dissertation on human trafficking in india

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Jaffer Latief Najar

February 11th, 2021, human trafficking in india: how the colonial legacy of the anti-human trafficking regime undermines migrant and worker agency.

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Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, concerns about migrant workers’ rights and conditions in India have been very much in the news and have been escalated, yet the response from the Indian government is feeble (Janwalkar, 2020; Rukmini, 2020; Francis and Uniyal, 2021). Subir Sinha recently notes that Covid-19 has deepened existing inequalities, which blur the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in India (Sinha, 2020). There are also reports showing a rise in trafficking cases in India because of this current pandemic situation ( News18 Networks , 2020). In response to these concerns, the Women Safety Division  of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued an advisory, since July 2020, advising all states and Union Territories (UTs) for the urgent establishment of new Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs), and/or upgrade infrastructure in existing ones (Janyala, 2021). AHTUs in India are special police units, devoted to tackle human trafficking. Following MHA advisory, a recent report of 16 states and UTs suggest that 225 AHTUs existed only on paper, and only 27 percent of the AHTUs were operational (Janyala, 2021). While the MHA advisory has triggered more attention among anti-trafficking activists, increasing demands for quickly setting up AHTUs in all districts (Janyala, 2021), yet the highlighted claim of the report (that shows incompetence of AHTUs) indicates that MHA advisory, and demand for establishing AHTUs, is not enough. The proposed intervention is distorted by its failure to account for the colonial legacy and present contestations in policies that conflates the conception of human trafficking with the social control of consenting adult sex work and migration (e.g. see Bhattacherya, 2018; Giammarinaro and Boola, 2018). Successive attempts to reform the legal definition of human trafficking and interventions have resulted in the application of excessive and arbitrary state power and bureaucratic control (Tandon, 2015). These efforts reflect a misplaced focus on law enforcement rather than holistic human-rights based solutions that promote the agency of workers and migrants.

Current policies regarding human trafficking in India carries colonial legacy and resulting harms. For instance, being a colonial construct, established by British Raj that aimed to serve their military, racial and colonial interests (Chang, 2007; Tambe, 2009), the conception of human trafficking was defined  by colonial regimes as the act of abduction and transport of women for prostitution (Irwin, 1996). This definition conflates human trafficking with prostitution, dispossessing  consenting adult sex worker’s concerns and rights (Tambe, 2009). Besides conflation with consenting adult sex work, the colonial prostitution governance created a regulatory system that vested unimpeded authorities to the institutions like Police or its regime, resulting criminalization and incarcerations of sex workers. For instance, Indian Contagious Disease Act of 1868 provided for compulsory registration of sex workers, and entailed being forced to stay back (without work) for an indefinite period, and subjected to incarceration (Banerjee, 2000; Tambe, 2009). The focus of human trafficking interventions on criminalisation of sex work continued and also got support from Indian nationalists, who later favoured laws reflecting a similar conflation of human trafficking and sex work and/or related professions in legislation such as the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments (Amendment) Act of 1929 (Sreenivas, 2011) and/or The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Acts (SITA) during the 1920s and 1930s (Legg, 2014). SITA was reintroduced after India’s independence, and later replaced by the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986 (ITPA). ITPA carries a parallel colonial legacy and design of SITA, conflating consenting adult sex work with trafficking, except for some minor changes (Cunha, 1987). Along with ITPA, India has also got additional provisions regarding human trafficking, with an amendment in section 370 of Indian Penal Code, which defines human trafficking as:

Whoever, for the purpose of exploitation, recruits, transports, harbors, transfers, or receives, a person or persons, by using threats, or using force, or any other form of coercion, or by abduction, or by practising fraud, or deception, or by abuse of power, or by inducement, including the giving or receiving of payments or benefits, in order to achieve the consent of any person having control over the person recruited, transported, harbored, transferred or received, commits the offence of trafficking. The expression “exploitation” shall include any act of physical exploitation or any form of sexual exploitation, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude. The consent of the victim is immaterial in determination of the offence of trafficking” (Govt. of India, 2013: 5).

