by BIRAJ SWAIN

The latest re-analysis of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data of 2018, by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), reveals that 49 percent of persons trafficked were children. Thanks to the efforts by the State and civil society, there has been a significant decline in trafficking numbers from 2016 to 2017 (as per the NCRB data), but the decline has almost flat-lined from 2017 to 2018. In terms of absolute numbers, the number of trafficked children were:

2016: 9,034 children
2017: 3,553 children
2018: 2,834 children

Even the NCRB data is not under-reportage, it is 2,834 too many.

Given the hidden nature of human trafficking, it is almost impossible to understand the full scope and scale of the issue globally. According to the anti-trafficking advocacy group Stop The Traffik, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is one of the most trusted sources on trafficking, and their latest report on forced labour says 40.3 million people are victims of trafficking, trapped in modern-day slavery. Of those 40.3 million, 24.9 million were exploited for labour, and 15.4 million were trapped into forced marriages. For perspective, there are 5.4 victims of modern-day slavery for every 1000 persons in the world. The economic valuation of trafficking globally was estimated at USD 150 billion back in 2015.