Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of A Child Through Trafficking
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Category: General Law
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COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF A CHILD
THROUGH TRAFFICKING Revathy A.R., M.B.A., LL.M., Schools of Law, VELS Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies, Pallavaram, Chennai
ABSTRACT
This Article comprehensively examines the intricate problem of child trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation in India. The analysis examines the comprehensive constitutional framework, which interpret the right to live with dignity, Prohibit forced labor, trafficking and empower the state to implement special provisions for women and children to guarantee equality and non-discrimination. This Article explores the myriad facets of commercial sexual exploitation of children, includes Sex tourism, Paedophilia, Child Pornography and Child Prostitution. Alarming statistics are citated. Furthermore, this Article also addresses the detrimental consequences of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children of Child victims, which includes trauma bending and ostracism.
The regrettable criminalization of victims inspite of “Safe Harbor” regulations intended to protect them is also critically examined. This Article concludes by outlining vital preventative measures and highlighted how important technology like Artificial Intelligence, is for identifying patterns and upending financial transactions. It also describes important government initiatives in India, including UJJAWALA scheme and the Central Advisory Committee on child prostitution. It also discusses the significant Judicial Interpretations and landmark cases. The important judicial interpretations and landmark cases of Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Child are also discussed here.
This Article by analysing Legal, Constitutional and Judicial Interpretation, this seeks to raise awareness of the difficulties in stopping child trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation in India. It highlights how urgently better psychological rehabilitation and the timely reunion of child victims with their families are needed. Keywords: Sexual Exploitation, Child Trafficking, Commercial, Rehabilitation, Rights, Child, Sex, Pornography, Prostitution, Violation, Victims.
INTRODUCTION
India is one of the most leading participants in this horrendous crime mushrooming in different corners of the society and wide scale after the second world war with rapid industrialization and urbanization. Particularly, the extent of trafficking in human being, more particularly in women and children has reached alarming proportions. Trafficking a child, for the flesh trade has emerged as one of the most profitable trades and the fastest growing forms of high-risk organized crime orchestrated by criminal syndicates. Each year, more than one million children are trafficked into domestic and international sex industries and estimated seven million people, predominantly women and children are trafficked and exploited globally1.
Child trafficking for a commercial sexual exploitation is a serious violation of fundamental child’s rights, which implies not only that the child is sexually abused by the adult, but also that there may be financial remuneration or other kind of benefit of an exploiter and thus the child is treated as a sexual object leading to objectification and commodification of a child’s body commercially which itself explores into a whole new space of sexually exploiting the child violating the basic right to life as guaranteed in the UDHR. This abhorrent act treats the children as commodities and stripping them of their innocence, their dignity and their fundamental rights. It is an outrage that needs to be strongly denounced in this contemporary world, it is a matter that must galvanize us into action.
As every child has also a human right, the state shall in particular directs its policy towards securing that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment2. But in practical terms, prevalence of Child pronograpghy,Child prostitution and Immoral trafficking of child become a significant matter of serious concern in India today,inspite of several regulations, policies, legal measures, legislative enactments,etc.
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
The research methodology outlined below will primarily be conducted based on an analysis of current literature, laws, policies, and actual cases of crimes against children. The research study employs a qualitative approach, incorporating both desk research and case studies, and also draws on international human rights conventions and best practices to gain a holistic 1 Chakrabarty, Dr. Manik: “international law on trafficking in Child for Prostitution: The Indian experience”: published in the book ‘Law and Child’ edited by Chakrabarti, Dr. Nirmal Kanti et al. , 2004, p. 150. 2Art. 39(f), CONSTITUTION OF INDIA. understanding of the problem. This approach involves gathering and interpreting secondary information, which is already available, from various sources, including books, articles, journals, websites, newspapers, magazines, and other relevant publications.
CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE The commercial sexual exploitation of children through trafficking is a serious violation of human rights and basic freedoms to exploit children sexually through trafficking. From a constitutional aspect, this issue is in line with numerous fundamental principles and legislation designed to safeguard children and uphold their rights. Indian courts have construed Article 21 of the constitution extensively to encompass the right to a dignified life. "Traffic in human beings and 'beggar' and other similarly similar forms of forced labor are prohibited and any violation of this provision shall be an offense punishable in accordance with law," according to Article 23. Therefore, this article forbids the trafficking of women and children for immoral purposes.
