child rightsmum age of the girlswho are being traffickedtoday is fastdecreasing. At anygiven point in time asurvey of the victims ofthe prostitution wouldindicate that as manyas 60% of them areinducted into the tradeas children. Many ofthese children are initiallyinducted into“legitimate” domesticwork and then drawninto prostitution. Quitea few of them are kidnappedand broughtinto prostitution, purchasedby traffickers from the parentsor sent willingly by parentsunder the garb of social custom.A shocking trend has been recordedby Prerana, a Mumbai-based NGOin their book “In Search of a NewLegislation against Trafficking andCommercial Sexual Exploitation”.The technologyof theflesh tradeisrapidlychangingbut theold technologycontinuesside by side.“Unlike in the past neitherthe trafficking ofthe victim nor itsexploitation by theclients needs the sanctityof any social customlike Devadasi or suchother variants of templebased prostitution anymore. Devadasi form asmall segment amongthe victims in today’sflesh markets. Themarket is highly differentiatedfrom the streetmarket to the up market,the client is variedfrom the corporate bossto the wage labourer.The sites of exploitation show abroad range from the dark anddeserted public urinals to the glitteringstar hotels and luxurious beachresorts including a variety of massageparlours. There is a process ofprocuration, stocking, transiting,sorting, grading, porting, labelling,wrapping and advertising of the victimsmostly the children and youngwomen. Reports from the beachbased tourism joints confirm thegrowing number of young boys asvictims of commercial sexualexploitation and trafficking. Thetechnology of the flesh trade is rapidlychanging but the old technologycontinues side by side. The age oldcreepy pimp wading through crowdedlanes in and around the red lightareas whispering his unholy offerscontinues to sell girls. He is nowjoined by a high tech IT professionalrunning pornographic websites,operating telephone lines, chat linesand internet to reach out to theprospective client. He is spendinglong patient hours on chats lines likea predator preying on his prospectivevictims mostly innocent teenagers.The sex trade has grown enormouslynot only in India. It reflectsa global trend. Reports of large scaletrafficking of children and youngwomen mainly for flesh trade areProblems with the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act.• Does not define trafficking;• Departs from the accepted definition of child;oCriminalises victims;• Has no rationale for the punishments; (Section 8)• Criminalises children of prostitutes; (section 4)• Does not make mandatory provisions for setting up of specialinstitutions. (special courts, special police, specialhomes etc.)• The definition of corrective homes need to be changed. Ifsection 2 (b) is read with 2(g), this home may be construedto include prisons. The concept of corrective homes is differentfrom incarceration which are primarily penal detentioncenters. Corrective homes should focus on rehabilitation tothe victims.• There is no rationale behind section 10-A. It treats the victimas a criminal without assigning reasons; the aspect ofissuance of licence under sub-section (3) is very vague; itseeks to regulate the victim's life although it does not provideany rehabilitative assistance;• Section 15 gives large powers to the police. Keeping in mindthe manner in which the Act has been used so far, there is aneed to review police's powers;• Section 17 in the present format must go as it authorizespolice to keep in custody for upto 10 days persons rescuedwhich can be dangerous and is against the standard practicesof the criminal justice system; it also seeks to place avictim in the hands of strangers who may not be suitable totake care of the victim and may in all probability be responsibleto the victim's current status;SUGGESTIONS.• Must define trafficking;• Re-define child as per the definition of the Juvenile Justice(care and protection) Act, 2000;• All rescued women and children must be treated as victimsof the crime and must be rehabilitated;• Children of prostitutes must get special protection. Therehas to be a proviso to section 4 which will provide for thesame.• The punishments under the Act has to incorporate aspectsfrom the Indian Penal Code. The offences are as serious asrape and abetment to multiple rapes. However, the punishmentsare very mild;• Keeping in mind the new trends in commercial sexual trade,the Act has to incorporate larger aspects in prostitution itselfinstead of confining to the brothels;• The Act provides for constitution of special courts and summarytrials. However, it does not prescribe procedures.Keeping in mind the powerful network of traffickers, it isimportant that the Act provides for victim protection and adequatemechanisms of depositions of the victims;• On the whole, the Act seems like a half baked attempt atprosecution and rehabilitation of the victim but without adequatelyproviding for neither. It has to strengthen its institutions,create proper mechanisms and dedicate some moneyfor the better rehabilitation of the victims• All offences must be made non-bailable;28 combat law • April - May 2004
child rightsS.No12345678910111213141516171819202122232425Union Territories2627282930313233Cities3334353637383940414243444546474849505152535455StatesArunachal PradeshAssamBiharGoaGujaratHaryanaHimachal PradeshJ & KKeralaMadhya PradeshMaharashtraManipurMeghalayaMizoramNagalandOrissaPunjabRajasthanSikkimTamil NaduTripuraUttar PradeshWest BengalTotal StatesA & N IslandsChandigarhD & N HaveliDaman & DiuDelhiLakshadeepPondicherryTotal UtsTotal All IndiaAhmedabadBangaloreBhopalChennnaiCoimbatoreDelhi (City)HyderabadIndoreJaipurKanpurKochiKolkataLucknowLudhianaMaduraiMumbaiNagpurPatnaPuneSuratVadodaraVaranasiVishakhapatnamIncidence of I.T (P) Act, 19560179284713129223160002117261100695003049936706009404814895154332236581479420210054336198117435360320Incidence of Importation ofgirls000400000000400000000070006400000000000000000000000003300000Source: Crime in India-2000, NCRB, Ministry of Home Affairs29 combat law • April - May 2004
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