**Abstract**

The crime of trafficking in persons needs to be understood as a serious crime and a grave human rights violation. Every year, thousands of men, women, and children fall into the hands of traffickers in either their own countries and/or abroad. As part of its commitment to combat human trafficking (HT), India has ratified various international conventions and enacted its own domestic frameworks. In addition, the efforts of the Government in terms of commitment to the international convention can be seen in terms of the establishment of Anti-trafficking Human Units post-2011. The draft bill of The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care, and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021, is still pending in parliament. In this context, a review of the existing efforts to combat trafficking in human beings is essential. The chapter highlights the existing discrepancies and evaluates the lacuna in policy implementation, based on secondary data. The chapter will also highlight the nature and magnitude of HT, along with vulnerability factors.

**Keywords:** human trafficking, slavery, human rights, vulnerabilities, India

## **1. Introduction**

Trafficking in persons has been a concern to the international community as it results in profound violation of the human rights of its victims. Conceptually human trafficking includes "the criminal practice of exploitation of human beings where they are treated as commodities for profit and after being trafficked, are subject to long-term exploitation" [1]. Traffickers tend to interfere with the basic rights of victims, ranging from the right to make decisions, move freely or choose one's employment to affect their life and individual dignity. The concern becomes graver as the extent of human rights violations to which victims of human trafficking are subjected are both unimaginable and unbelievable [2]. Global attention to the issue of trafficking was acknowledged with the adoption of the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of Prostitution (1951), which remained the only convention for addressing the issue for almost a period of 50 years. Further, initiatives to combat trafficking in persons were followed by the anti-trafficking movement by Global North Feminist movements, the SAARC Convention on Prevention of Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution (2002), and

the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, and Children (1998), a protocol to the United Nations Conventions Against Transnational Organised Crime (2000).

## **2. Understanding modern-day slavery**

Historically, the crime of human trafficking has been associated with the trafficking of women and girls for prostitution. Evidence of this understanding can be seen as the first international instrument in which the word 'traffic' or 'trafficking' is used related to persons is the International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic (1904). In Western countries, human trafficking has been conceptualized and analyzed as a form of slavery, as many-a-time these terms are also used interchangeably. The evidence of a large number of victims for the purpose of sexual exploitation and the related human rights violation is what resulted in making the comparison between human trafficking and slavery.

The patterns of exploiting someone without their consent are the common factors that bring parallels between forced labour, child labour, bonded labour and slavery. Even though legally, slavery and human trafficking are different, there are certain common elements in them that make trafficking in persons to be considered as 'modern-day slavery'. For understanding the similarities of both, an analysis of both definitions is mandated. The Slavery Convention (1926) defines slavery as a "status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership is exercised" [3]. The phrase 'right of ownership' can be interpreted as 'the absolute control the owner has over what he/she owns', typically involving the ability to control a 'thing' that is being possessed or owned. In that sense, slavery provides the ability to the owner to control another person in the same way as controlling a thing that they possess [4]. The exercise of such control can be through threats of violence, coercion or deception, resulting in the deprivation of individual liberty to the slave [4]. In addition, the sense of possession provides for an ability to buy and sell.

The system of slavery attaches a right of ownership or possession, which could be understood as an ability to engage in transactions. That means the system of slavery also provides the master to use his/her slave as an object of the transaction. Another aspect of this ownership is the 'ability to use the slave' in a way where there is a determinant of control which is tantamount to ownership or possession. This 'use' indicates obtaining benefits, either monetary or any other gratification, from the services of the person. Another feature of use and possession is the ability to manage, directly and indirectly, the activities of the person by isolating them from their social relationships, forging a new identity for them, or compelling them to follow an alien religion, confine to a place of residence or marriage or a particular language. The power to transfer property or possession is another feature that is distinct from slavery. When considered as a property, it offers the right to the possessor to dispose of, mistreat and/or neglect the possessed. A feature that makes slavery distinct is the inability of the enslaved to establish that the person was enslaved.

The factors that are critical while drawing this similarity between trafficking in persons and slavery include elements of 'consent' and 'exploitation'. The United Nations (UN) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (2000) which is supplementary to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (2000), defined trafficking in persons under Article 3(a). According to this definition.

