Sex trafficking in India : A study in how to combat sex trafficking

Abstract: This paper will strive to obtain an understanding for sex trafficking in India, underlying reasons for it and solutions to it. The study includes a case study of STOP, an organization working against sex trafficking in India. The main objective being to study what, according to an organization working with the issue, is the best course of action when working towards combating sex trafficking in India; what factors STOP believe contributes towards sex trafficking, how to help the victims of sex trafficking, challenges they experience in their work and what they believe are the solution to ending sex trafficking in India. STOP has been active in India since 1990, working towards combating sex trafficking och rehabilitating survivors.The reason for focusing on sex trafficking as a human rights issue can easily be shown in the staggering numbers surrounding it:According to the 2017 report conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) there was an estimated 24.9 million people trapped in modern slavery. 4.8 were victims of trafficking. Women and girls make up 71 percent of the victims, the number of children below the age of 18 is estimated to be 5.5 million. The largest number of trafficking can be found in the Asia-pacific region with 62% of the cases or 15.4 million victims. The profit made from human trafficking globally is estimated to be around 150 billion dollars a year for the trafficker, this according to an ILO report from 2014. Sex trafficking stands for 99 billion dollars. In stark contrast to the staggering numbers of victims and profits made from sex trafficking, are the cases of prosecutions and convictions. In the year 2016, 14,894 prosecutions took place globally with 9,071 convictions. In South and Central Asia there were 14,706 victims identified, 6,297 prosecutions and 2,193 convictions (Human rights first, 2017).The numbers are staggering and the act of sex trafficking is one of the greatest crimes against human rights today. The modern term for slavery, it is a crime that strikes against the most basic of human rights. Still it is a multi-million industry that is spread around the world, with India being a particularly affected country. What is done to stop it and what is the best way of working towards stopping it? That is something that will be discussed in this thesis.