Women Trafficking in India – A Critical Analysis

Abstract

The Indian Constitution specifically bans the traffic in persons. Article 23, in the Fundamental Rights section of the constitution, prohibits ‘traffic in human beings and other similarforms of forced labor’. Though there is no concrete definition of trafficking, it could be said that trafficking necessarily involves movement / transportation, of a person by means of coercion or deceit, and consequent exploitation leading to commercialization. The abusers, including the traffickers, the recruiters, the transporters, the sellers, the buyers, the end-users etc., exploit the vulnerability of the trafficked person. Trafficking shows phenomenal increase with globalization. Increasing profit with little or no risk, organized activities, low priority in law enforcement etc., aggravate the situation. The income generated by trafficking is comparable to the money generated through trafficking in arms and drugs. Women are also trafficked into commercial markets to serveas laborers or domestic servants. Kuwait is considered a major center of women trafficked for commercial exploitation, which, like those sent into prostitution, joins recruiters who promise money and a better life. Their passports and immigration papers are frequently seized by their new owners once they reach Kuwait, leaving them completely vulnerable and without legal recourse.Though Kuwait, according to investigations by the United States State Department, is one of the worst centers for trafficking in women, it is far from the only one. As of 2009, 17 countries were listed as Tier 3 by the US State Department, meaning that not only do they suffer high amounts of human trafficking, but that the government does not meet minimum standards for eliminating thetrade. The present study is a critical analysis of Women Trafficking in India