*Reincarnation of Slavery: Realities and Experiences of Indian Efforts to Combat Human… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110739*

*"Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of a 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs [5].*

From this definition, it can be understood that, similar to slavery, the people who are trafficked experience a sense of helplessness under the possession of the traffickers. According to the above-stated definition, there are three elements of trafficking in persons; (i) the action (which includes recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons), (ii) the means to achieve the Act (threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability and the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve consent of a person having control over another person); and (iii) the purpose of the intended action (i.e., exploitation). The victim's consent is irrelevant in cases of trafficking in persons. The use of threat or force or coercion or deception to secure control over the person makes it similar to a slave system. The traffickers possess complete control and exploit the traffic, which could also be similar to that slavery. Further, the purpose for which people are trafficked includes various forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. Similarly, slaves were also used as manual labourers, for sexual exploitation, etc., which also draws parallels between both. In this context, post-nineteenthcentury trafficking in persons could be equated to modern-day slavery [6]. The reality that human beings are obtained, sold and transferred for whatever purposes, which reduces their life to total misery, is what makes it similar to the slave trade [6].

## **3. Trends of human trafficking: a global scenario**

Despite international efforts to combat it, a large number of people are trafficked around the world. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of human traffickers, either in their home countries or elsewhere. Technically, most countries around the world are dealing with this issue because they are either the origin, transit, or destination of victims [2].

The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2021 [7] provides a detailed picture of the trends and patterns in trafficking across the globe. Data indicates the highest level of trafficking in persons from Western and Southern Europe (approx. 11,800 cases) followed by Northern America (approx. 9300 cases), of which victimization of women and children shows an upward trend. In 2018, it was found that of every 10 people trafficked, about 5 were women and 2 were girls [7]. Children, both boys and girls, form one-third of the overall trafficked population, while 20% are adult males.

Examining the trend in the age and sex of victims in the past 15 years, it is found that (**Figure 1**) the number of adult women who are being trafficked is declining while the number of children is increasing rapidly to over 30%. Data also show that the number of boys who are rescued from traffickers is also increasing when compared to that of girls.

#### **Figure 1.**

*Trends in age and sex profiles of detected trafficking victims, selected years [7]. Source: UNODC elaboration of national data.*

The 2018 United Nations Office on Drugs Crimes (UNODC) data reveal that 77% of women victims reported being trafficked for sexual exploitation, whereas 67% of men victims reported being trafficked for forced labour. However, this does not mean that men are not trafficked for sexual exploitation or women are not trafficked for forced labour. "When 14% of women are trafficked for the purpose of forced labour, 17% of men are trafficked for sexual exploitation, making it the second largest purpose for which both men and women are trafficked." In the same way, 72% of girls are reported to be trafficked for sexual exploitation, while 66% of boys are trafficked for forced labour in 2018 [7]. The same pattern can be observed in the case of boys and girls, 21% of girls are trafficked for forced labour, while 23% of boys are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Globally, around 50% of the victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation, while 38% are trafficked for forced labour. Statistics since 2015 show that the share of persons trafficked for sexual exploitation is decreasing while other forms like forced labour, engaging the various types of criminal activities [7], begging, etc., are on the rise.

#### **3.1 Trends of human trafficking in India: NCRB**

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report demonstrates a huge drop in cases related to trafficking of persons in India in the last 5 years. The incidence of human-trafficking cases in India was 2848 in 2009, reaching around 8132 in 2016, dropping to 2189 in 2021. Can this drop be attributed to the anti-trafficking efforts in India? A report published in Reuters in 2019 attributed the fall in numbers, not to an increase in vigilance, but to the change in the mode of operations of the perpetrators who have learned to circumvent law enforcement officers [8]. Digvijay Kumar, a civilsociety member from the Institute for Development Education and Action, states that "Traffickers have changed their mode of operating, discarding known routes and finding new ones… In many cases, the police are not registering cases under trafficking laws" [8]. The decrease in numbers could also be attributed to inaccuracy in the sources from which data is collected.

Based on the data provided by NCRB, **Table 1** describes the trend of human trafficking in India from 2016 to 2021. As shown in the table, in the year 2016, the number *Reincarnation of Slavery: Realities and Experiences of Indian Efforts to Combat Human… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110739*


#### **Table 1.**

*Trend of human trafficking in India 2016–2021.*


#### **Table 2.**

*Trend of human trafficking in Karnataka 2017–2022.*

of human-trafficking cases reported was 8132 and the number of cases reported in the year 2021 was 2189. Though the table shows a steady decline in the reported cases over the last 5 years in India, the number of cases has increased in the year 2021 as compared to 2020 with the addition of 475 new cases. Experts predicted that COVID-19 has limited the economic and livelihood options for people, which may make people more vulnerable to traffickers. However, the data for the year 2020 paints a different picture. This may be due to the unavailability of data for the year 2020. **Table 2** shows the disparity in numbers provided in the NCRB data and the actual figure presented in the Legislative Council in the State of Karnataka, India.

Even the trend of trafficked victims provided similar results as presented in **Table 3**. This table has mapped the gender of victims trafficked in India to assess whether sex trafficking tops the Indian statistics, similar to the global figures.

