{"id":49705,"date":"2025-07-30T16:49:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T11:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=49705"},"modified":"2025-07-30T16:51:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T11:21:17","slug":"girl-child-trafficking-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-07-2025\/girl-child-trafficking-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Girl Child Trafficking in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Issues Related to Children; Issues Related to Women<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Girl child trafficking remains one of the gravest human rights violations in India, and Bihar\u2019s persistent struggle with poverty, migration, and porous borders has tragically made it a hotspot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Status of Human &amp; Girl Child Trafficking<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Human trafficking is one of the<strong> largest organised crimes worldwide.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the <strong>National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Data 2022:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India registered 2,250 cases of human trafficking, identifying 6,036 victims, of which 2,878 were children, including 1,059 girls.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On average, eight children were trafficked every day in 2021, with 44% of trafficking victims being minors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bihar and Rajasthan<\/strong> reported the highest number of child trafficking charge sheets between 2018 and 2022, with 1,848 and 2,711 respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bihar\u2019s Trafficking Crisis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bihar has become a trafficking hub due to <strong>poverty and social vulnerability,<\/strong> <strong>porous borders <\/strong>with Nepal,<strong> railway links<\/strong> to trafficking-prone States, and <strong>cultural exploitation (orchestra belt),<\/strong> especially in regions like Saran and Muzaffarpur.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bihar Police rescued<strong> 271 girls, <\/strong>with <strong>153 trafficked into orchestras<\/strong> and <strong>118 into the flesh trade (June 2025).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons Behind Trafficking (Root Causes)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Systemic Failure:<\/strong> Despite strong legislations in India <strong>conviction rates remain abysmal.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cases are misfiled, often as <strong>kidnappings or missing persons,<\/strong> and<strong> Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs)<\/strong> are under-resourced.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Girls are sometimes sent back to <strong>families that sold them (Re-trafficking Risks).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gender Discrimination:<\/strong> Girls are disproportionately targeted for <strong>sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced marriage.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Demand for Cheap Labor and Sexual Exploitation:<\/strong> Industries and underground networks perpetuate exploitation for profit.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Orchestras continue to operate with impunity, even after repeated rescues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Migration and Displacement:<\/strong> Natural disasters, conflict, and rural-urban migration increase vulnerability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cultural Practices:<\/strong> Traditions like Devadasi and Jogin systems have historically contributed to exploitation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal &amp; Institutional Frameworks in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Constitutional Protections:<\/strong> Article 23 prohibits trafficking and forced labor.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Article 39(e)-(f)<\/strong> mandates the protection of children against exploitation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), 1956: <\/strong>Criminalizes trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>POCSO Act, 2012:<\/strong> Protects children from sexual offenses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Juvenile Justice Act, 2015:<\/strong> Provides care and protection for trafficked children.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ujjawala Scheme:<\/strong> Focuses on prevention, rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration of victims.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS):<\/strong> Strengthens child protection infrastructure and services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Project Jeevanjot-2 (Punjab):<\/strong> Introduced DNA testing to verify familial ties of children found begging, helping identify trafficking cases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Child Welfare Infrastructure:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Childline 1098 helpline;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>National and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR\/SCPCR);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>NGO Networks:<\/strong> Organizations like Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Praajwala, and Sanlaap lead on-ground efforts in rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Campaigns like Dear Men,<\/strong> a short film based on real-life rescues, aim to raise public awareness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward: Prevention as Protection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Trafficking needs to be <strong>tackled at the source.<\/strong> It includes school monitoring of attendance; village registers tracking child migration; railway and transport vigilance; trained AHTU personnel; strict prohibition and prosecution of orchestras employing minors; state-supervised rehabilitation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prosecution as the Tipping Point:<\/strong> A recent report by the <strong>Centre for Legal Action and Behaviour Change (C-Lab) <\/strong>emphasizes that <strong>prosecution is key<\/strong> to stopping trafficking.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In collaboration with NGOs, <strong>53,651 children were rescued, <\/strong>and legal action followed in each case \u2014 a clear indicator that <strong>justice deters crime.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PICKET Framework: <\/strong>To end child trafficking, India needs to adopt the <strong>PICKET strategy:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Policy <\/strong>\u2013 Clear laws banning child exploitation;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Institutions <\/strong>\u2013 Empowered systems for protection and justice;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Convergence <\/strong>\u2013 Coordination between departments and NGOs;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Knowledge <\/strong>\u2013 Awareness campaigns and intelligence sharing;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Disruption<\/strong> \u2013 Make trafficking financially unviable;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technology <\/strong>\u2013 Use digital tools for tracking and prevention;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/bihars-dark-side-the-hub-of-girl-child-trafficking\/article69870523.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: TH<\/a><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Girl child trafficking remains one of the gravest human rights violations in India, and Bihar\u2019s persistent struggle with poverty, migration, and porous borders has tragically made it a hotspot.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bihar\u2019s Trafficking Crisis<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Bihar has become a trafficking hub due to poverty and social vulnerability, porous borders with Nepal, railway links to trafficking-prone States, and cultural exploitation (orchestra belt), especially in regions like Saran and Muzaffarpur.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Bihar Police rescued 271 girls, with 153 trafficked into orchestras and 118 into the flesh trade (June 2025).<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-07-2025\/girl-child-trafficking-in-india\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49705"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49719,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49705\/revisions\/49719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}