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Laura Diaz
Mrs. Abbadessa
ENG-105
22 January 2015
Child Trafficking in India
Child Trafficking is a major issue facing the youth of the 21st century in India. Children
are being taken from their homes and families to be exploited, whether it is sexual exploitation
through child marriage or prostitution, exploitation through domestic servitude, or exploitation
through labor by working in fields or factories for less than minimum wage. Child Trafficking is
a blatant violation of the childs human rights and India must do more to combat this practice
through a more active involvement of government, in the form of policies and lawmaking, and
by law enforcement.
The act of trafficking humans has existed for thousands of years and has been practiced
all over the world. It is a history that has strong ties to slavery since in the past, and certainly
even today, being kidnapped and trafficked means living a life enslaved. One of the biggest
examples of this is the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade that occurred between 1400-1800. During this
time, approximately 12 million slaves were trafficked across the Atlantic Ocean (Finkelman,
Miller). Because the native population in the Americas had essentially become extinct from
diseases and maltreatment, there was high demand for cheap labor. The African Slave Trade
solved this problem, but resulted in millions of Africans being exploited for physical labor.
Not only were adult men and women being trafficked, but young children as well
(Finkelman, Miller). But why were children trafficked to such an extent even though they were
regarded as lower-valued slaves? Low shipping costs and high prices for slaves made it

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possible for children to be sold profitably for once, and this resulted in the percentage of young
boys and girls being transported increase significantly over time, to the point where children
made up 25 percent of all incoming Africans headed for America (Finkelman, Miller).
Although Europeans didnt seem to care about the morality of transporting African
children across the Atlantic from the 16th century up to the 19th century, fighting human
trafficking became an important issue during the 20th century. After World War 1, the League of
Nations was formed to try and maintain world peace. One issue the League of Nations focused
on was human trafficking, specifically women and children (Kelly). To ascertain the scale of this
issue around the world, the League conducted two major studies, one for each the East and West
(Kelly). After the studies were carried out, the League was able to produce very detailed work on
the trafficked women and children around the world (Kelly). The League also prompted its
member states to pass laws against trafficking and slavery, which brought international
recognition for this issue (Kelly). The League of Nations focus on human trafficking essentially
began the process of stopping this inhumane practice, setting a precedent for other countries.
Even after all the efforts done by the League of Nations, the problem of human
trafficking still exists, with it being extremely prevalent in India, a country in which trafficking is
strictly prohibited according to the Indian Constitution (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner). In the
last 150 years, conventions were held and laws have been passed related to child trafficking, but
with no real change made (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner). Indias Penal Code of 1860 has at
least 20 provisions connected to human trafficking, yet law enforcement rarely makes use of all
of the provisions related to trafficking, which lessens the chances that the trafficker will be
prosecuted and convicted appropriately (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner). The Immoral Traffic
Prevention Act of 1956, or ITPA, was created with particularly sex trafficking in mind. This law

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persecuted anyone engaging in prostitution-related acts, like running a brothel or living off of sex
work (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner). Although ITPA reduced the amount of prostitution-related
trafficking from 11,242 in 2002 to 2563 in 2012 (Ghosh), it is seen as a failure (Hameed,
Hlatshwayo, Tanner ). The majority of the arrests made persecuted the victims, the girls forced
into prostitution. Law enforcement and the justice system failed, and still does, to punish the
traffickers, so much so that the average conviction rate for child trafficking offenders was just 11
percent in 2012 (Ghosh).
Anti-trafficking supporters have argued to amend or completely repeal ITPA and the bill
of 2006. The main argument against ITPA is that the bill mistakenly treats the victims as
criminals (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner). These advocates claim that ITPA doesnt resolve
anything, but makes matters worse (Baksi). Anti-ITPA proponents assert that this bill ignores the
"more recent reasons for child trafficking like domestic, commercial, industrial or bonded
labour; tourism; and other forms of exploitation such as organ sale, adoption, begging, criminal
activity, or camel jockeying" (Ghosh) and only focuses on the sex trafficking sector (Baksi).
These proponents also state that arresting the customers of sex workers, which is included in
ITPA, will only endanger the lives of the girls working as sex workers more since the whole
industry would be forced to move underground, which will result in the "sex worker being
delivered on a platter to the wolves of the underworld" (Baksi). This increases the girls
likelihood of contracting STDs (Baksi). Indias history of child trafficking stems centuries, but
only recently has the government tried to actually do something. An estimated 12.66 million
children are being forced to work in India alone (Ghosh). This just proves that India must do
more if it ever plans on making any lasting impacts on this issue.