It is not at all surprising to see that each year, more female victims are trafficked as compared to male victims as "sexual exploitation for prostitution" comes out as one of the major purposes of trafficking for all the years (**Table 3**). As presented in **Table 3**, in the last 5 years, the number of trafficked victims is more for the purposes of forced labour, sexual exploitation for prostitution and "other reasons." Though it is not clear what constitutes "other reasons," the number of victims trafficked for other reasons is higher as compared to victims trafficked for domestic servitude, forced crimes, petty


#### **Table 3.**

*Victims trafficked in India from 2016 to 2021 by Gender.*

crimes and others. Out of the total victims (6533) trafficked in the year 2021, 44% (2704) are trafficked for the purpose of forced labour, 33% (2049) are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and prostitution, and 12% (753) are trafficked for other reasons.

## **4. Factors contributing to trafficking**

Factors contributing to trafficking in person are complex and vary from country to country. Although there is a tendency to attribute the causal factors to the economy, global figures show that this crime occurs both in developed and underdeveloped nations. However, the vulnerability of people in developing countries is much higher [9]. Generally, trafficking occurs from countries that are economically, politically and environmentally weaker to those where the relative quality of life is better. Literature on this crime identifies certain specific factors that contribute to trafficking, including poverty and unemployment, globalization of economy, feminization of poverty and migration, non-inclusive development strategies, armed conflict situation, gender discrimination, law and policies on migrant labour and migration, law and policies on prostitution, corruption, cultural and religious practices, etc. [10]. Many other studies also suggest that economic factors can add to susceptibility to trafficking in persons [11–14]. The 2018 report also shows that recruitment of the victims is characterized by demand for economic resources and basic survival needs, including food, shelter, and healthcare [7].

People who are subjected to trafficking get exploited in an ample way at the hands of traffickers. Many-a-times, the nature of exploitation cannot be classified under straight categories. A victim could be subjected to multiple kinds of exploitation. The NCRB data also captures the purpose for which persons are trafficked.

People who are subjected to trafficking get exploited in ample ways at the hands of traffickers. Many-a-time, the nature of exploitation cannot be classified under straight categories a victim could be subjected to multiple kinds of exploitation. The NCRB data also captures the purpose for which persons are trafficked. It is not at all surprising to see that each year, more female victims are trafficked as compared to male victims as "sexual exploitation for prostitution" comes out one of the major purposes of trafficking for all the years (**Table 4**). As presented in **Table 4**, in the last 5 years, the number of trafficked victims is more for the purposes of forced labour, sexual exploitation for prostitution and "other reasons." Though it is not clear of what

**Purpose of human trafficking 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016** Forced labour 2704 1425 1141 1046 1657 10,509 Sexual exploitation for prostitution 2049 1466 2080 1922 1257 4980 Other forms of sexual exploitation 0 0 0 0 0 2590 Domestic servitude 475 846 364 143 1113 412 Forced marriage 182 187 227 220 240 349 Petty crimes 32 11 13 7 9 212 Child pornography 5 14 0 154 0 162 Begging 7 10 68 21 358 71 Drug peddling 0 0 0 0 0 8 Removal of organs 6 0 4 6 0 2 Other reasons 753 694 2674 1745 2137 3824 *Source: NCRB data for the year 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.*

*Reincarnation of Slavery: Realities and Experiences of Indian Efforts to Combat Human… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110739*

#### **Table 4.**

*Purpose of human trafficking from 2016 to 2021.*

constitutes "other reasons," the number of victims trafficked for other reasons is higher than victims trafficked for domestic servitude, forced crimes, petty crimes and others. Similar results can be seen for the year 2021, as represented in **Figure 1**. Out of the total victims (6533) trafficked in the year 2021, 44% (2704) are trafficked for the purpose of forced labour, 33% (2049) are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and prostitution, and 12% (753) are trafficked for other reasons.

**Figure 2** demonstrates that forced labour constitutes India's largest trafficking problem [15]. Traffickers use debt-based coercion (bonded labour) to compel men, women, and children to work in agriculture, brick kilns, rice mills, embroidery and textile factories, and stone quarries. Traffickers often target those from the most disadvantaged social strata. The traffickers lure the victims with better life facilities by way of moving to cities that provide employment opportunities. As reported by Gouri Lankesh News Desk (2020) [16], eight Adivasi women were trafficked from Jharkhand to Bengaluru via Delhi in September- October 2019 with the promise of

#### **Figure 2.** *Purpose of human trafficking 2021. Source: NCRB data for the year 2021.*

a job in an incense factory with monthly wages ranging from 7000 to 9000 rupees. However, after joining the factory, they were made to work 15 hours a day. In their attempt to escape from the factory, their Aadhar cards were snatched away from them and were reported to have been raped repeatedly in the same factory premises. Until October 2020, when they finally escaped from the factory, they were only paid Rs 200 per week with only two meals a day.