Further, Article 15(3) empowers the State to make special provisions for women and children, this enables the legislature to enact specific laws, like the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, to address the unique vulnerabilities of children and protect them from sexual abuse and exploitation. Further, Article 15(3) empowers the State to make special provisions for women and children, this enables the legislature to enact specific laws, like the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, to address the unique vulnerabilities of children and protect them from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Furthermore, Articles 39(e) and 39(f) of the Directive Principles of State Policy stipulate that the state has an obligation to ensure that children are not abused at a young age or coerced into engaging in activities that are inappropriate for their age and strength due to financial necessity. The state is also directed to make sure that children are given the chance to grow up in a healthy way and in an environment of freedom and dignity. At the same time, equality before the law and equal protection of laws is provided under Article 14, and Article 15 provides nondiscrimination on the grounds of sex. 3 UNDERSTANDING CHILD AND CHILD TRAFFICKING In Accordance with Article 1 of UN Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC) provides
3 CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, Arts. 14, 15, 21, 23, 39(e), 39(f); PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM
SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT, 2012. that, Child means all persons below the age 18 years are to be treated as children, unless under specific laws of member countries applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. 4As stated by UNICEF, “any person under 18 who is transported, transferred, recruited, harbored or received for the purpose of exploitation either within or outside a country” is considered a child victim of human trafficking. Trafficking is one of the toughest situations to handle, identify, detect and investigate due to scarcity of data. The most recent figures gauge that 1. 2 million kids are trafficked worldwide consistently. 5 Similarly, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) forbids a number of procuring practices that are directly associated with trafficking, including slavery, sex trade, and domestic servitude and forced labor.
In contrary, UN Convention on Child Rights constitutes Article 32 which was ratified by India mentions that ‘the state parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to interfere with the child’s education and to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual and social development’. In light of this serious issue, Minimum age convention 1973, was also orderly and focused on the prohibition of child labor and restricting the involvement of minors in hazardous work.
Furthermore, ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor scrutinizes human trafficking as “Trafficking is intolerable at any circumstances, specifically the trafficking of vulnerable children and adolescents constitutes a breach of their rights to protection from exploitation, to play, to an education, and to health, and to family life. ” COMMERICAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION The commercial sexual exploitation and child trafficking are the phases that overlap and cover a variety of crime. The commercial sex industry victimizes boys and girls, women as well as transgender youth. When an individual buy, trade, sell or exchange sexual acts with a child, it is considered commercial sexual exploitation of the children.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) summarize these crimes, they are trafficking for sexual purposes; Sex tourism, Pornography, Prostitution, Paedophilia, Early marriage, mail-order-bride trade, Stripping, performing in sexual venues; children and adolescents engaging in “survival sex” to earn money, food, 4 Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, art. 1. See also UNICEF, Human Trafficking: Child Protection, available at [Insert specific UNICEF URL here, if available] (last visited July 18, 2025). 5 CHILDLINE India Foundation, Child Protection & Child Rights: Vulnerable Children: Children's Issues: Child Trafficking, available at http://www. childlineindia. org. in/vulnerable-children. htm (last visited Nov. 29, 2018). shelter, or other basic necessities; children and adolescents engaging in sexual acts for money or for perceived excitement or adventure.
According to EPCAT USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) Children as young as 12 years of age, and even younger, are being forced to perform sexual acts for commercial reasons. The 2024 global report on trafficking in persons by United Nation Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) have revealed that total number of victims identified in the year 2022 increased beyond the levels recorded in 2019. This trend can be attributed to the 31 percent increase in children detected compared to the period before the covid-19 pandemic. 6 For example, according to ‘The Times of India’ there are an alarming number of missing girls in the state of Andhra Pradesh stands at, 11,625 and 6915 missing boys. 7
SEX TOURISM AND PAEDOPHILIA
The World Tourism Organization became actively involved in the struggle against this organized sex tourism and particularly the sexual exploitation of children, who are mainly trafficked for this purpose. Over the million children in Asia alone are victims of the tourism industry and their clients. Paedophilia pertains to the manifestation and practices of sexual desire that some adults develop for prepubescent children (thirteen and under) of both sexes. The number of tourists traveling to Asia for sex with children has risen sharply in recent years. Tourist industry agrees that during the tourist season the children below fourteen years of age are trafficked to different tourist places every year from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu for the foreign paedophiles.8
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Another type of commercial sexual exploitation of children who are trafficked is child pornography, which is audio-visual content that features minors in a sexual setting and is in high demand. Being exposed to child pornography and being filmed, photographed, or otherwise made the subjects themselves are the two main ways that child pornography may
6 END CHILD PROSTITUTION, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN FOR
SEXUAL PURPOSES (EPCAT) USA, available at (last visited July 18, 2025); UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME, GLOBAL REPORT ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 2024.