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The trauma from child trafficking has lasting consequences on the children. They
suffered physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse (Rafferty). Health standards are
extremely low and violence, such as torture, is rampant. Children are exposed to physical abuse
like malnutrition, harm from dangerous chemicals and equipment, and torture; sexual abuse, like
rape, sexual violence, and savage abortion methods; and psychological abuse, like threats verbal
threats and sleep deprivation (Rafferty). All of this abuse and trauma can produce countless
mental and psychological problems in the future. Children who are victims of trafficking can
develop post traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and aggression (Rafferty). The low
living standards that the children experienced can also result in them contracting diseases like
STDs, malaria, etc.
Not only does child trafficking effect the trafficked person mentally and physically, child
trafficking also affects India politically and economically. In terms of politics, child trafficking
has become such a major problem, warranting the attention of politicians and lawmakers..
Economically, child trafficking is an extremely lucrative industry, growing into one of the most
profitable businesses in the world (Ton). According to Anh Ton, the author of The Cruel
Economics of Human Trafficking in India,
The reason why sex trafficking persists is straightforward: immense profitability
with minimal risk. A net profit margin of over 70 per cent makes sex trafficking
one of the most profitable businesses in the world. It is becoming increasingly
easy and inexpensive to procure, move and exploit vulnerable girlsMoreover,
the average price of a sex act has been decreasing over timeThese decreasing
prices open up the market to consumers who could not previously afford the
service.

.(Ton)

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The children, exploited for cheap labor, make up the supply side (Ton). These are children that
have either been sold by their parents or have been promised a better life. The demand side is
made up of brothel owners, businessmen, pimps, and corrupt government officials (Ton). These
men and women need cheap labor in order to fuel their businesses. A social impact of child
trafficking exists in India as well, particularly the sex sector. Some aspects of Indian culture and
society see women and girls as lower-class citizens, making them more vulnerable to trafficking
(Ton). Because of this, more girls are kidnapped and trafficked than boys (Ghosh). A negative
attitude of these children will just enable more trafficking in the future.
Although it is nearly impossible to completely eradicate child trafficking in the near
future, India can still make significant strides to lessen the practice. There are two areas that can
be improved upon to reduce child trafficking: Supply and Demand. To combat supply, or to make
children less vulnerable to trafficking, an education is critical (Rafferty). Investing in the
education of children can help break the cycle of poverty, which is the single biggest factor in a
childs likelihood of being trafficked (Rafferty). Poverty is a state of deprivation and can be
defined as a social phenomenon where a section of the society could not meet even the minimum
requirement of living (Khan). Living in poverty has such a big influence on a childs likelihood
of being trafficked, so much so that most victims of trafficking come from rural, poor areas with
extremely low literacy rates (Ton). Literacy rates in Indias urban and rural populations are 79.92
and 58.74 respectively, well below the world average (Khan). Not only will changes in the
supply improve child trafficking, but also changes in demand. To combat demand, the
Government must pass laws strongly criminalizing the traffickers instead of the trafficked.
Presently, India does not have any specific or comprehensive legal structure to manage child
trafficking (Ghosh), however, more arrests and longer sentences for those convicted is good