Some traffickers lure poor parents to sell their children to provide their children with a better future. In a case reported by Indian Express (2021) [17], Bengaluru police arrested an interstate infant trafficking gang and rescued 15 children. As reported by Bengaluru police, the gang had sold 28 infants for an amount ranging from 3 lakh to 20 lakh rupees. The traffickers would take children as old as 10 days to 1 month from poor parents and sell them to childless couples. In some cases, they would promise couples to get babies cheaply through surrogacy and collect sperm and later return after 10 months with a baby, sometimes with fake medical records of a surrogate mother. As the surrogacy procedure costs somewhere between Rs 15–20 lakh, many childless couples were lured by the gang's offer of a baby at a cheaper cost.

In India, traffickers exploit millions of women and children for sexual exploitation. An 11-year-old girl from AP was trafficked and sold to a brothel in Pune where she was repeatedly raped, starved, and injected with oestrogen and finally died of full-blown AIDS [18]. These women, weakened by starvation and ignorance, are easy prey for predators who transport them to cities where they are exploited.

Another girl Nadira, 22 years old from Mumbai narrates a similar experience to the police as reported in Deccan Chronicle (2018) [18],

*"I lived with an 'aunty' in Mumbai. She was very abusive. I ran away from her home and landed in a government home. I escaped from there also after a boy I met on Facebook promised to get me a job in Bengaluru. He even bought my flight tickets. Here, I was received by some men, who were his agents. They took me to a PG accommodation in R.T. Nagar, which was full of young girls. All of them worked in dance bars in and around Majestic area. They were trafficked like me."*

Traffickers target Indian women and girls but also fraudulently recruit significant numbers of Nepali and Bangladeshi women and girls to India for sex trafficking. In a case reported by a Bangalore-based NGO, a Bangladeshi couple, aged 17 (husband) and 18 (wife) years old, was brought to India on November 29, 2021. After reaching Bangalore, they realized they were trapped in the name of a Shopping Mall job. They were beaten badly and were subject to several types of exploitation. The girl was desperately trying to contact Bangladeshi authorities to be rescued, not knowing a single word of Hindi, English and Kannada when she was finally rescued by the NGO [19].

Another purpose of human trafficking in India is domestic servitude. As reported by photojournalist Smita Sharma (The New York Times, 2017) [20], girls as young as 10 years are trafficked for domestic servitude. Those girls who are not in demand in the sex industry due to their skin color and body (e.g., too dark and skinny) are sold as domestic slaves. They were kidnapped, sold to placement agencies and then put in houses for domestic work. In a similar case,

*"a mother of three who was a victim of domestic violence went to her mother for safety. But her mother couldn't take her in. That's when a man promised her a good job in the city. Instead, she was sold into servitude and placed in a house. It took a* 

*Reincarnation of Slavery: Realities and Experiences of Indian Efforts to Combat Human… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110739*

*year before the woman broke down and told her employers how she had ended up in their home" narrates Smita Sharma.*

Personal circumstances like low levels of literacy, awareness and lack of information can also make individuals vulnerable to trafficking. Women and children with disability are more vulnerable and become easy targets. Fragile or dysfunctional family relationships, marital discord, experiences of physical and sexual abuse, gender discrimination, family pressures, desertion by husbands, etc., make women more vulnerable than their counterparts. Studies also reveal that unmarried, divorced, separated or widowed women are more vulnerable than married women. Other structural factors that influence trafficking in persons include industrialization, globalization, urbanization, economic crisis, privatization and liberalization, policies to promote tourism, commercialization, loss of traditional livelihood and inflation, etc. [2]. Further inadequate or faulty laws, poor enforcement of laws, minimal chances of prosecution and ineffective penal policies, the nominal probability for prosecution, high levels of corruption, less awareness, debates on the gravity of the matter and a lack of legislative will to develop and implement policies towards protection to victims also facilitate the crime [2].

The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons [7] states that even though the crime of trafficking is found in most countries in the world, it tends to remain hidden with perpetrators operating in a highly sophisticated manner exploiting the loopholes in the cyber laws and the disparities in the global economic distribution. It is to be acknowledged that even though spread across the globe, this crime remains hidden as the perpetrators operate in a highly secretive manner hiding deep beneath the economy and exploiting the vulnerabilities of the victims. Literature also suggests that victims of trafficking undergo a range of human rights violations [21] both at the hands of the perpetrators of trafficking in persons and the criminal justice system, although the nature of victimization varies [22], and hence this crime becomes a grave concern.
