February 2012 Colloquium Paper IV AB ISD

The Blind-Eye Towards Trafficking: Sex Trafficking in India

Why does sex trafficking still persist in India despite the legal and non-legal efforts by various groups and actors to prevent it?

Mara Czareanah B. Gerona

Aira Marie R. Robielos

I. INTRODUCTION Trafficking is among one of the most prominent issues in the world. It is also one of the most common types of heavy crimes that need to be addressed. It is a modern-day kind of slavery that needs urgent international attention and anybody can become victims. Victims of trafficking are usually those who are suffering from poverty and most especially, women and children. There are two forms of trafficking, which are labor and sex trafficking. However, sex trafficking is the most widespread among the world. There are also different techniques and methods used to traffic persons from location to location and certain destinations. Among these are: the use of local contacts, direct sales, deceit, debt bondage, kidnapping, falsification of documents, bribes and through the use of transportation. There are a huge percentage of women and children who are being trafficked. India,

Thailand and the Philippines have an estimated 3.1 million in its sex trade centers. (CATW, n.d.) Also, in 1998, 200 rescued children and women who were victims of trafficking were awaited in different shelters in India. (CATW, n.d.) Trafficking is rampant in the society today, and the number of trafficked women continues to arise as time goes by. This paper focused on sex trafficking in India and it answered and analyzed the question: Why does trafficking still persist in India despite all the legal and nonlegal efforts by various groups and actors to prevent it? It will answer the question through the use of the supply, demand and impunity framework. According to the National Human Rights Commission of New Delhi, in India, trafficking continues to happen and the numbers of victims are rising up. This is a grave violation of the human rights of the victims and most victims are trafficked for sex labor and women and children are the usual victims. According to a study made by the UNIFEM (now UN Women), trafficking and its kinds are different from prostitution. Various aspects of this issue still need to be explained, understood and researched upon. Why India? There still exists Gender Inequality in India and it is present in various beliefs and culture of the society. A large portion of the poor in India are also suffering from poverty

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and these areas are where there is a large portion of trafficking occurs. (Nair, 2003) There is also political conflict in the country and the government is having problems in effective law enforcement to combat trafficking. To add to that, India is one of the most populated countries in the world. Indian society and culture is highly patriarchal. Gender as well as sex discrimination is common in the country. These include sex selective abortions, female feticide, female infanticide, and high female mortality rate have been generally ascribed to the larger issue of gender discrimination prevalent in the society. (Nair, 2003) The culture of India can have a high influence on these kinds of discriminations among women. As of 2001, female illiteracy rate comprises 54.16% (Nair, 2003) Karnataka, Andha Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are considered "high supply zones" for women in prostitution which means a lot of trafficking happen in these areas in India. (CATW, n.d.) Also, millions of persons are trafficked each year both domestically and internationally in India. (Aronowitz, 2009) Trafficking in Persons (TIP), a 9 billion USD industry is estimated to be the fastest growing enterprise of the 21st century. This crime comes at an incalculable human cost and represents one of the most shameful facets of the modern world. Unsurprisingly, the majority of victims of human trafficking are women and children, the most marginalized segments of society in developing countries. The weak legal landscapes of developing countries, compounded by factors such as gender discrimination, family violence and a lack of access to education and economic opportunity, providing existing and potential traffickers with ample available victims. (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner, Turker& Yang, 2010) Tracking and making actions to combat trafficking are among some of the responsibilities of the UN as well as other agencies because it has become a major problem of the world. Strategies to combat trafficking such as law enforcement have been done to protect the people. Among these were: The 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW 1979), 2000 UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Convention of Belm do Par (1994), ILO Convention 182, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). However, despite the efforts, the problem about trafficking just seems to be getting worse.
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II. CAUSES OF SEX TRAFFICKING According to United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking (UN.GIFT, 2008), with their recent study about trafficking all over the world, they observed different root causes of trafficking. These are a.)Gender-based violence, b.)Discriminatory labor practices, c.)Patriarchal social structures, d.)Breakdown of family networks, e.)Ethnic, racial and religious marginalization, f.)Failed and corrupt governments, g.)Lack of status as citizens or legal residents entitled to work, h.)Womens role in the family, i.)Power hierarchy and social order, j.)Childrens roles and responsibilities, k.)Historical precedents of bonded labor, l.)Early and forced marriage, m.)High rates of divorces and social stigma, n.)Disruption of personal development, o.)Limited educational achievement and p.)Limited economic opportunity. Moreover, the issue of poverty was also seen as an essential factor that makes more women vulnerable to trafficking. (Sullivan, 2010) This is because people living in poverty usually have low or no income at all and most of them were unable to negotiate or challenge the oppressive working conditions they belong with. Also, they need to stay away from their home, voluntarily but usually forced to, and communities in order to survive and have better economic opportunities as well. Gender is also an important factor why women have high risk of being trafficked. Kempadoo (2005) says that women are represented among the poor, the undocumented, the debtbonded and the international migrant workforce. Mistrust and discrimination greatly affect womens lives as well as limit their economic opportunities. One way for women to cope with a highly-gendered and racialized world order is to migrate to places where they can be better paid off and these areas are usually the domestic and entertainment areas where there was little protection under labor laws. These cases lead to more women being victims of trafficking. But basically, it is the demand for cheap, flexible, wage labor that were probably the main causes of people trafficking in the world today. (Kempadoo, 2005) In the case of India, according to Dr. Joseph Dsouza, one cannot understand human trafficking in India without understanding the caste system in their society. Experts identify illiteracy, corruption and bureaucracy as causes of trafficking but it is actually the Dalits, people who belong to the lowest caste class in India, who are mainly vulnerable to the traffickers due to
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their lack of access to education. Also, beyond poverty, other causes include low employment prospects, a patriarchal culture, low regard for womens rights, low levels of education, discrimination and marginalization of women and cultural factors such as the dowry issue. (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner, Turker& Yang, 2010)

