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Picture Courtesy:   THE HINDU

Context

The Supreme Court declared that child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation by organized cartels are a “deeply disturbing reality” in the country.

What are the Key Directives from the Supreme Court's Judgment?

Credibility of Testimony

A trafficked child’s sole testimony can be sufficient for conviction if found credible. 

Courts must recognize the complex and layered nature of trafficking operations, which makes it difficult for a victim to recall every precise detail.

Sensitivity to Vulnerability

Judicial assessment must consider the socio-economic and cultural vulnerabilities of victims, who often come from marginalized communities.

Minimizing Secondary Trauma

The legal process must protect victims from further psychological harm and uphold their dignity.

Avoiding Prejudicial Assumptions

Courts are instructed to avoid negative assumptions based on a victim's behavior, such as a perceived delay in reporting or lack of physical protest.

What is Child Trafficking?

Child trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. 

Under Indian law like POSCO and international conventions like Palermo Protocol (UN), the consent of a child victim is legally irrelevant, making it a strict liability offence.

Forms of Exploitation

• Forced Labour: Children are forced to work in hazardous industries like brick kilns, carpet weaving, and small-scale manufacturing.
• Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Forcing children into prostitution and pornography.
• Forced Begging: Children are maimed or abused to evoke sympathy and are forced to beg in cities.
• Bonded Labour & Domestic Servitude: Children are forced to work to pay off alleged debts of their families or are exploited as domestic help.
• Forced Marriage: Young girls are trafficked and sold into marriage.
• Illegal Organ Trade: A rare but extreme form of exploitation.

Scale and Patterns of Trafficking in India

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 'Crime in India 2023', a total of 82,141 trafficking victims were rescued in 2023, of which 30,553 were children. However, experts believe these figures represent underreporting.

Key Trafficking Hotspots and Routes

• Source States: Primarily rural and impoverished regions of states like West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Transit & Destination Hubs: Major metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad, which have a high demand for cheap labour and services.
• Cross-Border Trafficking: Porous borders with Nepal and Bangladesh are major routes for trafficking into India.

What are the Root Causes of Child Trafficking?

Socio-Economic Drivers

• Poverty & Inequality: Poverty and social exclusion (caste/ethnicity) together drive families to desperate measures.
• Lack of Education & Livelihood: High dropout rates and few job options make children vulnerable to traffickers promising a better life.
• Family Breakdown: Domestic violence, alcoholism, and single-parent households compromise a child's protective environment.

Demand-Side Pull Factors

• Demand for Cheap Labour: The informal economy, spanning construction, agriculture, and domestic help, flourishes by exploiting cheap, compliant child labour.
• Demand for Sexual Exploitation: A persistent demand for commercial sex fuels the trafficking of young girls.

Emerging Drivers

• Climate Change & Disasters: Climate-induced displacement and disasters like floods and cyclones disrupt livelihoods, forcing families into unsafe migration and increasing trafficking risks (Source: UNICEF).
• Technology: Traffickers use social media and online platforms for grooming and recruiting children. Digital payment systems are used to obscure financial trails.

Constitutional and Legal Framework

Constitutional Foundation

• Article 23: Explicitly prohibits trafficking in human beings and begar (forced labor), making it a fundamental rights violation.
• Article 24: Bans the employment of children below 14 years in hazardous industries.
• Articles 39(e) & (f): Direct the State to ensure children are protected from abuse and provided opportunities to develop in a healthy manner. 

Key Legislative Framework (2025 Updates)

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023: Replacing the IPC, Sections 143 and 144 provide the primary penal code for trafficking.
• Child Trafficking: Punishable by 10 years to life imprisonment.
• Multiple Child Victims: Minimum of 14 years up to life imprisonment.
• Public Officials: Public servants or police officers involved face life imprisonment for the remainder of their natural life.
• Beggary: Explicitly recognized as a form of exploitation under trafficking for the first time.
• POCSO Act, 2012: Protects children from sexual abuse and exploitation. It is a "strict liability" law where the child's consent is immaterial.
• Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015: Provides the safety net for rescued children, mandating their care through Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and rehabilitation homes. 

Judicial Intervention

Vishal Jeet vs Union of India (1990): The Supreme Court (SC) categorized child prostitution as a socio-economic malady rather than a mere law-and-order issue.

• Mandated state-level Advisory Committees to propose eradication strategies.
• Ordered the abolition of traditional exploitative systems like Devadasi and Jogin.
• Emphasized social integration and vocational training over criminalization of the victims.

M.C. Mehta vs State of Tamil Nadu (1996): SC enforced the prohibition of children in hazardous industries under Article 24.

• Introduced the Child Labour Rehabilitation Welfare Fund, where employers were ordered to pay a compensation of ₹20,000 per child employed.
• Directed the government to provide a job to an adult member of the child's family or contribute ₹5,000 to the fund.

Bachpan Bachao Andolan vs. Union of India (2011): The SC ordered an absolute ban on the employment of children in all circuses.

• Mandated immediate raids and rescues across all circuses in India.
• Ordered the government to frame a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for rescued children.
• Required the Central Government to track children trafficked from neighboring countries (like Nepal) specifically for the circus industry.

Challenges in Combating Child Trafficking

Socio-economic Drivers

Deep-rooted poverty, lack of educational and employment opportunities, migration, and climate-induced disasters create a continuous pool of vulnerable children for traffickers.

Organized Criminal Networks

Trafficking rings operate through complex, multi-layered networks across states and porous international borders (e.g., India-Nepal, India-Bangladesh), making them difficult to track and dismantle.

Emerging Forms of Exploitation

The digital economy creates new exploitation risks, such as children being trafficked for forced labor in quick-commerce 'dark stores' or groomed online for sexual abuse.

Low Conviction Rate

The national conviction rate for human trafficking is low, about 16%, due to victim intimidation, insufficient evidence, and slow procedures. (Source: NCRB)

Gaps in Data and Coordination

Fragmented data systems and poor coordination between law enforcement agencies of different states hinder effective tracking of missing children and trafficking routes.

Way Forward

Strengthening Prevention

• Community Vigilance: Empowering and strengthening community-level bodies like Village Child Protection Committees (VCPCs) to identify and report trafficking risks.
• Education & Awareness: Ensuring universal school enrolment and retention, especially for girls, is a critical preventive measure.
• Targeted Social Security: Providing social and economic security to vulnerable families, especially migrant workers, to reduce their susceptibility to traffickers.

Improving Enforcement and Justice

• Specialized Training: Building the capacity of law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary to handle trafficking cases sensitively and effectively.
• Data and Technology: Using a centralized data system to track missing children and trafficking patterns for intelligence-led policing.
• Faster Trials: Setting up Fast Track Special Courts to ensure timely justice for victims as mandated under the POCSO Act.

Focus on Comprehensive Rehabilitation

• Long-Term Support: Moving beyond short-term shelter homes to a model of long-term care that includes education, vocational training, and mental health support.
• Victim Compensation: Ensuring timely access to the Victim Compensation Scheme to provide financial support for survivors to rebuild their lives.

Conclusion

Ending child trafficking requires collaboration among law enforcement, the judiciary, civil society, and communities. While Supreme Court guidelines provide judicial support, success depends on grassroots prevention, economic security for vulnerable families, and a safe society for all children.

Source:  THE HINDU