Author: Om Raj Ankit, II year of B.A.,LL.B.(Hons.) from Amity University Jharkhand
INTRODUCTION
Trafficking refers to an unlawful trading. Trading with other persons takes place during human trafficking. Humans have been trafficked for the purposes of forced marriage, forced labour, domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, organ or tissue harvesting. The third-largest organised crime in the world, behind the trafficking of drugs and the trade in weapons, is human trafficking.
The major purpose of human trafficking worldwide is sexual exploitation, and women and children are the most common victims of it. There are many reasons why people are trafficked, but unhappily, the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA), which was passed in our nation, only combats human trafficking when it is carried out with the intention of sexual exploitation. Therefore, to stop human trafficking in India, the overall legislative requirements pertaining to it must be reinforced. People's human rights are violated as a result of human trafficking, and they also risk becoming victims again. To ensure that the laws against human trafficking are effective in preventing crime, they must be tightened.
Human trafficking is categorically condemned as immoral and illegal under the Fundamental Rights provisions of Part III of the Indian Constitution. The concept of fundamental rights, and trafficking of humans are all closely related. The essential rights to the freedom of speech and expression, which includes the right to free movement, to life and liberty, and to equality are all recognised by the Indian Constitution. The ban of forced labour and human trafficking is discussed in Article 23[4], which also gives all of its people a right against trafficking. Furthermore, in the absence of a distinct articles or fundamental right outlawing human trafficking, it would have violated Article 14's "golden triangle" of basic rights, which is made up of Articles 14, 19, and 21. Regarding this further, subclause (d) of Article 19's protection of certain rights related to freedom of speech and expression also guarantees the right to travel around without restriction anywhere on Indian territory. It is one of the rights that is directly tied to human trafficking, and there are many other rights that will be impacted by or violated as a result of the freedom to practise one's trade or conduct business. Article 21 safeguards everyone's fundamental right to life and liberty in India, including that of citizens and non-citizens. Considering the reasoning offered in the Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh case as an example As it was said: There is a lot more to life than just existing as an animal. Therefore, selling people as commodities or as animals would violate their fundamental right to life. The right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution encompasses not only the physical right to life, but also the right to live in dignity as was quite correctly stated in the Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India case. Therefore, no any act of obligated human dealing may impair dignity.
CAUSES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Human trafficking occurs for a variety of causes. Political, economic, and cultural forces influence them. According to the supply and demand theory, there is human trafficking. First, the nation is affected by a number of variables, including the need for work, dire social conditions, armed or war-related incidents, a lack of stability in politics and the economy, improper availability of education and information, etc. Second, there is a demand for low-cost goods, low-cost labour, and low-cost services in industrialised and wealthy nations.
By combining the first and second instances, the organised crime groups have discovered a way to connect supply and demand and generate enormous profits. These factors result in increasing migration, but limited migration as a result of several State policies. People who participate in human trafficking expose themselves to exploitation, dishonesty, violence, and abuse through smuggling methods.
IMPACTS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
In the course of human trafficking, the victims are mistreated and exploited in ways that can lead to short- and long-term mild and severe mental and physical assaults illnesses, including STDs or HIV viruses. This illness has the potential to cause both death and lasting impairment.
Aggression, despair, confusion, isolation, and attention problems are all direct effects of human trafficking. Numerous studies have demonstrated that traumas and injuries suffered throughout the course of trafficking can persist for a considerable amount of time even after the victim has been freed from exploitation. This is most often the case when the sufferer is not provided with the appropriate treatment and guidance.
Even the victims' recovery procedure cannot be guaranteed to produce a specific outcome. Even when the victims are freed from their physical ailments, the trauma and psychological issues prevent them from fully recovering from the effects. Numerous of the victims have a hard time returning to the usual lives they had before.
The tragic thing about human trafficking victims is that their rights continue to be violated long after they are no longer being used as slaves. They frequently become victims again. The willingness of the trafficked individuals to collaborate with the appropriate authorities directly affects the protection offered to them in a number of the countries. However, this conditional protection is in conflict with the full enjoyment and preservation of human rights, and it is forbidden to employ trafficked individuals as tools in legal procedures.
INDIAN LEGAL FRAMEWORKS TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Indian Penal Code 1860
It's interesting to note that the Indian Penal Code, which was established in 1860, addresses the issue of human trafficking. Sections 370 and 370 A of the Indian Penal Code discuss it. It forbade the trafficking of girls and women and outlined harsh penalties for offenders. According to the law, anyone found guilty of purchasing or selling a minor for the sake of prostitution, sexual exploitation, or any other immoral activity faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine.
It also recognizes cross-border prostitution trafficking, and anyone caught bringing a girl below the age of 21 into India from another country with the intention of forcing her into illicit relations with another person or knowing it is probable that she will be seduced into doing so faces up to ten years in prison as well as a fine.
Indian Constitution
The Indian Constitution forbids human trafficking and upholds many of the widely recognised different human rights principles, including one's right to life and personal autonomy, gender freedom, and access to legal remedies. One of the essential rights guaranteed to everyone in India is the right to be protected from exploitation.
The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000
There is no differentiation between an underage person and a child in accordance with this Act. Children are all those who are below the age of eighteen. a youngster in need of protection and care (National Legal Research Desk 2016). The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act of 1989, which prohibits atrocities against such groups:
Numerous victims of trafficking are members of underrepresented communities. Only areas that are illiterate and socially underdeveloped are targeted by traffickers. This provides a further tool to protect women and girls who are members of scheduled castes and tribal groups and also places more of a duty on traffickers or offenders to demonstrate their lack of complicity in the crime.
This statute can be utilised to effectively combat human trafficking if the perpetrator knows the victim is a member of one of these groups. Atrocities perpetrated against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are covered in Section 3 of this Act. It covers several types of trafficking, including the exploitation of women for sexual purposes and coerced or bonded labour. If the crime is covered by Section 3, initial punishment of nine months is mandated, and it may be increased to a five-year sentence.
CONCLUSION
To ensure that the laws against human trafficking are effective in preventing the crime, they must be tightened. To stop people from becoming victims, human trafficking must be made known to those who live below the poverty line throughout the nation. The country can host a number of national and international conferences and seminars so that the general public and the government can work together to stop human trafficking.
In order to prevent them from becoming victims of human trafficking, the government must provide protection for the most vulnerable members of society. Only those who fall below the poverty line become victims of human trafficking, thus the crime can be considerably reduced if the government assists the underprivileged members of society and offers them access to suitable job and education.
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