It certainly takes a lot to empathise with a survivor of human trafficking. Here, I religiously choose to not use the word ‘victim’, as it gives way to a negative connotation and indicates stigmatization. As per United Nations Office On Drugs And Crime, human trafficking has been defined in Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, ‘the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation’. It has become a major threat all across the world, violating the right to life. Further, human rights are being severely violated in the horrific act of human trafficking.
In India, the Anti-Trafficking Bill was passed recently, which is a major breakthrough as it encompasses new changes with structured elements to combat human trafficking. Human trafficking is a rampant menace all across the world, but it is more prominent in South Asian countries due to porous borders which make trafficking more accessible. Human trafficking involves trading of flesh and people, involves both women and men. It incorporates transpeople as well. Children are mostly drawn into this for labour work.
Therefore, it is highly imperative to understand the ways to help survivors and work towards the implementation of policies that are made for them.
- First of all, they should be a part of the discourse and policy-making initiatives. This would help them provide better solutions for what they think would be a structured framework.
- Secondly, sensitisation campaigns for the vulnerable groups should commence through training workshops. Through these campaigns, the survivors could be empowered through schemes that would help them not fall into the trap of trafficking again.
- Thirdly, a survivor-centric approach must be adopted, wherein proper mental healthcare facilities and legal support should be provided to the survivors of trafficking.
- Safe housing facilities with a trauma-informed approach should be taken into account.
- The government should provide educational and economic opportunities to the survivors for the sake of minimizing the vulnerability of succumbing to re-trafficking.
- Special task forces must be formulated to monitor the patterns of trafficking. For instance, anti-trafficking coordination could be created to facilitate a partnership between local law enforcement agencies and national regulatory authorities. This would enable a better mechanism to locate and record all the data related to trafficking and curbing further chances of trafficking.
- Most importantly, special care should be provided to survivors during the transitional period.