III. EFFORTS (LAW, CONVENTIONS, NGOS, GOS) Although there are very important causes of trafficking that needs to be addressed, both the international sector and the government of India conduct a lot of efforts in order to combat it. Other sectors in the world such as NGOs and INGOs also put great effort in lessening incidences of trafficking. These measures include both legal and non-legal efforts.

a. Legal Efforts Legal methods to combat trafficking have existed since the end of World War I. After the war, the League of Nations adopted a broad-reaching document against slavery that essentially affirmed the 1904 treaty. (Not For Sale, n.d.) One of the most used efforts to combat trafficking would be through the use of International Law, conventions and agreements. This is referred to as the legal framework in addressing and combating trafficking. The UN is the primary group that makes efforts in order to combat trafficking. One of the major laws and conventions include: The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, this is related to two protocols which are the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air in 2003 and 2004 which were created by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). They also established the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) in 2007. Other provisions which also help in addressing trafficking are found in the Slavery Convention (1926) and the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956). Also, the Universal Declaration of Human
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Rights (1948), the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (1966), The United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949), and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979). (King, n.d.)

Legal efforts also include making regional policies in every region. Each state must create policies which are in line with these international laws and conventions. These regional efforts are the key to combat trafficking. Currently, the countries which have a strong framework and legislation in combating trafficking are the United States and the European countries. These legal efforts also include the creation of supply and demand based policies so that prevention isnt just made. The current situation is also addressed. Legal efforts in India include the legislation for prevention of traditional forms of sexual exploitation and the Prohibition of Dedication Act (1988), Human trafficking Prevention Program (2007), State Policy for Women (2001), Goas Child Act (2003). (Hameed et al., 2010)

b. Non-legal Efforts Non-legal efforts are also made to combat trafficking. It is not enough that there are existing laws the protect women, children and individuals from trafficking. Awareness should be increased, as well as research regarding the areas where trafficking usually happens. These non-legal efforts also include the participation all the members of the international community. Campaigns in order to combat trafficking and help in increasing awareness also play a role in combating trafficking. Non-governmental efforts also exist to help in the issue of trafficking. One of the popular organizations includes the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-International (CATW). Different sectors of the UN also contribute in the fight against human trafficking. These include the UN offices such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Other organizations which help in the
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monitoring also include the International Labor Organization (ILO), UNICEF, UNDP, UNIFEM, UNHCR, and the ASEAN. International Banks also help in research regarding the issue and provide funding in order to combat trafficking. Among these banks are the World Bank, The Asian Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

In India, there is a community based organization ran by the UK in order to combat trafficking. Also, the government has made efforts such as adjustments in the budget in order to combat trafficking. These programs and sections in the government include: Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking Units (IAHTUs), Anti- Trafficking Nodal Cell State Program, Integrated National Plan of Action, Swadhar Program, and the Ujjawala Program. (Hameed et al., 2010)