This definition in section 370 not only continues conflation of human trafficking with sex work, but introduces its own difficulties: the broad definition captures many persons displaced by forced migration, denies targeted person’s agency, and gives unrestricted power to the state and bureaucratic regime and its institutions, including police. It also encourages a criminalisation approach to tackle trafficking. Indian Government’s National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) collects data and present number of trafficking cases on the basis of this definition of 370. According to data, 95% of trafficked persons in India are forced into prostitution (Divya, 2020). The recent NCRB lists a total of 6,616 human trafficking cases as registered in India, out of which trafficking for the sex trade are highest in numbers (Munshi, 2020). Since these number of cases get registered as per the definition of trafficking in section 370 that conflates with sex work, the reliability of these number thus remains contested. It is because these numbers could include cases of adult sex workers who consented but their consent got denied during anti-trafficking interventions as both ITPA and section 370 allows it. But these figures and legislations do bring workers in sex trade into a situation of selective targeting from anti-trafficking actors and interventions (see GAATW, 2007; The Telegraph, 2017; Chandra, 2018).

The amendment in section 370 made modest but insufficient changes to the definition of trafficking as a response to the recommendation of Verma Committee (Khan, 2015). These changes were also precipitated by India’s commitment to the international actors, after India ratified United Nations’ Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (UN Protocol) in 2011 (UNODC, 2004). Once again, akin to colonial policies, despite resulting in some improvements in India’s human trafficking or workers’ harsh labour conditions, these changes produced more harm than help. For instance, documented narratives (Sangram, 2018), experiences (Walters, 2018) of the targeted groups, and research (GAATW, 2007; Pai, Seshu and Murthy, 2018; Sangram, 2018; Walters and Ramachandran, 2018) even now showed (re)production of violence and harms in targeted person’s lives because of these contemporary anti-trafficking interventions, of which AHTUs mainly acts central implementing agency.

The intention of settling AHTUs appears to maintain a law enforcement anti-crime structure, as the definitions in ITPA and Section 370 understand trafficking through a criminalisation approach. However, practically, narratives of targeted persons at the local level indicates that this intervention does not promote the goal of human rights and protection of targeted persons.

Narratives from my current ethnographic research that gives epistemic priority to those adult migrant workers who experienced anti-trafficking interventions or are seen as trafficked ‘victims’ in the law (see Najar, 2020, 2021), in construction and sex sector of India, shows that the officials of anti-trafficking units were viewed by such workers as being corrupt and partial to the interests of the perpetrators. For instance, sitting inside her brothel room, Priya (name changed), a migrant cis female adult sexworker, said that “[…] Police is culprit here”. She shared an incidence of previous day that two policemen were harassing a customer and then the customer gave 1000 Indian Rupees to these Policemen. The police then allowed these customers to enter the brothel. She said the Police is a party in the business in that red light area. She also shared that usually work should be upto midnight or 1:00 am. But since the Police take rounds till midnight, there are very few customers who come before that midnight, due to the fear of harrashment from Police. Priya said that here the system is reverse as the market opens after 12, once the police gather their money and leave the place (D4:FW3).  This narrative reflects how a system that gives more power and authority to institutions like police could be appropriated and misused, resulting more harm to the livelihood and rights of workers like Priya, rather ensuring and protecting their  human rights.

Furthermore, state officials were viewed as holding unchecked authority over the targeted person’s decision, choices and trajectory. For example, Reshma, a non-brothel based adult migrant sex worker in Kolkata, who introduced herself as ‘flying sex worker’ while sharing her experiences in my research said that “[…] who knows when they (Police) will start harassing you. Sometime, they stop their vehicle in front of me, ask if I carry Ganja (Marijuana), daaru (alcohol) and talk with me a little and go ahead. But all power is in their hand. If they want, they can take me to the jail by saying that I am 15 years old or I am Bangladeshi (undocumented migrant). No one will come to help me then. They (Police) have the powers. So it’s better to not mess up with them and pay or do the work that they want”. (DW 12: FW11). This narrative indicates the fear and consequences among marginalized migrant workers, because of extra and unaccountable institutionalized authority to agents like police and conflation of policies with consenting adult sex work in India.

