” My parents were told that I will have a better future,good food and they ( parents) will never have to go hungry.My siblings will be able to study and they too will have a good future…I was raped by the ‘uncle’-on my to Mumbai.. and later sold off to a brothel. There I was raped and humiliated. Today, even after 8 years, the pain refuses to leave me. My parents don’t know about this, they are happy with the money I send them. What was my fault?” narrates a victim of human trafficking.

“Trafficking in persons” shall mean 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. Trafficking invariably involves forcible movement of a person from one place to another and forcible utilization of their services with the intention of inducting them into trade for commercial gains. When we say ‘forcible’, it signifies that the action is against the person’s will or that consensus has been obtained by making deceptive claims and false allurements. In some cases, consensus is obtained because of the victim’s social conditioning, where the victim is not even aware that s/he is being exploited. Factors contributing to Human Trafficking Supply Factors Demand Factors Poverty Illiteracy and lack of Employment OpportunitiesRegional imbalance in development, which fuels demand for trafficking from low income to high income areas. Social customs, traditions and religious practices that are discriminatory against women and girls Globalization and a resultant relaxation in control mechanisms fuelling an increased need for ‘cheap’ labour in a price driven model of economic growth Civil war and increased militarization; arrival of soldiers in a place is associated with a rise in child prostitution and sex tourism A consistently expanding commercial sex industry and its linkages to promotion of tourism, and consequent reluctance on part of the State to view this as a problem A demand for cheap labour for industries in a highly competitive global marketplace environmentIncrease in demand from clients for younger and virgin persons because of the fear of HIV/AIDS Patriarchal society which promotes commodification of women, and behavior patterns among m