2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Center for Women Policy Studies

The government should work to establish a systematic
method to document victims. Hungary should
consider measures to reduce the domestic demand for
commercial sex acts.
I N D I A
Prosecution
The Hungarian government sustained strong law
enforcement efforts over the year. Hungary prohibits
all forms of trafficking through Paragraph 175/b of
its criminal code, though prosecutors rely on trafficking-related
statutes to prosecute most trafficking
cases. Penalties prescribed under 175/b range from
one to 15 years’ imprisonment, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other grave crimes. During the reporting period,
police and border guards conducted a total of 22
trafficking investigations, down from 28 investigations
in 2005. Authorities prosecuted 23 traffickers in
2006, compared with 27 in 2005. Convictions were
obtained against 21 traffickers in 2006; conviction
data was unavailable for 2005. Only nine convicted
traffickers served sentences ranging from one to five
years, while the remaining 12 served no time in
prison; this is an inadequate deterrent to trafficking.
Protection
Hungary demonstrated improved victim assistance
efforts during the reporting period. Authorities
continued to implement the government’s victim
referral process, established in 2005; 23 victims
were referred for assistance, compared with 12 in
2005. The government allocated more than $50,000
to NGOs for victim protection during the year.
Police received sensitivity training throughout the
year and in January 2006, the Hungarian National
Police issued a directive to all precincts providing
guidance on the identification and treatment
of victims and potential victims to police officers
at all levels; several NGOs reported a noticeable
improvement in the police’s treatment and referral
of victims as a result. Historically, poor victim
treatment or failure to identify potential victims
of trafficking has been an issue among street and
low-level police. Victims are not penalized for acts
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
There were no reported cases of abuse of trafficking
victims by authorities. Although authorities encouraged
victims to assist in trafficking investigations
and prosecutions, few victims choose to participate
due to lack of information provided to victims,
language barriers, and fear of retribution by traffickers.
Victims are granted a reflection period and
subsequently can apply for a six-month temporary
residency permit if they choose to cooperate with
law enforcement.
Prevention
The government implemented trafficking prevention
efforts throughout the year in partnerships
with NGOs and IOM. It continued to fund trafficking
awareness programs for police, border guards,
prosecutors, consular officers, and judicial officials.
The government provided partial funding for
anti-trafficking education programs in 100 schools,
reaching more than 8,000 students.
INDIA (Tier 2 Watch List)
India is a source, destination, and transit country
for men, women, and children trafficked for the
purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual
exploitation. India’s trafficking in persons problem
is estimated to be in the millions. The Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA) estimates that 90 percent
of India’s sex trafficking is internal. Women and
girls are trafficked internally for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage.
Children are subject to involuntary servitude as
factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, and
agriculture workers. Men, women, and children are
held in debt bondage and face involuntary servitude
working in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and
embroidery factories. India is also a destination for
women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked
for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.
Bangladeshi women reportedly are trafficked
through India for sexual exploitation in Pakistan.
Although Indians migrate willingly to the Gulf for
work as domestic servants and low-skilled laborers,
some later find themselves in situations of involuntary
servitude, including extended working hours,
non-payment of wages, restrictions on movement
by withholding of passports or confinement to the
workplace, and physical or sexual abuse. Bangladeshi
and Nepali men and women are trafficked through
India for involuntary servitude in the Middle East.
The Government of India does not fully comply
with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking however; it is making significant efforts
to do so. India is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for
a fourth consecutive year for its failure to show
increasing efforts to tackle India’s large and multidimensional
problem. India’s anti-trafficking laws,
policies, and programs focused largely on trafficking
for sexual exploitation and the Indian government
did not recognize the country’s huge population
of bonded laborers, which NGOs estimate to
range from 20 million to 65 million laborers, as a
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