Total dependence on AHTUs hence has potential to reproduce situation of harms, resulting in diminished relief to the targeted person (see Sangram, 2018; Walters, 2018; Sen, 2021). Also, authority to and dependence on AHTUs may encourage further corruption, surveillance and control by police, reproducing problematic raid-rescue models and targeting of suspected migrants, especially sex workers, undocumented/informal workers, etc ( for example, see Sen, 2021 that highlights a very recent incident and explains how Police Raid to Rescue interventions Criminalised an Entire Neighbourhood). This situation is possible because the law conflates trafficking with sex work and forced migration, and has disproportionate focus on law enforcement strategies.

The disproportionate focus on law enforcement strategies prevents more structural efforts to grapple with these intersecting issues in a way that recognises the agency of targeted persons. The United Nations special rapporteur on trafficking in persons amplified in her report for a shift in focus away from law enforcement and towards human rights and the protection of victims (Okyere, 2020). United Nations special rapporteur on trafficking in persons in her report also pointed that a new international instrument may be required, because the current international instruments like Palermo protocol may not be sufficient or effective when it comes to considering such human rights goals. Analysing the Special Rapporteur’s argument, Sam Okyere argues “ the Palermo protocol is irredeemably compromised and must be dismantled, rather than reformed. We instead need to strengthen existing international instruments focusing upon workers’ and migrants’ rights and protections. Any new instrument which is developed needs to avoid the trap of making crime fighting a primary goal ” (Okyere, 2020). It thus reflects that current demand to tackle human trafficking and protect migrant’s rights signifies a shift from law enforcement focused intervention to human rights and protection of worker’s rights.

Given the colonial legacy and the continuing concerns arising from successive attempts at law reform, it appears that the current intervention to tackle human trafficking in India by only establishing AHTUs is not enough. India’s strategy to tackle human trafficking and migrant workers’ crisis should not completely and only depends on law enforcement institutions like AHTUs, instead, it also requires a rights based reform that dismantles the colonial legacy of the law which conflates human trafficking and sex work and migration. If Modi government in India fails to reform the policies, and simply promotes an intervention by only setting up law enforcement structures like AHTUs, it would mere be a token response to tackle trafficking and protect migrant worker’s rights, rather than a genuine effort.    

Banerjee, S. (2000) Under the Raj: Prostitution in Colonial Bengal. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Bhattacherya, U. (2018) Why Is the Anti-Trafficking Bill Bothering India’s Sex Workers? , The Quint . Available at: https://www.thequint.com/voices/women/anti-trafficking-bill-india-2018-sex-workers-problems (Accessed: 12 September 2020).

Chandra, J. (2018) Activists oppose draft anti-trafficking Bill – The Hindu , The Hindu . Available at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/activists-oppose-draft-anti-trafficking-bill/article24445893.ece (Accessed: 18 January 2019).

Chang, S. (2007) A Colonial Haunting : Prostitution and the Politics of Sex Trafficking in by British India, 1917-1939 .

Cunha, J. D. (1987) ‘Prostitution in a Patriarchal Society-A Critical Review of the SIT Act’, Economic and Political Weekly , 22(45), pp. 7–8. Available at: https://www.epw.in/journal/1987/45/special-articles/prostitution-patriarchal-society-critical-review-sit-act.html (Accessed: 16 October 2018).

Divya, A. (2020) Sex workers in India on the verge of debt bondage and slavery, says a study | Lifestyle News,The Indian Express , The Indian Express . Available at: https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/sex-workers-in-india-on-the-verge-of-debt-bondage-and-slavery-says-a-study-7117938/ (Accessed: 10 January 2021).

Francis, A. and Uniyal, M. (2021) Migrant workers have returned to India’s cities – but they are even more vulnerable now , Scroll.in . Available at: https://scroll.in/article/981358/migrant-workers-have-returned-to-indias-cities-but-they-are-even-more-vulnerable-now (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

GAATW (2007) ‘Collateral Damage. The Impact of Anti-Trafficking Measures on Human Rights Around the World’. Bangkok: Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, p. 277. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004.

Giammarinaro, M. G. and Boola, U. (2018) India must bring its new anti-trafficking Bill in line with human rights law, urge UN experts , OHCHR . Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23392&LangID=E (Accessed: 18 January 2019).

