The youth are expected to
enjoy and cherish their childhood, but the vicious existence of child
trafficking in the society makes this inexecutable for huge segment of children
in the society. Many things such as forced labor, organ trade, prostitution
etc., are covered under child trafficking. Trafficking of human beings is a
universal phenomenon. It stands 3rd in the world among the organized crimes
committed by the individuals. Many great organizations such as UNICEF (United
Nations Children’s Fund) I.L.O. Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention U.N. Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (established at 2000 working especially
for Women and Children),Organization of Southeast
Asia (COSA)Stop Child Trafficking
Now etc., are working to prevent child trafficking. According to
UNICEF child trafficking is "the act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring
or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation either within or outside
a country". UNICEF provides the world with international statics of
matter related to child, it provides funds to help the children affected, and
it even provides developmental and humanitarian aid to the children as well as
the mothers. Children which are the most important asset to the country are
exploited by criminal organizations leading to mental agony, physical hurt and
are a major cause of disturbance in the life of the child which changes their mentality
and increases their possibility to become the vilest criminals of the
forthcoming society.
The
termination of child trafficking is not only the responsibility of the
government of the particular country but of the individuals as well. It’s easy
to shift blame by stating the powerlessness of the individual in the means of
authority. Termination of child trafficking does not mean keeping child safe
from the traffickers but it can also be done by educating other people about
child trafficking, identifying the prior signs of the child trafficking and
inform the concerned authority. These small steps will lead to eradication of
the evil like child trafficking. India has over 14 million victims of human
trafficking according to the Global Survey Index, 2014. This shows the
ineffectiveness of the efforts made in India to control Child Trafficking. To
cure India from the disease that is child trafficking, the bill – Trafficking
of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) has been drafted in the
parliament by Maneka Gandhi (Women and Child Development Minister) on 30th May,
2016. The bill was formulated due to inefficiency in the previous legislation
regarding the laws governing the victim’s rehabilitation. The special fund will
be created under this act for the Rehabilitation of the children’s affected by
trafficking. This fund will cater to their basic needs such as – Food,
clothing, education, homage & shelter etc. Though the bill covers the
deficiency of the previous legislation, it has still not been fully upgraded as
it has not even defined the term ‘trafficking’. The bill has strengthened the
punishment for the traffickers in order to curtail the number of crimes. The
current governing legislation Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956, imposes
punishment on the people who live off the earnings of any woman, provides
rehabilitation of sex personnel but would not charge abuse on commercial sex
personnel. Basically, it only criminalizes with the aim of prostitution and
overlooks all the other aspects of trafficking.
Child trafficking is increasing globally
at an alarming rate which motivates government to implement legal reforms to
prevent and protect children. It has been noted that girls trafficking
comprises of 15 – 20% and 10% boys of the children ascertained based on
official data provided by various countries. Although sexual exploitation is
the prime reason behind child trafficking, victims are also escalating because
of forced labor. Moreover, traffickers allure parents through economic benefits
and financial loans to sell their children for work. The regions affected by
wars & disasters generally have a higher rate of child trafficking. The
common observation outlined is that a natural disaster can entice traffickers
and magnify the factors responsible for child trafficking. The regulatory
mechanism and children support systems like schools, colleges are in disarray.
The exploitation manifolds into sexual abuse, work without pay, marriage
militia, domestic servitude and more. Earlier traffickers have to gamble out in
the community to search for young victims, but now the social media is an
effective tool for the commission of this heinous crime. These kinds of
predators know that children are comfortable on all sorts of networking areas,
often without parental monitoring. They are easily able to lie, deceive, and
manipulate the younger generation into situations from which there is
absolutely no break. The traffickers even create fake profile of friends, other
young people, or attractive users of the opposite gender. They are seasoned
experts and regularly find new ways to lure children into unsafe situations
where they can be used and sold into the sex trafficking industry. The Indian
government has made provisions to punish human trafficking, Section 370A of the
IPC punishes the individual with imprisonment of 3-5 years and fine, who with
his consent engages in the crime of trafficking in sexual. Article 24 and
Article 25 of the Indian Constitution also abolishes exploitation of human
beings that results into eradication of human trafficking and forced labor, it
also restricts child labor respectively.
No doubt many international associations
and national organizations are working to eradicate child trafficking but the
efforts have not yet achieved the objectives. Different measures can further be
adopted by the organizations to ensure strict implementation of laws and to
take hold of the culprits. The mediums through which criminal organizations are
working may it be the social websites, should be blocked and identified by the
cyber cell and should be given stringent punishments to ensure that the
repetition of crime should not take place and proper justice prevails.
Trafficking has become the modern medium of slavery, by the organized or the
unorganized criminals by exploiting children. The child trafficking awareness
program should take place in rural as well as trafficking affected areas. The
Non- State actors are the major factors which increases the crime of child
trafficking. They train such children and make them work for them in their
terrorist activities. There should be a full stop for the heinous crimes like
child trafficking, which ruins the life of innocent children and creates unjust
and irreversible turbulence in their life.
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