7 THE TIMES OF INDIA, last visited July 18, 2025.
8 Dr.S.K. K Chatterjee (Central law publications, Allahabad, 2nd edn., 2019).
potentially harm children. Adolescents are especially vulnerable, and any image or recording of child pornography constitutes proof of the child's maltreatment. Long after the original content was produced, the victimization is repeatedly repeated in the circulation of that depiction. Therefore, it is imperative that particular regulations be passed and strictly enforced in order to address the issue of pornography and online interaction. In December 2000, Forum Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FACSE), a Mumbai based NGO, helped the police unearth a child pornography racket being operated by a Swiss Couple from a posh hotel “the Resort’ at Marve Road, Madh Island, Mumbai. The second world congress against commercial exploitation of children was held at Yokohama in Japan in 2001.
The congress expressed concern over the major increase in the availability of child pornography because of the emergence of the internet. 9
CHILD PROSTITUTION
Child prostitution is when someone profits from a business deal in which a child is offered for sexual sex, it is born. Children are controlled by an intermediary who manages or oversees the transaction, or by an exploiter who negotiates directly with a child. When children engage in sexual activity and get basic necessities like food, shelter, or safety, money for school fees, or extra pocket money to buy household and consumer items, they are engaging in prostitution. The sex activities occur at different places and locations such as brothels, bars, clubs, homes, hotels or on the street. Child prostitution can occasionally occur on a small scale through individual pimps or on a large one through criminal networks, but it is never a coordinated enterprise. As observed by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan vs.
Union of India (2011)10 5 SCC 1 the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that: “Trafficking in women and children has become an increasingly lucrative business especially since the risk of being prosecuted is very low. Women and children are typically brought to the brothels by highly organized, methodical, and criminal trafficking networks that are run by seasoned persons who purchase, transport, and sell youngsters into prostitution. In order to prevent both the trafficker and the child from being apprehended while in transit, traffickers frequently operate in groups, and minors are frequently
9 UNITED NATIONS, REPORT OF THE SECOND WORLD CONGRESS AGAINST COMMERCIAL
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN, YOKOHAMA, JAPAN, (2001). https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/child/congress01r.html#:~:text=Yokohama%2C%20Japan%3A%2017%2D20,General%20Rapporteur%3A%20Professor%20Vit it%20Muntarbhorn
10 Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India, (2011) 5 SCC 1.
exchanged hands. Gang members, law enforcement, pimps, and even politicians are among the various trafficking groups who collaborate. Trafficking networks are intricately structured and have connections both domestically and internationally. The majority of traffickers are guys. Women's involvement in this industry is limited to hiring at brothels. VICTIMS Child trafficking frequently targets children from vulnerable backgrounds. These include children from low-income or underprivileged families, abandoned or orphaned, children with impairments, and those from ethnic or religious minorities. Ethnic minorities, ‘Scheduled castes’ or ‘other backward classes’, indigenous people, hill tribes, refugees and illegal migrants are the easy victims11. Children of migrant workers, children in foster care or institutional care, and children living on the streets are also particularly vulnerable.
Girl or boy child who are from impoverished households in rural and urban slums, seeking jobs, those engaged in marginal economic activities or performing other low-status work and services also fall easy prey to the exploitation. Children who reside in conflict or disaster-affected areas are also more vulnerable to human trafficking. Girl child and females are disproportionately impacted, with being targeted for sexual exploitation and children are being manipulated due to their vulnerability. But nowadays even boys are trafficked for Sexual exploitation. Women and children from politically illiterate region, war torn zones, and women oppressed countries fall majorly as victims to the offence in search of a safe environment.