Govt. of India (2013) The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 . New Delhi: PRS India. Available at: http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Criminal Law, 2013/Criminal Law Amendment Bill as passed by LS.pdf (Accessed: 18 January 2019).

Irwin, M. A. (1996) ‘White Slavery’ As Metaphor Anatomy of a Moral Panic , Ex Post Facto: The History Journal . Available at: https://walnet.org/csis/papers/irwin-wslavery.html (Accessed: 19 August 2018).

Janwalkar, M. (2020) UN expert mentions Indian migrant crisis in report | India News,The Indian Express , Indian Express . Available at: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/un-expert-mentions-indian-migrant-crisis-in-report-6601819/ (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

Janyala, S. (2021) Activists seek anti-human trafficking units in Andhra | Cities News,The Indian Express , Indian Express . Available at: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/hyderabad/activists-demand-anti-human-trafficking-units-in-andhra-pradesh-7139519/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/hyderabad/activists-demand-anti-human-trafficking-units-in-andhra-pradesh-7139519/ (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

Khan, S. A. (2015) ‘Human Trafficking, Justice Verma Committee Report and Legal Reform: A Unaccomplish Agenda’, Ssrn , 9(1). doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2614393.

Legg, S. (2014) Prostitution and the ends of empire : scale, governmentalities, and interwar India . Durham: Duke University Press.

Munshi, S. (2020) Human Trafficking Hit Three-year High in 2019 as Maha Tops List of Cases Followed by Delhi, Shows NCRB Data , News18 Networks . Available at: https://www.news18.com/news/india/human-trafficking-hit-three-year-high-in-2019-as-maha-tops-list-of-cases-followed-by-delhi-shows-ncrb-data-2944085.htm l (Accessed: 10 January 2021).

Najar, J. L. (2020) Anti-Trafficking Bill: What Meenakshi Lekhi’s Suggestions Got Wrong , The Wire . Available at: https://thewire.in/rights/anti-trafficking-bill-meenakshi-lekhi (Accessed: 12 September 2020).

Najar, J. L. (2021) (Jaffer) JL Najar | Erasmus University Rotterdam . Available at: https://www.eur.nl/en/people/j-l-najar (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

News18 Networks (2020) ‘Covid-19 Pandemic Has Created a Second Crisis in India — the Rise of Child Trafficking’. Available at: https://www.news18.com/news/india/covid-19-pandemic-has-created-a-second-crisis-in-india-the-rise-of-child-trafficking-3004136.htm l (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

Okyere, S. (2020) The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house: time to rethink the Palermo protocol | openDemocracy , Open Democracy . Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/the-masters-tools-will-never-dismantle-the-masters-house-time-to-rethink-the-palermo-protocol/ (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

Pai, A., Seshu, M. and Murthy, L. (2018) ‘In Its Haste to Rescue Sex Workers, “Anti-Trafficking” Is Increasing Their Vulnerability’, Economic & Political Weekly , 53(28). Available at: https://www.epw.in/engage/article/raid-and-rescue-how-anti-trafficking-strategies-increase-sex-workers-vulnerability-to-exploitative-practices (Accessed: 12 September 2020).

Rukmini, S. (2020) Why India’s ‘migrants’ walked back home , Mint . Available at: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/why-india-migrants-walked-back-home-11590564390171.html (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

Sangram (2018) Raided: How Anti-Trafficking Strategies Increase Sex Workers’ Vulnerability to Exploitative Practices . Available at: http://sangram.org/resources/RAIDED-E-Book.pdf (Accessed: 9 February 2019).

Sen, J. (2021) How a Nagpur Police Raid to ‘Rescue Underage Sex Workers’ Criminalised an Entire Neighbourhood , The Wire . Available at: https://m.thewire.in/article/rights/nagpur-sex-workers-police-raid/amp (Accessed: 20 January 2021).

Sinha, S. (2020) COVID has blurred the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in India | openDemocracy , Open Democracy . Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/covid-has-blurred-lines-between-waged-coerced-and-trafficked-labour-india/ (Accessed: 27 January 2021).

Sreenivas, M. (2011) ‘Creating Conjugal Subjects : Devadasis and the Politics of Marriage in Colonial Madras Presidency’, Feminist Studies , 37(1), pp. 63–92.