IV. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The framework of this paper was used by Allison Phinneys, of the Pan American Health Organization, article titled Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation in the Americas. Her reason for creating this article is to show the experiences and situations of women in the United States that was viewed as a developed country with really high cost of living. She used the concept supply and demand and how the relationship of these two concepts can describe the sexual exploitation in Americas. The demand aspect of sex trafficking remains the least visible. When demand is not analyzed, or is mentioned rarely, it is easy to forget that people are trafficked into the sex industry to satisfy not the demand of the traffickers, but that of the purchasers, who are mostly men. The insatiable demand for women and children in massage parlors, strip shows, escort services, brothels, pornography and street prostitution is what makes the trafficking trade so lucrative. Research in this area is sparse, but a few studies show that mens reasons for buying sex include a desire for sex without commitment or emotional involvement; the perception that they can ask a prostitute to do anything, including acts they would hesitate to request from a regular partner; the belief, particularly among men without (or separated from) regular partners,
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that sex is necessary to their well-beinga basic need; and the feeling of power experienced in sexual encounters with prostitutes. While for some, men involvement in prostitution may be motivated by sexual desire, for others it is an expression of misogyny and/or racism. To see women and girls lined up in a brothel, numbered and available to any man who picks them is to see them dominated and humiliated, stripped of their power to withhold the sexual access that such men imagine is so central to their own well-being (Davidson 1996). The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) has described the expansion of sex trafficking as a backlash against the feminist movement. Agencies involved in sex tourism, marketing to Caucasian males, advertise Latin American women as dependent, erotic and sex-crazedan alternative to the stereotype of the cold, Western, independent woman. Brazilian women, for example, are marketed as dark-skinned, easy and available, reinforcing racist and colonial stereotypes. The nature of male demand for commercial sex must be understood more fully in order to eliminate sex trafficking. (Phinney, n.d.) The supply aspect of trafficking is perhaps the most transparent and visible. In areas where poverty has already limited peoples choices, discrimination against women in education, employment and wages can leave them with very few options for supporting themselves and their families. Migration through formal channels is not possible for many of these women. Dreaming of a better life in the city, or a foreign country, they become vulnerable to traffickers false promises of high-paying jobs. Even though women might feel uneasy about the travel circumstances, despair over their current prospects and hope for a new life can easily outweigh any sense of danger. In this way poverty and gender inequality create a large pool of potential and seemingly willing recruits. In addition to exploiting economic need, traffickers exploit the vulnerability of women and children who have fled their homes because of violence or have been displaced by armed conflict or natural disasters. The psychological impact and social stigma of victimization can increase womens vulnerability to manipulation and exploitation by traffickers. In Guatemala, for example, traffickers preyed on young girls raped in the course of armed conflict, whose stigma as rape victims had damaged their marriage prospects. Within these dynamics of global demand and supply related to the sex industry, traffickers ply their entrepreneurial skills. Though relatively little is known about traffickers routes, networks, and associations with organized crime in the Americas, one can easily understand the factors that allow them to practice their trade with impunity. International and
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domestic laws are lacking or insufficient; where laws do exist, sentencing guidelines do not provide a deterrent. Corruption contributes heavily to traffickers real and perceived impunity through police and immigration officials who collude, accept bribes, or turn a blind eye. Though governments may not promote trafficking directly, they may be hesitant to take aggressive action against it, since the sex industry is extremely profitable and linked to other sectors, such as tourism.

Demand

Trafficki ng

Supply
(Phinney, n.d.)

Impunity

Supply, demand and impunity together create a space in which trafficking can flourish (Figure 1). The resulting environment allows high profits at low risk for the traffickers, but with serious health risks and human rights violations for the victims. The space is extremely difficult to see, much less describe and define, because each facet of the triangle operates in a way that makes trafficking more or less invisible to society. The success of traffickers business relies on their ability to keep activities hidden from law enforcement agencies. Most information on crime rings is uncovered only when a participant is caught and agrees to inform. The end purchasers also prefer to remain invisible, engaged themselves in activities that are largely criminal and considered deviant. Finally, the circumstances of exploitation help keep the practice invisible.

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Some victims are forcibly imprisoned and unable to speak out, while others are silenced by their fear of police and immigration officers, or retaliation from the traffickers.

