Trafficking in Women: Causes and Consequences

The trafficking of women describes various activities which exploit them for their commercial value such as prostitution, labour, forced marriages etc. The term implies that these women are not only sexually abused but that there is a profit arising from the transaction where they are considered as a sexual and commercial commodity.The Trafficking in women for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in India denies human rights to women and is gearing up due to rapid industrialization and commercialization concentrated in few metropolitan centers. Over the last decade, human trafficking has reached epidemic proportions, because of unconventional means, development in technology and so on. It is an organized crime, involving mafias, recruitment agencies, members from community/ family, peers, tourists, law enforcement officials and many others. The Present article is based on the findings of the research conducted with the help secondary sources. It gives a detailed analysis of the actual picture of prostitution and human trafficking including its meaning, definitions, forms of prostitution, magnitude of the problem, legislative framework to control this menace and the factors behind the mortifying crime and its impact on progress and development of women. It highlights various International Instruments and Conventions on trafficking alonwith the India?s Apex Courts? initiative to combat trafficking.