Tambe, A. (2009) Codes of Misconduct Regulating Prostitution in Late Colonial Bombay , Society . london: University of Minnesota.

Tandon, T. (2015) ‘India’s Trafficking Bill 2018 is Neither Clear Nor Comprehensive’, Economic and Political Weekly , 50(23), pp. 7–8. Available at: https://www.epw.in/engage/article/trafficking-of-persons-prevention-protection-and-rehabilitation-bill-2018-is-neither-clear-nor-comprehensive (Accessed: 18 January 2019).

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UNODC (2004) UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE PROTOCOLS THERETO UNITED NATIONS . Available at: www.unodc.org (Accessed: 2 September 2018).

Walters, K. (2018) Scandals in sex worker rescue shelters: is ‘awful’ distracting from ‘lawful’? | openDemocracy , openDemocracy . Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/kimberly-walters/scandals-in-indias-raid-and-rescue-shelters-is-awful-distracting-from (Accessed: 17 January 2019).

Walters, K. and Ramachandran, V. (2018) A recipe for injustice: India’s new trafficking bill expands a troubled rescue, rehabilitation, and repatriation framework , Open Democracy . Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/kimberly-walters-vibhuti-ramachandran/recipe-for-injustice-india-s-new-trafficking-bil (Accessed: 18 February 2019).

About the author

Jaffer Latief Najar works as a PhD researcher at International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, The Netherlands. He can be reached at twitter: @jafferlatief. Views expressed are personal.

Corrupt government officials are everywhere. Protecting each other and making money off of trafficking. Didn’t know it was that bad in India but of course. The entire world is infected by the trafficking disease and many of the eastern European countries are horrific.

The polarization between rich and poor is always the main issue.

Was hard to read this article, but very interesting. Thanks for doing this work.

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Reprofiling the Human Rights Agenda February 5th, 2021

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Dissertation on : HUMAN TRAFFICKING : A WORLD WIDE EPIDEMIC BRIEF IDEA OF THE TOPIC

Human Trafficking is the third most registered international crime worldwide after drug and weapon trafficking. Human trafficking is a booming international trade, making billions of dollars at the expense of millions of victims; who are robbed of their dignity and freedom. The key concept of human trafficking is ―exploitation of people against their free will. With the transnational operation called human trafficking, slavery remains alive and thriving. Trafficking in persons is a global issue. No country can claim that its borders are not affected in some way by trafficking. Trafficking in persons is the equivalent of modern-day slavery. Slavery is illegal throughout the world, it is a violation of human rights, and it is a crime. Reaching an idea of what exactly HUMAN TRAFICKING is demands a lot of perception. This is because every case and circumstances of human trafficking is exceptional in its own course. To substantiate this, in a general case of human trafficking it is seen that a person (who later on becomes the victim) is taken from their village or town or city to another place, based on false promises of employment in a promising sector (commonly domestic help or labourer) with a handsome pay. Now this pay is made to look more than what this person gets in his/her own region. Such lucrative deals are the base or the main reasons for trafficking to start off in a region in the first place. Nevertheless when they arrive at the destination, what welcomes them is a shock of reality. They either never get the job that they were promised in the first place. The pay that they were promised is below their imagination. And from thereon, the situation starts deteriorating. In many cases it is unacceptable. They are handed over to placement agencies where they are further sent to different houses as domestic help and to different industries for different kind of small scale labour jobs. Primarily if we see these circumstances is that of human smuggling. But since the recruiter makes misleading promises, this case is moulded into the shape of human trafficking. In transnational trafficking, it is commonly seen that those people who are taken away from their home country in the pretext of being given good jobs, their passports are taken away from them. And other such related personal documents are confiscated. There is no escape for these victims. They are held as hostages are drowned in huge debts which can cost them their lives, if they ever tried to escape. Therefore whilst giving a global perspective to Human Trafficking calls for understanding the concept of it as well as educating civilians as to how they must recognize and respond and tackle the traffickers and trafficking happening in their communities and periphery. Tracking down these intricate details of the dynamics of human trafficking is much more important than just haphazardly going forward with new laws and policies or whatsoever.