IV. ANALYSIS

- Business - Unending demands or needs of men

Trafficki ng
High levels of poverty = High supply of trafficked people

Blind-eye towards trafficking

The figure above shows the application of the supply-demand-impunity framework to India. According to the U.S. State Department (2009), India is both a source and transit country for trafficking, as well as one of the most popular trafficking destinations in South Asia. It is estimated that 10% of Indias trafficking in persons is international while 90% is domestic, a pattern that differs from the more common paradigm of trafficking across international borders. (Sen, 2004) Given Indias size, trafficking tends to occur across state borders instead. Of the women and girls that are trafficked into India, mostly came from Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia and Myanmar. Many of the Indian women trafficked out of the country end up either in Middle East for sexual exploitation or in Europe, the United States or the Middle East as domestic and low-skilled labor. (Aronowitz, 2009) Indias sex industry includes some 2 million sex workers, 20% of which are under age of 16 and considered as children, though different laws
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use on different age limits. (Sen, 2004) Given those statistics and information, it can be seen that sex trafficking in India continues to persist because of internal and external factors and causes that are faced by women, children as well as the country itself. Using the The Trafficking Triangle of Allison Phinney, this paper seeks to analyze and answer the question Why does sex trafficking still persist in India despite the legal and nonlegal efforts of various groups and actors to prevent it? a. Supply The supply side is the side of traffickers who took the status, responsibilities and interest of women who wanted to get out of poverty, who believed that they will get greater amount of money with this kind of work, who have no choice because their families are victims of natural disasters and conflicts and others who are victims of social and cultural practices and were forced to get into this kind of work because it was a responsibility for them which is also taken for granted. (Phinney, n.d.) In the case of India, the supply side is seen because of the condition of poverty, globalization, social practices, natural disasters and governance thats why supplying trafficked persons still persists. (Stanford University, 2010) States with the highest levels of poverty, like Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, are where the largest numbers of victims of trafficking originate. On the other hand, Delhi and Goa have both a low percentage of people living below the poverty line in addition to relatively high literacy rates among both women and men due to positive economic development resulting from globalization. These two states are primarily reported as destination and not source locations. Reports from Delhi indicate that kidnapping and abduction are the major methods for recruiting victims in this region. Also, it is often argued that the feminization of poverty is the reason for the increasing trend of trafficking in women. Investing in female workers is cheaper and received less of what society produces compared to their male counterparts. This extends as well to education, health care and other productive assets that could improve their well-being. Adding to the problem as well, female-headed households usually forced their children to work for their family to survive which usually places their children at

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risk of being trafficked. (ADB, 2005) Moreover, theres also an increase in the demand for casual labor which requires both flexibility and mobility and poor individuals that engage in migrant labor are susceptible to the manipulations of traffickers. (Ibid) Trafficking tends to be more common as well to those who live in areas where there are high probabilities of natural disasters. (Ibid) Also, because of the low-cost competition in South Asia, theres an increase in the demand for cheap labor which encourage employers to exploit unskilled labor via trafficking. (ADB, 2005 & Ali, 2005) Marginalization of women is a contributing factor as well to the supply aspect of trafficked women in India. The fact that many families perpetuate and institutionalize the act of trafficking has hindered the preventive measures done by anti-TIP (Trafficked in Persons) efforts. Gender-biased social practices have led parents to be persuaded by traffickers under false perceptions of marriage without dowry. (UNIAP, 2002) India is known for its high level of female feticide where 1 in 25 female fetuses is aborted. (Frontine World, 2009) This is due to their tradition of dowry where women are seen as an economic burden for families in India. (Ibid) Also, there is this need for men of wives so some provide supply of wives to states where theres gender biased towards men. Another thing is, due to the belief that education can reduce marriage prospects, women are not sent to school for them to have a low opportunity to become economically independent. Child labor is increasing as well to meet the growing needs and demands of globalization. With the innocence, uncomplaining and easily-controlled, vulnerable, desperate and dispensable traits of children, employers or traffickers opt for them to be recruited and later on, to be trafficked. (Child Workers in Nepal, 2010) Unfortunately, children do not have the wisdom to see their situation and remain in the trafficked situation because they perceive this work as stable. Women and children in conflict areas or areas affected by natural disasters are also vulnerable of being trafficked due to their condition and drive to bring back their normal life and survive the calamity theyve encountered. (Duggal-Chadha, 2006) Also, the weakness of the legal framework from the government is also a factor why women and children in India are highly vulnerable to be victims of trafficking.

