Instead of flawed anti-trafficking Bill, India should seize G20 opportunity: Ruchira Gupta

Ruchira Gupta is an Emmy-winning documentarian, advisor to the UN, and founder of anti-trafficking NGO Apne Aap. She has recently penned a novel that tells the story of Heera, a young tribal girl who successfully fights off traffickers using her newly learnt skills in kung fu. To mark the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, Gupta, author of I Kick and I Fly, spoke to TOI

Your nonprofit teaches martial arts to trafficking survivors. Is the character of Heera based on a real person?
While 14-year-old Heera is a fictional character, I began writing the book when a girl from Apne Aap won a gold medal in karate in Forbesganj, Bihar where the NGO runs a hostel. There are several other inspiring true-life journeys that have emerged from there. Many of these girls from the red-light area of Forbesganj are now college graduates and have emerged as chefs, gas station managers, teachers, and nurses; one is even a police officer. Overcoming societal prejudice, poverty, hunger, homelessness, organised crime, and police apathy was no easy feat, but their persistence paid off.

The Global Slavery Index 2023 showed how G20 countries including India, are fueling modern slavery. As India takes the helm of the G20 presidency and prepares to address critical global issues, what kind of attention do you think human trafficking will get?
The G20, representing over three-quarters of the world's economy, bears a unique responsibility to set a precedent in addressing human trafficking. While some G20 nations have made remarkable progress in combating trafficking, others, including India, still grapple with concerning challenges.

UN data reveals a global slowdown in the criminal justice response to trafficking, with detection rates of victims falling by 11% between 2020-2022 and convictions plummeting by 27%. A 2023 US State Department Trafficking in Persons study reports that one in every six victims of trafficking is Indian. It also reveals, based on National Crime Records Bureau data, that India has witnessed a 28% increase in trafficking cases between 2020 and 2021, coupled with an alarming 84% acquittal rate for traffickers.

You talked about the high acquittal rate. What is the reason or that?

Low detection rates can be attributed to the lack of incentives and support for victims to come forward and testify. Additionally, a dearth of political investment in punishing the perpetrators contributes to the cycle of impunity and acquittal.

India has an anti-trafficking Bill under review. What are the shortcomings?
One of the critical shortcomings of the Bill is its lack of a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach. Rather than focusing on empowering survivors and addressing vulnerability and trauma, the Bill over-centralizes power within the criminal justice system. It heavily relies on conducting raids to free victims from traffickers, which, in the long run, by itself, proves to be a cat-and-mouse game, yielding limited and unsustainable results. To truly combat trafficking, India must prioritise victim support. This creates an environment where survivors are encouraged to come forward and actively participate in the justice system, leading to more effective prosecutions.

Additionally, the Bill falls short in adequately addressing the issue of punishing sex buyers. Ignoring the demand side of trafficking severely hampers the fight against this crime. By holding sex buyers accountable and introducing measures to deter their participation, India can significantly undermine the profitability of trafficking networks and disrupt the demand for illicit activities. Rather than hastily pushing through a flawed Bill, India should seize its G20 presidency as an opportunity to learn from successful G20 partners.

What are the lessons it could learn from other countries?
Sweden, Norway, and France have led the way in the form of a comprehensive, victim-centered, and trauma-informed approach. The UK too is in the process of developing trauma-informed services for victims. Sir Kevin Hyland of the Santa Marta Group (a high-level partnership between law enforcement agencies, faith groups and civil society) will lead a meeting against trafficking during the G20 meetings in India. India’s efforts to shape the G20 discussions must include the uplift of the most vulnerable members of society.

What about resources? Isn’t funding a problem when it comes to efforts to fight trafficking?
None of the other 19 countries have spent so much money on G20 meetings during their presidency as India. If it allocates at least a fraction of this expenditure on victims and measures to combat social inequities and provide essential support systems to the vulnerable, India can truly be a moral leader of the world.

With climate-related disasters on the rise, many have talked about its link to human trafficking. What have you observed in the Indian context?
As climate change worsens, floods, cyclones, droughts and soil erosion intensify and disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. Desperate families often fall into traffickers' clutches with false promises. I saw the harsh realities firsthand during the Kosi floods in Bihar. Combating this crisis demands not only immediate disaster relief but also comprehensive solutions that combine disaster preparedness, climate adaptation, poverty alleviation, and measures to combat human trafficking. By understanding and addressing these interlinked issues, there is hope for building more resilient communities in the face of climate-related challenges.