, Child Welfare Committees, AHTUs, and NGOs. Various departments should embrace convergence among different stakeholders and state departments. India has implemented an Integrated National Plan of Action of prevention, rescue, registration, investigation, prosecution, conviction, rehabilitation, repatriation and reintegration.[71]
- Problems in identification of the victim.
The proper identification of the victims of trafficking is one of the most complicated tasks. Several states have SOPs on victim identification which usually deal with specific types of trafficking and do not have procedures on historically underserved populations.[72] Some of the major capacity building areas include the identification of victims in all forms of trafficking and inter-state as well as cross-border investigation process.[73]
Role of Government and Law Enforcement.
The government ought to enhance its campaign against trafficking by investing in research and education via promotions and discussions of messages and actions aimed at stopping the vice and halting the recruitment of children into this activity.
A. Anti-Trafficking Initiatives.
The government is strengthening its anti-trafficking campaigns by investing in research and education through promotions and discussions of messages and actions to put an end to the vice and ensure that children are not recruited by this industry.[74]
A more organised institutional response has seen the Government of India formulate a centrally developed response based on specialised units, awareness programmed and rescue operations.[75] MHA and UNODC have also prepared 12 resource books together on anti-human trafficking training and investigation. With the help of NIPCCD and UNICEF, the ministry of Women and Child Development has prepared Judicial Handbook on Combating trafficking, manual to medical officers and counselling services guide to child survivors.[76]
It is recommended that state governments should conduct training, workshops, and sensitization of SHOs, Deputy Superintendents of Police, and other law enforcers in regards to the crime.[77] The NHRC has offered templates to enhance better interaction of law enforcement with victims and several states in the south have signed statements on intent to cooperate in anti-trafficking efforts by sharing data and cooperating in legal matters. International Agencies Partnerships. The company would collaborate closely with other multinational organizations to achieve its goals and objectives.
B. Co-ordination with International Agencies.
The company would work in liaison with other multinational organizations to realize its goals and objectives.
The nature of human trafficking as transnational makes cooperation across nations through law as well as operationally necessary. India has signified 44 bilateral contracts and MOUs on security collaboration and countering illicit trafficking with 45 countries such as Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, the UK and the USA.[78]
On the bilateral level, the India-Bangladesh MoU of 2015 broadened the definition of the trafficked persons and established a joint task force.[79] On 27 November 2019, an MoU on prevention of trafficking between India and Myanmar on rescue, recovery, repatriation and reintegration was approved by the Union Cabinet. On the multilateral level, a MoU between UNIFEM and UNODC that encompasses Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka and UNODC has collaborated with the tourism industry in India to come up with a code of conduct that would prevent trafficking.[80]
Anti-trafficking Laws Strengthening Requirement.
(A) Enhancing the enforcement processes in the law.
By putting into place far-reaching anti-trafficking laws that incorporate the current laws into one framework, coherence and consistency would be guaranteed. Adding penalties to traffickers such as the introduction of minimum sentences to serious offences would make them be more deterred. Training required on victim-centered approaches to law enforcement, the judiciary, and other stakeholders is necessary. There is a need to have fast-track courts which are intended to handle trafficking cases created and sufficiently funded in all the states. Protective measures that the witness is under should be enhanced so that they are not intimidated into silence.
Legal provisions are only implemented by not only police but also the executive magistrates, labour officials, members of Child Welfare Committee, and the home officials. The state governments must embark on action plans within time periods, to include victim identification, recognition of all the laws applicable, inter-state investigation processes, closure of the premises of exploitation, seizure of proceeds of crime and support mechanisms of the victims.
(B) Improving Awareness and Prevention.
Traffickers employ violence, manipulation and empty threats of well-paying jobs. Young girls who are supposed to contribute money to their families and those who do not know their legal rights are likely to be vulnerable. One of the most effective prevention tools available can be community-based awareness programmes, which can be done in local languages, depending on the regional trends in trafficking, delivered to the community through schools, panchayats, self-help groups, and even faith-based organisations.
An approach that is rooted in human rights demands discovering and compensating the discriminatory measures and imbalance of power which are the root causes of trafficking. The issue of prevention should deal with the causes of weakness, rather than effects of exploitation. Improving the victim protection establishment, increasing the number of shelters and rehabilitation programmes, and raising the level of international co-operation with such agreements on bilateral and multilateral levels are all the parts of the overall strategy that India is more than in need of.
Conclusion
Human trafficking is one of the most severe breaches of human dignity and human rights in the modern world. The human and economic price of trafficking is enormous to people and the community, and its costs to the human capital are likely to be incalculable.
This is an in-depth research paper that explored the issue of human trafficking and the legal action of India against the crime by referring to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The three-part definition of the Palermo Protocol, process, means, purpose, was created as the standard of the international defining. The major types of trafficking in India were surveyed indicating how each of them exploits the socio-economic weaknesses that are based on poverty, caste discrimination, gender inequality as well as geographic marginalization.
The most articulate and victim-focused articulation of anti-trafficking law in Indian legal history is section 143 and 144 of the BNS. The graduated punishment system, the express rejection of victim consent, the view of beggary as exploitation, and criminalization of exploitation of trafficked persons by third parties through Section 144 all constitute important doctrinal improvements of the IPC.
Nonetheless, India has passed a number of legislations to deal with human trafficking and however, there are still issues of implementation yet gaps in protection and assistance to victims persist. The struggle requires more than tougher legislation; it requires a response that spans the entire system: economic empowerment, universal education, equal roles for the genders, survivor-based rehabilitation, inter-agency coordination, judicial strength, and long-lasting cooperation among countries.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is a step in that process – yet the gap between written law and lived experience of millions of trafficking victims in India has to continue to spur reform, enforcement, and more people commitments to the eradication of this contemporary manifestation of slavery.