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(ADB, 2005) If theres one, women and children are less likely to participate and contribute because of their inability to access social services and programs. Looking at these factors, theres the unending supply of trafficked persons in India due to different factors that have not been addressed nor pay attention to because of various techniques and strategies of traffickers and employers who took for granted the living conditions, dreams, goals and aspirations especially of women, children and families living below the poverty and fighting for their survival in the globalizing world that we have right now. b. Demand The demand side is the side of consumers who felt the need of making more money, experience satisfaction and the like from women and children inferior to them and can be controlled by them. (Stanford University, 2010) In the case of India, the demand side is seen in the demand of a number of sectors especially the commercial sex work sector and labor work sector. Brothels, temporary construction or workers camps, highways, urban residential areas and small closed communities serve as homes to trafficking. (ADB, 2005) This is because, these areas are often secluded or far away from commercial spaces where theres high risk of being caught by officials or other people in authority. Labor trafficking is also very common. Trafficked victims work in factories because they become indentured or debt-bonded by their employers and dont have the capability to pay or return the money to their employers that were used for them. Globalization is also seen as a factor of having high demand for sex trafficking. From the interviews with NGOs, high crime rates and economic boom are seen as primary causes of sex trafficking in wealthy areas. (Zeenews.com, 2010) Economic boom has increased the demand for sexual services and increased the level of migrant workers that lead to an increase in the supply of trafficked victims. (Sen, 2004) The demand for sex trafficking will not end as long as there are consumers who will need women with cheaper wages for business use. Also, the demand will just
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continue because of the unending demands or needs of men especially in wealthy countries for low amount of money but will bring them high satisfaction and respect for them for being superior to those trafficked women and children. As long as men have this perception of being able to use women because of their position in the society, theres a little chance of combatting sex trafficking especially in a country like India. c. Impunity One time I tried to escape. I complained to the police, but they did nothing. A few days later the Maliks men found me on the streets and took me back to the brothel. (Maya, from Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery) It is ironic how there are already existing laws which protect human beings, most especially children and women from trafficking and yet trafficking doesnt seem to die down or lessen even one bit. Impunity is the existence of laws and the poor enforcements of it. Impunity happens when there are ineffective penalties and corruption in the areas of trafficking. Most of the time, officials turn a blind eye towards the crime, as mentioned in the supply-demand-impunity framework of Phinney. They turn a blind eye because of various reasons. Usually, it is because of greed or because it will benefit themselves. Trafficking can also help in promoting tourism which is why impunity persists. According to Siddharth Kara in the book Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Slavery, women and children are raped so that the traffickers to earn money and impunity play a part in this action. There are reasons for the impunity. It is a fact that attention in the sphere of media is being given; however, there is still a poor understanding of trafficking. In the media in India, trafficking is usually associated to prostitution, but the truth is it is not. Even the law that has been passed in India, which is the Immoral Trafficking in Persons Act (ITPA), implies that trafficking is linked to prostitution. Another problem which contributes to the continued existence of trafficking is that the organizations which combat it are usually low on funds and lack proper coordination. As mentioned previously, there are laws in India which exist and which were passed and yet they arent

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enforced properly and are weak. Also, although countless studies have already been made about the issue, the right point of intervention still hasnt been made. (Kara, 2010) Although there is the existence of laws, impunity still persists and members of the government still seem to find a way around these laws and ignore them. Perhaps a more thorough study of the area is still needed in order to be able to establish the correct point of intervention on the issue. There is a problem with the strategy on how the issue of women trafficking has been interfered with. Oftentimes, people who made the laws are actually the ones who violate it. Amnesty International has reported that:
NATO soldiers, UN police, and Western aid workers operated with impunity in exploiting the victims of the sex traffickers.

Also in India, there has been a notion that these women or girls are there, or have been trafficked by some misguided idea of choice. Even though laws exist, police officers and those who should be implementing the laws in India are in influenced by their own beliefs and morals regarding prostitutes. As mentioned previously, oftentimes trafficked women are viewed as prostitutes even though there are just mere victims of trafficking. Because of the beliefs that they have become prostitutes out of their own accord, in a way it has encouraged impunity within the area. It also increases impunity within men who arent even supposed to be enforcers of the law. These men are those who avail of the services or those who are part of the enslavement of these women and children. Women are also physically or verbally abused which hinder them from telling their situation to the police. Police in turn practice impunity for they do not address the crime even if the victims themselves come up to them. Their beliefs regarding victims of trafficking as prostitutes have influenced them. (Sanderson, 2008) Other things that add up to the impunity in the area are that the law enforcers themselves do not have adequate knowledge about the laws of their countries. They even become accomplices who control the industry and who hinder the efforts and make them ineffective. Impunity exists because the police and the traffickers have a beneficial relationship. They are sometimes even given free sexual services, take money, and harass the victims of trafficking. They have percentages in the income of the trafficked people.