Victims from the development countries in the name of helping the under development and undeveloped countries in the matter of economic development and international understanding, visit these countries not only for the cause mentioned above or tourist activity, but also for the purpose of exploitation of women and children. CONSEQUENCES
Educational Deprivation The minimal educational possibilities that are accessible to trafficked children are taken away from them, depriving them of the opportunity to enhance their future financial circumstances. According to related study, victims of psychological and emotional neglect as well as physical
11 Dr.S.K. K Chatterjee (Central law publications, Allahabad, 2nd edn., 2019).
and sexual abuse have negative outcomes from educational deficiency. Developmental delays, cognitive and language impairments, verbal and memory impairments, lower academic achievement, and grade retention are among the results. • Health Effects Research has shown that sex trafficking and CSEC have a negative impact on children's health. These include injuries caused by violence, STIs, pregnancy, untreated chronic illnesses, substance misuse consequences, significant depression, anxiety, suicidality, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health issues. Complex trauma, which includes exposure to several extreme traumatic incidents and the long-term effects of this exposure, can be brought on by CSEC and child sex trafficking.
Unsafe sexual practices, increased chances of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, consequences from repeated high-risk pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV/AIDS, pose additional threats to victims of CSE. Health care providers may observe signs of potential exploitation that indicate a need for screening, even if spontaneous victim disclosures at the time of presentation are uncommon. The presence of risk factors mentioned above, requests for STI or pregnancy testing, inconsistent histories from the youth, tattoos with a person's street name, gang insignia (for girls), or sexual innuendo during an examination, or an aggressive, domineering companion accompanying the patient are some examples of these "red flags.
" Furthermore, whether male or female patients exhibit one or more illnesses frequently linked to exploitation, such as recurrent STIs, pregnancy, abortion complications, suicide attempts, substance abuse, or violence-inflicted injuries, there may be cause for concern regarding CSEC and child sex trafficking. • Emotional Well-Being Trafficking-related experiences can result in long-term mental health issues. When children are taken from their homes, families, and communities, they undergo physical and psychological trauma. They then suffer significant injury from emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. Children who have been trafficked may experience negative emotional impacts such as anxiety, despair, guilt, humiliation, flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression.
Their sense of value may be impacted by the unfavorable messages they frequently encounter, which may result in feelings of guilt. Lastly, adults who experienced multiple childhood experiences of victimization are more likely to experience mental illness and psychiatric challenges. • Psychology of Victimization Pimps can essentially enslave their victims through coercion, deception, or force. Threats of violence against family members, the exploitation of pornographic photos for blackmail or stigmatization, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse have all been used to manipulate juvenile victims. To desensitize children to sexual activity before committing prostitution, they may be gang-raped. Victims may have had unpleasant interactions with law enforcement and are taught not to trust them.
Because they fear physical harm, that another victim will suffer physical abuse, or that their family members may be threatened, victims frequently stay with pimps. To further induce dread, pimps have been found guilty of both homicide and conspiracy to kill cooperative victim witnesses. • Trauma Bonding Children who are exploited for commercial sex also frequently experience this. Because of what the child believes to be an extremely important or intense relationship—one in which trust or power has been exploited—the child feels a strong connection to the pimp/exploiter. The exploiter and the exploited youngster may develop an emotional attachment, which is a taught survival strategy. Reframing the trauma link with a pimp or exploiter can need months of therapy and/or residential care for the child, according to advocacy groups that work directly with this demographic.
Children who are exposed to sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation are frequently affected by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can manifest as symptoms including anxiety, melancholy, insomnia, irritability, flashbacks, emotional numbness, and hyper-alertness. Given the frequency of repeated acts of sexual exploitation or violence by various offenders over possibly an extended period of time, victims of commercial child sexual exploitation frequently have special needs. • Ostracism Trafficking victims may rapidly lose contact with friends, family, and other social networks. This could be because they have moved and are now living far from their community, or it could be because they are personally feeling guilty and ashamed. In any case, sufferers may withdraw, become lonely, and stop interacting with most people.