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This paper will examine the topic of Human Trafficking in Europe. Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights (United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, UNDOC, 2014). The paper structure is made up of five parts and conclusions. Part one examines the definitions of human trafficking. Part two shows data about human trafficking while part three investigates what are the main drivers as to why human trafficking exists and persists. This chapter will consider factors of human trafficking existence such as poverty, low status of women in society, as well who the victims of human trafficking are. Part four will give as an overview of Human Trafficking in Europe and in particular in Albania, Montenegro and Serbia have into consideration Tier classification. In part fifth a specific emphasis will be given the way how state parties report to the Committee of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Human Trafficking issue and how the CEDAW committee prepare the concluding observation on this topic. A sample on two countries Austria as Tier 1 and Serbia as Tier 2 is presented in the appendix 1 in the form of a table. The conclusion is that despite the campaigns to abolish slavery over two hundred years ago, slavery still exists in our society and today and it is called human trafficking. Human trafficking is an internationally organized crime which involves the trade of human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude or for the removal of organs. Unfortunately, is worldwide estimated that this industry is one of the most profitable one after drug trafficking.

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NHRC on Human Trafficking

Facts for prelims (ffp).

  Context: NHRC recommends all states appoint an ‘anti-human trafficking nodal officer’ not below the rank of a state government secretary or inspector general of police to combat trafficking effectively.

The Commission also calls for setting up District Anti-Human Trafficking Units (DAHTU) headed by a deputy SP to monitor and prevent trafficking incidents. It urges state governments to take stringent measures, including rehabilitation of victims and spreading awareness to eradicate these practices.

About Human trafficking :

It is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of people through force , fraud, or deception to exploit them for profit (UN). It remains a challenge with 2,250 cases reported in India in 2022 . Economic, political, and cultural factors contribute to trafficking. Initiatives like the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, Anti-Human Trafficking Units, Cri-MAC, and Mission Shakti aim to prevent and combat trafficking at global and national levels.

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'I survived the streets, now I help trafficking victims'

Blessing Okoedion, a survivor of trafficking and sexual exploitation, shared her story during the presentation of Pope Francis' Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

"The theme of the Holy Father's Message, 'God walks with his people,' resonates in my life. God has indeed walked with me, even through those I met along the way," Blessing Okoedion, a Nigerian, courageously recounted her story of surviving trafficking and sexual exploitation.

She spoke on June 3 at the Vatican Press Office during the presentation of Pope Francis' Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

"I was born and raised in Edo State, today generally considered the center of human trafficking in Nigeria," she recalled.

"Thousands of women and girls are recruited and forced into a life of abuse, debt, humiliation, violence, exploitation, and, above all, silence," she added.

The path to rebirth

Like many other women victims of trafficking, "I too was deceived and brought to Europe in 2013, where I was taken to a street and put up for sale. I was asked to repay a 'debt' of 65,000 euros," she continued.

"To the exploiters, you are merchandise for sale to speculate on and profit from; to the buyers of sex, you are merchandise to be bought and used for their pleasure, imposing violence on you that is 'justified' by the use of money," she explained.

Thanks to education "which allowed me to know my fundamental rights, and thanks to God who gave me strength and courage, I managed to escape and report" the exploiters.

After reporting, "I was taken to an anti-trafficking center: Casa Rut in Caserta, where I met Sister Rita Giaretta, now responsible for Casa Magnificat in Rome, who accompanied me on a path of rebirth and helped me rediscover myself."

For Blessing, Sister Rita, "who welcomed and loved me," is "one of those good Samaritans the Pope speaks of."

"People often talk about voluntariness, they talk about prostitution as the oldest profession in the world, but we forget the vulnerability of thousands of girls, young women, and women, who come from difficult contexts and are not free but reduced to slavery," she said.

As Pope Francis says, "migrants often flee from situations of oppression and abuse, insecurity and discrimination, lack of development prospects," and "it is the same for trafficking victims," Blessing testified, noting that "we should better understand and know the situation of the victims, where they come from, and the conditions of misery, degradation, and lack of opportunities that push them to leave their countries."

