Recently, the Supreme Court of India highlighted the deeply disturbing issue of child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation by organized cartels in the country. 

• The Court issued transformative guidelines to address the handling of trafficking cases within the judiciary.

Key Guidelines from the 2025 Judgment

• Status as “Injured Witness”: The Court directed that trafficked children must not be treated as accomplices in court. Their testimonies should be given the same weight as those of an injured witness, recognizing the trauma they have endured.
• Sensitivity in Evidence Evaluation: Courts are to adopt a sensitive and realistic approach when assessing the testimony of trafficking victims. 
  • Minor inconsistencies in a child’s evidence should not lead to disbelieving them, considering the trauma and secondary victimization during the legal process.
• Recognition of Organized Crime: The judgment acknowledges that trafficking networks operate in multiple stages (recruitment, transportation, harboring, and exploitation). 
  • These stages are often well-hidden, making it difficult for victims to narrate the entire process coherently.
• Consideration of Socio-Economic Vulnerability: The Court emphasized that judges must consider the socio-economic and cultural vulnerabilities of the child, especially when the victim comes from marginalized or socially backward communities. 
  • Such communities are particularly targeted by traffickers.

About Child Trafficking

• Global Definition: According to the United Nations Palermo Protocol, trafficking involves recruitment or movement of individuals through threat, force, or deception for exploitation. 
  • For children, exploitation alone, regardless of how recruitment occurs, is considered trafficking.
• National Definition: Under Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, or harboring of persons for exploitation, including physical and sexual exploitation, slavery, and forced labor. 
  • The definition was expanded in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to include online trafficking and trafficking for forced marriages.

Concerning Statistics

India is a major source, transit, and destination for human trafficking, with commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor being the most prevalent forms. 

• National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2023: A total of 177,335 total crimes against children were registered, marking a 9.2% rise from 2022. 
  • Regional Hotspots (by volume): Madhya Pradesh (22,393 cases), Maharashtra (22,390 cases), and Uttar Pradesh (18,852 cases) reported the highest total volume of crimes against children.
  • Highest Crime Rates: Assam reported the highest crime rate in the country (84.2 per lakh children), while Delhi topped the Union Territories with a staggering rate of 140.3.
• Underreporting and “Masking”: While human trafficking cases were officially recorded at 2,183, victim data highlights a severe gap. For instance, in 2022, child-specific trafficking victims were nearly 2,878.
  • Kidnapping as a Proxy: Experts note that 45% of crimes against children (79,884 cases) are registered as Kidnapping and Abduction. 
  • Many of these, particularly in states like Bihar and Rajasthan, are suspected to be trafficking cases masked under simpler charges to avoid complex organized crime investigations.
• NCPCR Rescues (November 2025): The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights reported rescuing over 2,300 children in the latest cycle of interventions.
• 2024-2025 Trends: The Just Rights for Children network reported over 6,500 interventions in child sexual exploitation cases linked to trafficking since April 2025.
  • Urban Destination Hubs: Delhi and Mumbai continue to see an alarming rise in child trafficking for domestic servitude and commercial sex, with Delhi witnessing a 68% increase in trafficking incidents from pre-to-post-Covid periods.
• Global Observations: The US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2024 maintains India on Tier 2, citing ongoing issues in government-funded shelters where frequent abuse cases have been noted, contributing to the cycle of re-trafficking.

Root Causes of Child Trafficking

• Economic Deprivation: Persistent poverty and lack of livelihood opportunities push families, especially in rural areas, to send children to traffickers, often unknowingly.
• Systemic Deception: Traffickers deceive families with promises of education or employment, only to exploit the children once they are isolated.
• Social Marginalization: Children from socially backward communities are especially vulnerable to trafficking, given their limited access to legal protection and social support.
• High Demand for Exploitation: The demand for cheap labor in the informal sector and the lucrative nature of commercial sexual exploitation create persistent pull factors for traffickers.

Constitutional and Legislative Provisions in India

• Article 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty): The Supreme Court’s 2025 judgment anchors the fight against trafficking in Article 21, asserting that the Right to Life is inseparable from bodily integrity and human dignity. 
  • Trafficking is viewed as a fundamental violation that subjects children to “moral and material abandonment,” necessitating a judicial approach that protects the survivor’s mental and physical sanctity.
• Article 23 (Prohibition of Traffic in Human Beings): This is the primary constitutional shield that explicitly prohibits trafficking and forced labor (begar). 
  • It mandates the State to dismantle any system where human beings are treated as commodities, providing the legal basis for all anti-trafficking statutes.
• Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), 1956: This is the premier legislation aimed at penalizing the commercial exploitation of children. 
  • It provides the framework for raiding brothels, rescuing victims, and prosecuting those who profit from commercial sexual exploitation.
• Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 & BNS: These laws revamped Section 370, broadening the definition of trafficking to include recruitment, transportation, and harboring. 
  • The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) further modernizes this by introducing stricter penalties for organized crime networks, online grooming, and forced marriages.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012: This act provides a child-friendly legal framework designed to prevent secondary victimization. 
  • It ensures that the recording of evidence and court testimonies are conducted with sensitivity, shielding the minor from the trauma of facing their abuser.
• Supplementary Laws: A web of protective legislation, including the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, and the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, works in tandem to address specific dimensions of economic and physical exploitation.