• Criminalization of Victims Nonetheless, most victims are reluctant to disclose their circumstances, even in a medical setting. Feelings of humiliation and shame, fear of being arrested, loyalty to their exploiters, and ignorance of their own victimization all prevent them from coming forward. Victims may argue that their acts were voluntary in relation to this. Even though many states have enacted "Safe Harbor" legislation that aim to shield trafficking victims from prosecution for exploitation-related actions, many CSEC and child sex trafficking juveniles are nevertheless viewed and handled as criminals. PREVENTING THROUGH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY Legal frameworks are often slow to adapt to the rapid digitalization of our lives. The rise in technologies role in trafficking is no exception.
Laws must be updated to provide adequate tools to enable effective investigation and prosecution of sale and trafficking of children for sexual purposes that involves information and communication technologies. New avenues for traffickers to identify, deceive and coerce children into a situation of sexual exploitation must be addressed. Besides legal frameworks, there are a wide range of possibilities in the way technology can be leveraged to combat trafficking of children for sexual purposes. Technological interventions can be used to either prevent or disrupt traffickers by using artificial intelligence to identify certain patterns used in online channels.
One such example is a tool being developed by Microsoft called Project Artemis, which can intelligently track and trace online conversations between predators attempting to lure children by learning the conversation characteristics typical of such interactions. Similarly, while technology can indeed offer new ways for perpetrators to avoid detection by eliminating the need for physical contact for financial transactions, technology can also be used to monitor and trace such transactions. There are examples of multi-stakeholder initiatives between NGOs and private financial actors developing tools for analyzing the behaviors of traffickers according to their financial activities. Artificial intelligence and its virtually limitless capacities for machine learning is being increasingly used to address human trafficking.
It can be used to make predictions of how a child victim would look as an adult, or enable autonomous communication with potential users of services of sex trafficking victims, as well as being able to recognize the features of hotel rooms where children are sexually exploited and perhaps most significantly, track and disrupt financial transactions associated with child sexual exploitation. 69 Similarly, the innovative ‘Spotlight’ tool developed by Thorn has identified over 14,847 child victims who had been trafficked for sexual purposes by being advertised online for sexual services and has aided US and Canadian officials in identifying around 17,000 traffickers.
70 Beyond tools which antitrafficking entities can utilize to ‘even the playing field’, all anti-trafficking organizations must build coalitions and partnerships internationally to enhance efforts for research, data collection and advocacy for improved legal frameworks to ensure effective criminalization of online traffickers and their customers. JUDICIAL INTERPRETATIONS Judicial perception of commercial sexual exploitation of children in trafficking is about a childcentered policy and the greatest interests and welfare of the child. Courts have interpreted traffic comprehensively to cover most forms of exploitation, strictly holding perpetrators liable. Pivotal cases have shaped legislation and policy, framing legislative reforms, law enforcement, and victim services.
Courts have, in their judicial decisions, accorded paramountcy to the rights of victims to ensure their interests and concerns are upheld in court proceedings. Through the interpretation of national and international legislation, courts have also heightened the fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children in trafficking. In Vishal jeet v. Union of India,12 the SC issued the following directions that all state governments must direct their law enforcing agencies to take suitable speedy action against the evil and direct to constitute advisory committees with members from all professions to suggest advice on actions to put an end to child prostitution, for rescue and rehabilitation of girls rescued, for setting up rehabilitative homes so as to prevent second generation prostitution.
In addition to this, the court also appealed to the state and all voluntary agencies and public-spirited citizens to come to the rescue of these victims, to save them from prostitution and other acts of immorality and socially rehabilitate the victims. Another notable case of trafficking in children is Public at large v. state of Maharashtra and others13. Here the petition was filed on behalf of Suo motu notice taken by the court as a result of a report in a newspaper that had reported that minor girls
12 Vishal Jeet v. Union of India, (1990) 3 SCC 318;
13 Public at large v. State of Maharashtra, (2000) 5 SCC 293;
were being illegally held in captivity and used as sex workers. The case brought to light the dismal condition of child trafficking and forced prostitution in red-light areas of Mumbai. This case helped raise awareness of the issue of child trafficking and galvanize action by the authorities. In Prerana V. State of Maharashtra14 and others case is an extremely important court case related to the protection of children who were saved from commercial sexual exploitation and has taken special interest in the interest of the trafficked women and children. The case also brought forward the need for the rehabilitation of the persons rescued from prostitution. Effective judicial interpretations play a pivotal role in preventing and resolving this complex problem, ensuring justice to victims and accountability to offenders.