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In a study by Hameed et al., the ANTI- Trafficking in Persons Framework (ANTI-TIP) is used to combat trafficking in India. The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) is the most effective kind of law passed to combat trafficking in the country. However, it is said in the study that the ANTI-TIP is flawed or it is not appropriate for the area. Section 8: Seducing or soliciting for purpose of prostitution in the ITPA is said to be used in order to take advantage of the victims of trafficking instead of helping and protecting them. To add to the impunity, trafficking in India is not a priority issue especially when it comes to the enforcement of laws as well as the creation of an ineffective law or a law which is weak adds to the victimization (human rights abuses) of those who are trafficked. The government also fails to educate the people about the existence of the laws which protect them. The shelters lack in resources and the victims of trafficking think that they are jails which add to the reason why they fail to ask help from them. There is also impunity in the government officials themselves. They do not address the needs of the victims and engage instead in corrupt behavior. (Hameed et al., 2010)

d. Supply Demand Impunity Trafficking continues to flourish in India because the law isnt followed. The perpetrators of the crime do not get punished which is why they continue to supply the trafficking industry with human beings. The demand side also do not get punished which is why they continue to avail of the services and take advantage of the victims of trafficking. The whole system which is supposed to protect the women who are in danger of being trafficked or are trafficked turns a blind eye towards the trafficking being done and this becomes the impunity. These three, all contribute to making trafficking successful and seem invisible to the other sectors of society, especially to higher enforcement agencies. The law is able to exist yet unable to punish those traffickers because of concepts co-exist and depend on each other.

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V. Conclusion It is evident that demand, supply and impunity have a strong influence on why trafficking in India still seems to be a problem. The culture and beliefs of the country also play a huge role in keeping these three problems thriving. Trafficking has negative and detrimental effects to the people of India. It contributes to the high level of physical problems such as AIDS and HIVs, as well as, mental health problems such as trauma and depression because of their experiences as victims of trafficking. Because of impunity, women often face criminal offenses and have legal problems. There is also the absence of adequate and appropriate laws which address victims of trafficking. Oftentimes women get punished for being the victim and because of circumstances. Also they usually just get deported. The society also faces great economic and cultural losses. Instead of earning money and profit from women working officially or having decent work, they are taken advantage of. Money is produced in illegally and it only benefits the criminals who abuse and oppress the women in India. It also violates human rights because women arent protected and their dignities are taken away from them. India is a highly patriarchal society and trafficking becomes an act which contributes to the degradation of women. Each and everyone deserve respect. Women, who are victims of trafficking, when they try to go back to their homes and family often feel that they are only bringing shame if they return. This is another reason why trafficking in the country should be addressed.
The second time I became very ill. When I was strong I ran away. I went to a shelter near Falkland Road. They told me I have HIV. They helped me contact my father, but he told me not to come home. He said I can never be married and because I have HIV, I can only bring shame."Sex Trafficking: Inside the business of modern day slavery, 2010

The issue about power relations also contributes to the problem, the men being regarded as more powerful than the women. Women in India need to be able to improve having access and control to resources. They should be trusted with responsibilities. Their strategic-practical needs should be addressed. Capabilities should also be given to them, it should be improved and roles of both the women and men in the society should become more flexible so that their probability of being trafficked is lessened.

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Sex trafficking is a problem that needs to be addressed by all sectors in India. Government organizations, non-government organization, international organizations and even the private sectors should work hand in hand to combat sex trafficking because as long as there are people who wanted to earn a lot and gain a lot using others, who wanted to live better lives but have small possibility of having a stable job because of lack of education and who will take advantage of the weaknesses of other people just to prove their superiority, theres sex trafficking. Laws should be firmly implemented together with the perseverance of our society to change their perception about women and children being trafficked as a solution to their problems in life. Its not wrong to aspire for something better but do it without harming yourself as well as the lives and dignity of other people. Dont just use what you have physically; make use of who you are, your capabilities, strengths and skills for the betterment of your life as well as your family and your society.

References: Aronowitz,A. (2009). Human Trafficking, Human Misery: The Global Trade Human Beings. London: Library of Congress. CATW. (n.d.) Human Trafficking. Trafficking of Humans. Retrieved January 16, 2012 from
http://www.catwinternational.org/index.php?srccd=g201&gclid=CK2zoc-6hq4CFSJU4godMU7C3g

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