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place to start (Rafferty). The more risk there is for exploiting children, the less children will be
trafficked. A strong involvement of law enforcement will also help with eliminating demand for
children since adequate training of law enforcement means cases of child trafficking will be
appropriately handled (Rafferty). Finally, more organizations with its prime focus on child
trafficking should be established. Having the public support the fight of child trafficking can
create a support system for the for the rehabilitated victims of child trafficking, which can make
a world of a difference.
With all the efforts made to end child trafficking, this issue still continues to be one of the
biggest, most lucrative underground industries in the world. Millions of children are trafficked
every year with no hope of seeing their families again. Child trafficking violates the childs basic
human rights and India must do more to tackle this issue through prevention methods such as
stronger education for children, specifically girls, government policies, and stricter law
enforcement,

Annotated Bibliography
Baksi, Pradip. Why the so-called Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of India should be
repealed. Academia. N.p., 22 June 2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.academia.edu/3100556/Why_the_socalled_Immoral_Traffic_Prevention_Act_of_India_should_be_repealed>. This article is

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about why the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act doesnt work. Pradip Baksi is a marxscholar in the Association for the Advancement of Learning in South Asia. In the article,
Baksi talks about the march to the Parliament of India in New Delhi. Then the author lists
all the reasons why the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act should be repealed. First, Baksi
suggests that just by name, ITPA is wrong since it suggests that there are moral kinds of
trafficking. Baksi also suggests that ITPA focuses too heavily on the sex trafficking sector
and not enough on other kinds of trafficking like domestic, agriculture, and factory. The
author also proposes that since ITPA cant completely eradicate trafficking, it just makes
the situation worse since the industry will just go more underground, risking the lives of
the sex workers. This article illuminates my paper since I need this for my counter
argument.
Finkelman, Paul, and Joseph Calder Miller. Slave Trade: Transatlantic. Macmillan
Encyclopedia of World History (1998): n. pag. World History in Context. Web. 7 Jan.
2015. The authors of Slave Trade:Transatlantic are Paul Finkelman and Joseph Calder
Miller. Finkelman is an American legal historian. He received his bachelors in American
Studies in Syracuse University and his masters and doctorate in American History at the
University of Chicago. Finkelman has served at expert witnesses in very important court
cases like Glassroth vs Moore, and Popov vs Hayashi. Joseph Calder Miller received his
B.A from Wesleyan University and his M.B.A from Northwestern University. Miller
earned a M.A and his Ph.D in history from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Miller
served as the president of the African Studies Association in 2005 and 2006. in 2004, he
received a Guggenheim fellowship to study the world history of slavery. In the article,
Finkelman and Miller studied the slave trade and how it affected the world. The authors

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suggest that slavery changed throughout the centuries, backing up their idea. This will
illuminate my paper since I will use it for history.
Ghosh, Biswajit. Indias Child Trafficking Epidemic. East Asia Forum. N.p., 6 Mar.
2012. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2014/03/06/indias-childtrafficking-epidemic/>. This article talks about the child trafficking epidemic in India.
Biswajit Ghosh is a professor in the department of Sociology at the University of
Burdwan. His topics of expertise include Human Rights , Indian society,
Socioeconomics, and Gender. The article discusses how child trafficking has expanded
and developed over the years. The article also mentions how India has become the global
hot spot for child trafficking since trans-border mobility is strong and and laws pertaining
to human trafficking is weak. The author suggests that the Immoral Traffic Prevention
Act did something since it has decreased the number of prostitution-related cases, even
though its considered a failure. The author talks about how weak law enforcement is on
child and human trafficking. Ghosh suggests different methods of trafficking prevention
like, education. This article illuminates my paper because of useful stats on the number of
cases reported, and the estimated number of children trafficked in a year.
Hameed, Sadika, Sandile Hlatshwayo, and Evan Tanner. Background Information on
Human Trafficking in India. Asia Foundation. N.p., 12 Mar. 2010. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.
<http://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/StanfordHumanTraffickingIndiaBackground.pd
f>. This journal is background information on trafficking in India. The authors, Sadika
Hameed, Sandile Hlatshwayo, and Evan Tanner. Sadika Hameed is a senior associate at
the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development. Before CSIS, economist and
governance specialist with the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International