In her view, "we should also listen more to the survivors of human trafficking, their experiences of fear and pain, but also of resistance and courage in the destination countries where they are exploited."

"It was the pain and understanding of what I had to endure that made me decide to come forward, telling my story in the book 'The Courage of Freedom,' and to commit myself as a cultural mediator. But it was also the relationship I had with Sister Rita that pushed me to do so," she said.

"Traffickers dehumanize and objectify their victims, resulting in a loss of self-esteem and control over their own lives, freedom, and dignity," she said. "Sister Rita helped me regain confidence in myself and others, resume my studies, and start working as a cultural mediator and interpreter."

Weavers of Hope

Blessing's decision to get back into the game, tell her story, and fight human trafficking led to the creation of an association, 'Weavers of Hope,' which "I founded with other African women who survived human trafficking."

Thanks to the association, 150 girls and women have been helped from 2018 to today to escape sexual exploitation and start a path of social and work reintegration.

"We are not ashamed to be called survivors of sexual exploitation because, with our testimony, we want any girl in Nigeria to have the hope of continuing to dream and for those still victims to find the courage to escape."

In 2022, Blessing graduated in Political Science and International Relations from the Orientale of Naples, with a thesis on the reintegration of Nigerian women victims of trafficking in Italy.

"The stories reveal that there is still much to be done so that these women can truly lead an independent life without the risk of falling back into the hands of traffickers. For this reason, I feel that my and our commitment is absolutely urgent and fundamental," she concluded.

Story by Fausto Gasparroni

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YouTuber Bobby Kataria arrested for human trafficking sent to police remand

Youtuber bobby kataria has been involved in a big nexus of human traffickers since last year and may have links with an international gang, the police said..

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• Bobby Kataria was involved in big nexus of human traffickers
• Was arrested on Monday, sent to 3-day police remand
• Had cheated several youths on pretext for providing foreign jobs

Controversial social media influencer Balwant Kataria alias Bobby Kataria, who was arrested for alleged human trafficking and fraud on Monday, was sent to three-day police remand by a city court, police said on Tuesday.

Rs 20 lakh in cash, some documents and four mobile phones were also recovered from his possession, they said.

Kataria has been involved in a big nexus of the human traffickers since last year and may have links with an international gang, the police said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that several unemployed youths were cheated by Kataria, who was running his illegal business along with a female friend, they said.

Two men had approached Gurugram police claiming that Kataria had defrauded them of more than Rs 4 lakh in the guise of getting them employed abroad.

According to the complaint filed by Arun Kumar, a native of Fatehpur, and Manish Tomar, a resident of Dholana in Uttar Pradesh, they came across an advertisement on Instagram offering an opportunity to work abroad.

The ad was posted from the official Instagram ID and YouTube channel of Kataria. Upon contacting the influencer, they were asked to meet him in his office at a Gurugram mall.

"I met Bobby Kataria on February 1 in his office and he gave me assurance of getting a job in the UAE after taking Rs 2,000 as a registration charge. I then transferred Rs 1.5 lakh to his account and got a ticket for Vientiane (capital of Laos)," Kumar had told the police.

"Similarly, my friend Manish Tomar was also assured of getting a job in Singapore. Kataria charged Rs 2.59 lakh from Tomar and he too got a ticket to Vientiane and boarded the flight on March 28," Kumar had said.

When we landed at the airport in Vientiane, we met a person named Abhi who introduced himself as a friend of Kataria. A Pakistani man then dropped us at a hotel, he had said.

"The next day, we were taken to an anonymous Chinese company, where we were thrashed and our passports were taken away. We were forced to commit cyber fraud targeting US citizens. Around 150 Indians, including women, had been brought there through human trafficking and were being held hostage.

"On the third day, we managed to escape and approached the Indian Embassy. After returning, we asked Kataria to return our money, but he refused," the complainant had said.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered against Kataria and others under Sections 323 (causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 364 (abduction), 370 (buying and disposing of any person as a slave), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and section 10/24 of the Immigration Act.

Kataria was arrested from his office, located in Conscient-One mall, sector 109 here.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted searches at multiple locations across six states/UTs in joint operations with local police in a case of human trafficking involving forced cyber crimes, which led to the arrest of five accused persons.