Courts still play a crucial role in framing the legal framework and ensuring a safer environment for children. RESCUE, REHABILITATION OF VICTIMS
UJJAWALA Scheme: For the benefit of women and girls in challenging situations, the Ministry introduced the UJJAWALA program in 2007–2008, with a particular emphasis on the unique need of victims of human trafficking. In addition to initiating legislative steps, the Government of India's Ministry of Women and Child Development created a Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation. The five specifics of the Ujjawala system are to prevent, rescue, rehabilitate, reintegrate, and repatriate victims of child and woman trafficking in India. 15 • Psychological Rehabilitation needs to be strengthened Victims at shelters do not receive comprehensive protection services, such as psychological support from qualified counsellors, despite modest improvements made by states.
Considering the needs, these services are completely insufficient and scarce. The majority of the services offered are by nongovernmental organizations. For children who have been trafficked,
14 Prerana v. State of Maharashtra, (2003) 1 SCC 797.
15 MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, UJJAWALA
A Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation, available at [Insert specific URL for the scheme, e. g. , https://wcd. nic. in/schemes/ujjawala-comprehensive-scheme-prevention-trafficking-and-rescue-rehabilitationand-re-integration-victims-trafficking-commercial] (last visited July 18, 2025). psychology can also be crucial to their recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Establishing protocols for data collecting and reporting is crucial in order to quickly identify victims. Additionally, we need to work together to make it easier for kids to return to their communities on time. Unless a risk assessment and discussions with the kid indicate that this is not in the child's best interest, young victims should be reconnected with their families right away.
Make the necessary arrangements for the children's care if they cannot be safely reunited. To successfully address the physical, psychological, social, and educational needs of children who have been trafficked and support their reintegration into their families, schools, and communities, specialized intervention programs must be created, put into place, and assessed. SUGGESTIVE MEASURES
Investigate and prosecute suspected traffickers more thoroughly, especially those involved in sexual exploitation and complicit officials. Seek appropriate punishments for traffickers found guilty, which need to include lengthy prison sentences. • Make that newly established AHTUs are adequately resourced and functioning, and strengthen current AHTUs with more financing and employee training. In order to improve the frequency of restitution orders for victims of human trafficking, it is recommended that judges and prosecutors get training on the significance of restitution. Additionally, legal aid agencies should be urged to regularly notify victims of available victim compensation mechanisms.
• Create and put into place routine auditing and monitoring systems for governmentfunded and operated shelters to guarantee proper care, and distribute funds as soon as possible to shelters that satisfy formal care requirements. • Poverty, gender inequality, commercial sexual exploitation and cross border trafficking are to be prevented. • Sex tourism should be strictly prohibited and Cyber pornography should be monitored. • Stringent punishments should be given to the traffickers, pimps, brokers etc. and for this; the legal provisions should be very strict. • Law relating to paedophiles is inadequate. it is to be strengthen and specific.
Proper and sincere counselling for re-integration and re-habitation of rescued children is of much importance. • Political apathy and government commitments to combat trafficking are to articulated in coherent natural policies and strategies with special attention to impact of tourism.
CONCLUSION
There is a special need to meet the needs of the victims of atrocities and take appropriate steps towards their development. The changes in children's lives should be given proper direction through proper guidance and counseling. Humanistic values and attitude towards children should be adopted. Laws to prevent abuse and trafficking should be strictly followed. The trafficked children are being treated as a saleable commodity. Commercialization of sex is a dehumanizing phenomenon and goes against the fundamental dignity of human life. Therefore, a special legislation, in addition to the suggestions as made above is a need of the hour to give effect to the convention on the rights of the child as well as to the combat this problem.
The special legislation should have the provision for punishing traffickers, pimps rather than the victims, prohibiting child employment in tourism hotel industries and banning traditional forms of sexual exploitation.