Kajal (Name changed) was married at the age of 15 and sold by her husband to work in Iraq. After reaching Iraq, she was involved in some work which had a contract of two years.

After two years of work, when she wanted to come back the officials revealed that her documents are fake. She had to stay in Iraq and faced several checks and interrogation from the police. In this course of time, she neither had any food nor money, she stayed in the house of her friend and after 8-9 months she finally arrived in India. She was explained about how she was trafficked and finally, she came to know about everything. The NBC arrested the agent and was prosecuted. With the help of the Caritas India partner organisation, she was rescued and supported.

This year World Day against Trafficking in Person puts “victims of human trafficking” at the centre of the campaign and highlights the importance of listening to and learning from survivors of human trafficking. The theme is “Victims’ Voices Lead the Way” raising worldwide awareness on the issue among the general public, policymakers and civil societies. Since 2013, the United Nations General Assembly has designated 30 July as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), over 2 lakh victims of trafficking have been detected worldwide since 2003.

To observe the day, Caritas India had organised a weeklong campaign to create awareness and sensitise people so that they could spot it, speak it, act it and stop it. Four webinars, one at international, one at national, and two at regional level were organised. Series of awareness campaign programs were conducted in the villages to sensitise the communities. The two days training program for the Anti Human Trafficking Unit police and border forces which was attended by more than 45 police personnel.

Caritas India is working against human trafficking in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and at the Indo Nepal borders. It has initiated the network called All India Network to End Modern Slavery and Indo Nepal Forum to address cross border trafficking in persons. Caritas India is working closely with Police, law enforcement agencies, Sahastra Seema Bal, grassroots organizations and linking with the government systems to prevent trafficking in persons.

“Child pornography has increased due to the covid 19 lockdown and therefore exploitation of children has come to its peak,” informed Dr. PM Nair, former IPS officer, Former DG NDRF, Expert on Trafficking. He was sharing his views on the Convergence of Civil Society with Law Enforcement agencies in the context of curbing human trafficking. He presented the data that in the last few months 40 lakh people have gone to watch and share child pornography which means children are on demand and when demand is created there is supply. He suggests that such crime and nexus can be broken with collective work by all with proper implementation of laws.

“This year holds victims as the central position of the campaign, therefore everything will take place keeping in mind the victims by restoring their dignity and ensuring sensitivity amongst all to prevent any form of exploitation,” informed Fr. Paul Moonjely, Executive Director of Caritas India and host of the event.

The pandemic has impacted the life of people globally and trafficking is one of the major issues which pandemic has caused said Mr. Nizam Insaf, International Labour Organisation, New Delhi. Addressing the root cause of trafficking will prevent the crime. He said that there are different approaches that includes criminal justice, migration management, community engagement empowerment and we need to have different approaches to address trafficking in persons. He mentioned that employers play a key role and can bring a change by promoting decent work.

Ms. Cecilia Nocoletti, Advocacy Officer of Caritas Internationalis presented the Global Report of trafficking in persons and shared that covid has widened the wound of trafficking. She explained how predators traffic people and use modern technologies to trap them. She also proposed solutions and strategies to combat trafficking and the initiatives taken by the Caritas confederation across the globe to address trafficking in persons.

Expressing her views on the Engagement with different stakeholders to address trafficking in persons, Francesca Dona from Migrants and Refugee Section, Vatican, shared about the trafficking that takes places from source, transit and destinations countries. She also emphasised the role of stakeholders by providing series of key considerations, practical engagements and a dialogue process to address trafficking. She spoke of cooperation and collaboration between different stakeholders and church agencies.

Mr. Tapan Kumar Das, Commandant, 42 Battalion, working in Uttar Pradesh shared his experiences of addressing cross border trafficking in persons. He spoke of the important role which non-government organisations can play in addressing trafficking in persons. NGOs can help in speaking to the suspected persons, help in creating awareness and collaborate with law enforcement agencies. He appreciated the work of Caritas and her partners along the borders in addressing the trafficking in persons.

Ms. Theresa Symons, Good Shepherd International Foundation expressed her views on the role of the faith-based organisation to combat trafficking in persons. She emphasized on 4 Ps- prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership and all these are interconnected. She said that the approach has to be victim centred. All individual human beings are rights holders those rights codified in UN International Covenants and Convention.

Sister Prema Chowallur, Director, Rainbow Home of Seven Sisters shared about a full-fledged adoption racket that is going on in a lot of the places and there is an increased number of drug peddlers too. She also shared that the use of the internet and social media has made the traffickers to adjust the new normal and use of modern technologies as their method of prey.

Mr. Digambar Narzary, Director of NEDAN Foundation in Assam shared about the community-based rehabilitation efforts and his experiences of collaboration and cooperation. He emphasized that without the cooperation of police and other govt departments/like-minded organizations, it is not possible to work in the domain of anti-human trafficking. He shared that he has been working with the vulnerable communities residing in a very remote place where there are no basic facilities for them, and people cannot reach there easily. However, the traffickers have access to such places, and they trap people. He shared that bringing govt presence and child protection unit is the job of the civil society