About Author
Arpita Nishanth Shet, a law student at Symbiosis Law School, Pune, is a budding legal writer with a strong interest in Constitutional Law, Corporate Law, Arbitration, economy & Law and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). She is passionate about exploring evolving legal frameworks and engages with contemporary legal issues through research, writing, and critical analysis.
References
[1] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime (UNODC), An Introduction to Human Trafficking: Background Paper (2008).
[2] Human Trafficking in India, 3 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Human. (IJLMH) (2020).
[3] Press Info. Bureau, Govt. of India, Data on Human Trafficking Victims (2023); Ministry of Home Affairs, Combating Human Trafficking in India (2022).
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[5] Off. of the U.N. High Comm’r for Human Rights (OHCHR), Fact Sheet No. 36: Human Rights and Human Trafficking (2014).
[6] Id.; Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956; Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976; Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
[7] Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, § 143.
[8] Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, Nov. 15, 2000, 2237 U.N.T.S. 319.
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[12] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime (UNODC), An Introduction to Human Trafficking: Background Paper (2008).
[13] OHCHR, supra note 5.
[14] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, supra note 1.
[15] OHCHR, supra note 5.
[16] Human Trafficking in India, 3 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Human. (IJLMH) (2020).
[17] Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, supra note 8.
[18] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, supra note 1
[19] Ministry of Home Affairs, Combating Human Trafficking in India (2022); Human Trafficking in India, 3 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Human. (IJLMH) (2020).
[20] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, supra note 1
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[22] UNODC, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024, at 3.
[23] Human Trafficking in India, supra note 2.
[24] Human Trafficking in India, 7 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Human. 43 (2024).
[25] Indian Penal Code, No. 45 of 1860 (India).
[26] Id. §§ 370–373 (as amended by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, No. 13 of 2013).
[27] Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, No. 104 of 1956 (India).
[28] Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, No. 19 of 1976 (India).
[29] Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, No. 61 of 1986 (India).
[30] Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, No. 32 of 2012 (India); Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, No. 2 of 2016 (India).
[31] Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, No. 42 of 1994 (India).
[32] Human Trafficking in India, 7 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Human. 43 (2024).
[33] Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Combating Human Trafficking in India (2022).
[34] Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, No. 13 of 2013 (India).
[35] Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 (India).
[36] Human Trafficking in India, 7 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Human. 43 (2024).
[37] Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children art. 3, Nov. 15, 2000, 2237 U.N.T.S. 319.
[38] Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, No. 45 of 2023 (India).
[39] Id. §143.
[40] Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, § 144.
[41] Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, No. 45 of 2023, §143(4) (India).
[42] Id. § 143(5).
[43] Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children art. 3(c), Nov. 15, 2000, 2237 U.N.T.S. 319.
[44] Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, No. 45 of 2023, § 144(1) (India).
[45] Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Government Attaches High Degree of Importance to Prevention and Countering of the Crime of Human Trafficking (2024).
[46] Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, No. 45 of 2023, § 143(3) (India).
[47] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, supra note 1
[48] U.S. Dep’t of State, Trafficking in Persons Report: India (2025).
[49] Id.
[50] Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, No. 45 of 2023, §§ 143(6)-(7) (India).
[51] Id.
[52] Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, § 327 (India).
[53] Legal Services Authorities Act, No. 39 of 1987 (India).
[54] Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India, Anti-Human Trafficking Units Operational Data (2024).
[55] Nikhil Sharma, Human Trafficking in India, 7 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Humans. 43, 46–47 (2024).
[56] Ministry of Women & Child Dev., Govt. of India, Mission Shakti Scheme Guidelines (2023)
[57] Id.
[58] Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, No. 2 of 2016, § 53 (India).
[59] 22. Siddharth Kara, Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (2009).
[60] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, supra note 1.
[61] Id.
[62] Nikhil Sharma, Human Trafficking in India, 7 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Humans. 43, 45–47 (2024).
[63] Off. of the U.N. High Comm’r for Hum. Rts., Human Rights and Human Trafficking, Fact Sheet No. 36 (2014).
[64] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, Strengthening Cross-Border Cooperation (2017).
[65] U.S. Dep’t of State, Trafficking in Persons Report: India (2025).
[66] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, supra note 1.
[67] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, Training Manual on Human Trafficking Investigation (2011).
[68] Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, No. 104 of 1956 (India).
[69] Law Comm’n of India, Report on Judicial Delays (relevant extracts).
[70] Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act § 22-A.
[71] Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Anti-Trafficking Advisory (2009).
[72] U.N. Off. on Drugs & Crime, supra note 1.
[73] U.S. Dep’t of State, supra note 63.
[74] Priti Indresh Dubey & Adarsh Indresh Dubey, Human Trafficking in India, 6 Int’l J.L. Mgmt. & Humans. 3351.
[75] Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Advisory on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in India (Sept. 9, 2009).
[76] U.N. Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC) & Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Anti-Human Trafficking Training Materials (BPR&D Initiative).
[77] Ministry of Women & Child Development, Govt. of India, in collaboration with NIPCCD & UNICEF, Judicial Handbook on Combating Trafficking (2017).
[78] National Human Rights Commission, India, Standard Operating Procedures and Guidelines on Trafficking; see also UNODC, Strengthening Cross-Border Cooperation Between Bangladesh, India and Nepal (May 30–31, 2017).
[79] Govt. of India, Memorandum of Understanding Between India and Bangladesh on Bilateral Cooperation for Prevention of Human Trafficking in Women and Children (2015).
[80] Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India, Cabinet Approves MoU Between India and Myanmar on Trafficking in Persons (Nov. 27, 2019).