Page 15 - Tehelka Issue 15 August 2018

presidential polls
human trafficking

place where you find acceptance, where your iden- DiD You Know?
tity is not questioned. It is the government’s moral
responsibility to protect the civil rights of every citi-
zen. Without addressing the concerns of the margin- The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
alised communities of the Bill, you can never solve (ITPA) criminalises activities related to pros-
trafficking,” she added. titution and provides rescue, rehabilitation
and correction of sex workers, albeit through
Background of the Bill a moral lens.
There are a number of existing legislations that deal The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,
with human trafficking, such as Section 370 & 370A of 1976 (Bonded Labour Act), the Contract Labour
the Indian Penal Code, The Immoral Traffic (Preven- (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, the Inter-
tion) Act, 1956 (ITPA), provisions for the juvenile Jus- state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of em-
tice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, The ployment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979,
Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, the Con- Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933 and
tract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, the the Child Labour (Regulation and Prohibition)
inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of employ- Act, 1986, deal with forced labour, child labour,
ment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, Children primarily through regulation and welfare-
(Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933 and the Child Labour oriented measures.
(Regulation and Prohibition) Act, 1986.
The new Bill on anti-trafficking was supposed to Sections 370-370A of the Indian Penal Code,
harmonise all these laws related to trafficking and 1860 (IPC) define and penalize trafficking in
bring out a comprehensive legislation, which it has persons Section 371, IPC, criminalises slavery.
failed to do. Instead, the Bill creates even more con- Section 372-373, IPC criminalises buying and
fusion amongst the law enforcement agencies by selling of underage girls for prostitution.
adding more clauses to it and adding to the ambigu- The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
ity in the interpretation of various rules. There was a Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) provides a frame-
demand to review the old ITPA, addressing the gaps work for protection of children who are miss-
in the old Bill and simplifying it further, but the new ing or at risk of being trafficked.
Bill complicates things even more, as told by lawyers.
The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection Credit: Summed by Lawyers Collective
and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, was introduced in the
Lok Sabha by Minister for Women and Child Devel-
opment Maneka Gandhi on July 18 and was passed
on July 26. The term, “trafficking of persons” has been
adopted under Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code
(IPC).
The Bill aims to prevent trafficking of persons,
especially women and children and to provide care,
protection and rehabilitation to the victims of traf- ‘this Bill is not intended
ficking, and punishment to perpetrators.
As assured by the Ministry to the Supreme Court in to harass those sex
2015, the anti-trafficking Bill will be India’s first com-
prehensive legislation to tackle trafficking problem. workers who are
While presenting the Bill before the house, Gan-
dhi said, “This Bill is not intended to harass those sex voluntarily in the
workers who are voluntarily in the profession... This
is a Bill that has a compassionate view of people who
have been victims of sex racket.” profession... it has a
In a bid to defend her stance on the Bill and garner
support, Gandhi began with the story of 11-year-old compassionate view of
Tara who was trafficked into bonded labour. Gandhi
concluded the story with, “And today, if we don’t pass people who have been
this Bill, we are choosing to deny Tara and the mil-
lions like her the fundamental right to life and liberty.” victims of sex racket’
Coming to the support of the Bill, noted activist and

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