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Development in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sandile Hlatshwayo is a graduate student at

the University of Berkeley studying Economics. This article examines all the conventions
and laws India has had for human trafficking. The authors also examines the
responsibilities that the central and state government, and police have with trafficking.
The authors analyze all the methods to prevent trafficking and how to go about
establishing it. The article illuminates my paper because it can help with, preventing and
history of child trafficking in India.
Kelly, T. Mills. Human Trafficking in Historical Perspective. George Mason Unversity.
N.p., 2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2015. <http://www.globality-gmu.net/archives/3271>. This article
studies the history of human trafficking. The author, T. Mills Kelly, received university,
state, and national awards for his work on historical pedagogy. Kelly is also an associate
director of George Masons award-winning Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New
Media. Kelly is currently a professor at George Mason University. In the article, the
author argues that it is important to understand the history and the historical perspective
of human trafficking in order to change and lessen the issue. Kelly discusses the League
of Nations attempt in decreasing trafficking of persons, the first global one. The author
then examines the impact trafficking has made around the world. This article will shed
some light in the global history of child trafficking, which is important for my paper.
Khan, Jabir Hasan, and Tarique Hassan. Incidence of Poverty and Socio-Economic
Deprivation. Journal of Developing Areas 48.2: 21-38. EBSCO. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. The
central theme of this journal article is Indias problem with poverty. This article tries to
analyze poverty and the level of deprivation in India. It also discusses the fact that parts
of the country are much poorer than other regions in India. For example, northern and

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southern states have lower levels of poverty than central and eastern states of India. The
authors are very knowledgeable in this area. Jabir Hasan Khan received his MA and PHD
from Aligarh Muslim University. Most of the research done by Khan involved Population
Geography and Rural Development. He has presented up to 36 research papers in
conferences around the world. Tarique Hassan also attended Aligarh Muslim University
with Khan and helped him with his research. The authors start off the article with trying
to define what poverty exactly means. They assert that poverty is the root of all evils in
society and of a countrys economy. Throughout the article, Khan and Hassan give
statistics on Indias poorest regions and level of deprivation This article will illuminate
my research paper because poverty is a big problem why child trafficking happens in
India. Poor families resort to selling their children away to avoid another mouth to feed. I
can also make an association with Indias poorest regions and see if child trafficking is
higher in those parts.
Rafferty, Yvonne. Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation: A Review of
Promising Prevention Policies and Pograms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 83.4:
559-75. EBSCO. Web. 9 Dec. 2014. The central theme of this journal article is analyzing
several prevention methods to child trafficking. The author, Yvonne Rafferty, is a
professor of psychology at Pace University. At the United Nations, Rafferty represents
the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues. She is active in the NGO committee
of UNICEF. The author argues that Child Trafficking is becoming one of the most
lucrative criminal activities in the world. Rafferty comes up with some policies and
programs for the prevention of trafficking, whether its children or women, and whether
its India or the rest of the world. The author asserts that in countries with low health and

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safety standards, child trafficking is more prevalent. This work will illuminate my
research paper I plan on writing ways of preventing child trafficking in India towards the
end of my paper most likely .
Ton, Anh. The Cruel Economics of Human Trafficking in India. Asian Philanthropy
Forum. Asian Philanthropy Forum, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.asianphilanthropyforum.org/cruel-economics-human-trafficking-india/>.
This article examines the economic side to trafficking in India. The author, Anh Ton, is
the community manager at the Asian Philanthropy Forum. Ton earned her Bachelor of
Arts degree in English with a minor of Southeast Asian Studies from the University of
California-Berkeley. The author begins the article by arguing that trafficking is modern
day slavery. Ton focuses on the sex trafficking problem that India specifically has. The
author studies the supply and demand side to trafficking, women and girls being the
supply, and men being the demand. The author argues that Indias poverty problem is to
blame for the large supply of girls, since the trafficked are usually from the poorest
regions of India. Ton then examines the different sides of demand, like profiteers of the
sex industry and men who just want sexual acts. This will illuminate my paper because
the supply and demand of trafficked children are an important aspect of this problem to
look at.

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