Government Measures to Combat Trafficking

• Anti-Trafficking Nodal Cell: Established by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2006, this cell coordinates policy decisions and action against trafficking.
• Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs): Specialized AHTUs have been set up in 270 districts to strengthen law enforcement through training and capacity building.
• Mission Vatsalya: The Mission Vatsalya scheme, under the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), focuses on child protection, non-institutional care, and rehabilitation of trafficked children. 
  • It includes open shelters for vulnerable children and vulnerability mapping (e.g., Samvardhan program by NCPCR). This program subsumes the earlier Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) and is key to integrated services under the Mission Shakti Portal (2025 launch).
• Ujjawala Scheme: This scheme specifically focuses on rescue and rehabilitation for those trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation.
• Pending Anti-Trafficking Bill: Despite several attempts, the comprehensive Anti-Trafficking Bill remains stalled for years, limiting the effectiveness of current efforts (as per the US TIP Report 2024, it is the sixth consecutive year of stalling).

Challenges in Tackling Child Trafficking

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• Legislative Gaps and Institutional Hurdles:
  • Absence of a Comprehensive Law: India currently lacks a single, integrated statute. The Trafficking of Persons Bill (2018) famously passed the Lok Sabha but lapsed in the Rajya Sabha, leaving a legislative vacuum that forces reliance on a patchwork of older laws.
  • Legal Fragmentation: The response is split across multiple acts (ITPA, POCSO, BNS). This creates jurisdictional confusion and coordination gaps, allowing organized cartels to exploit procedural loopholes and evade a unified prosecution strategy.
• Complex Crime Networks and Systemic Failures:
  • Layered Cartel Structures: Organized crime operates through secretive verticals (recruitment, transit, and exploitation). This makes it nearly impossible for police to trace the link from village-level recruiters to city-level exploiters.
  • AHTU Constraints: Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) are often underfunded and understaffed. High personnel turnover and a lack of specialized training result in low conviction rates and poor inter-state intelligence sharing.
  • Governance and Federalism: Coordination issues between Central and State agencies complicate cross-border trafficking cases, leading to ineffective tracking of traffickers across state lines.
• Victim Trauma and Secondary Victimization:
  • Hostile Court Environments: Victims often face secondary victimization during long legal trials. The trauma of recounting abuse in a non-sensitive environment leads to reluctant testimony, causing many cases to collapse.
  • Corruption and Complicity: Progress is frequently hindered by systemic corruption or complicity within certain law enforcement levels, which protects traffickers and intimidates survivors.
• The Crisis of Rehabilitation and Shelter:
  • Inadequate Long-term Support: A critical gap exists in post-rescue rehabilitation. Rescued children often face material abandonment, making them highly susceptible to re-trafficking.
  • Shelter Home Issues: Reports of abuse in government-funded homes and a lack of quality reintegration programs prevent survivors from recovering and safely returning to society.
• Emerging Dimensions and Technological Threats:
  • Online/Digital Trafficking: Traffickers now utilize social media and online grooming for recruitment. These digital operations are “conveniently veiled,” making them much harder to detect than traditional methods.
  • Vulnerability Spikes: Trafficking cases surge during Post-Disaster periods or economic crises, as cartels exploit the desperation of displaced and vulnerable populations.

Way Forward

• Adopt Judicial Realism: Courts should implement the 2025 Supreme Court guidelines, giving due credibility to victims’ testimonies and ensuring their protection during the trial.
• Tech-Driven Enforcement: Strengthening AHTUs with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data to track the “insidious intersections” of organized cartels and monitor online grooming activities.
• Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: Enhance the role of NGOs (like those in the Bengaluru rescue) and Panchayati Raj Institutions to act as first responders.
• Comprehensive Rehabilitation: Move beyond rescue to economic empowerment and social reintegration to ensure that survivors do not fall back into the cycle of trafficking.
• Accountability: Conduct annual audits of AHTUs and ensure state governments strictly follow MHA advisories regarding missing children and organized crime.
• Strengthen Fast-Track Courts: Establish more fast-track POCSO courts to expedite justice for trafficked children.
  • As of August-October 2025, around 773 Fast-Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including ~400 exclusive POCSO courts, are operational, with over 3.44 lakh cases disposed of.”

Conclusion

The Supreme Court’s 2025 judgment calls for a shift in judicial approach toward child trafficking cases, highlighting the need for sensitivity and realism. Despite strong legal provisions, addressing trafficking demands a multi-pronged, victim-centric, rights-based approach. By strengthening law enforcement, judicial practices, and rehabilitation frameworks, India can move closer to fulfilling its constitutional promise of dignity and protection for every child.

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