A Study of Women Trafficking in Metropolitan City of Delhi
 
Ade Ranjana Harbaji1*, Dr. Anil Kumari2
1 PhD Student, Kalinga University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India
2 PhD Guide, Department of Social Work, Kalinga University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India
Abstract - Insecure and undocumented movement both within and across countries has been linked to a rise in trafficking. Many individuals in rural India are leaving their homes and moving to the cities in quest of better economic prospects or to escape poverty. Forced bonded labour, child labor, forced marriages, sexual commercial exploitation, bonded labor, etc. all play a role in this pattern, which involves massive migration of children and women. The number of missing children and women who are later shown to have been trafficked is a topic that is in the news almost daily. Hundreds of unlicensed placement firms thrive in the nation's capital, Delhi, to meet the high need for domestic workers willing to put in extra hours if needed. Younger children are preferred by employers despite their illegal age since they are less expensive, make fewer complaints, and may be exploited in any way the employer sees fit. The dark life of big cities forces these women and children, especially the girl child, to a fate not unlike hell. This is especially true for those whose home countries are hit hard by poverty, natural disasters like flood or drought, a lack of employment opportunity, or a lack of education. In their 2013 study "Current Situation of Victim Support Providers and Criminal Justice Players in India," the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) noted that Delhi was becoming a major hub or transit point for sex trafficking. In addition to "red light" districts, sex trafficking occurs at hotels, guesthouses, and massage parlors where clients feel most comfortable and where they may spend the least amount of money. People from the Bedia, Nat, and Kanjar tribes, among others, are shown in the study to keep females in secluded regions on the outskirts of the city along the NCR and then sell them for profit once they reach puberty. Garstin Bastion Road, often known as G.B. Road or "The land of Pink Nipples," is the largest red-light district in Delhi.
Keywords - Women Trafficking, Metropolitan City of Delhi, children and women, G.B. Road
INTRODUCTION
New Delhi, India's capital has seen a significant increase in human trafficking cases over the past few years, making it a key location in this growing global problem. Thousands of underprivileged minors and people from North Eastern India, Jharkhand, Bengal, and Orissa have migrated to Delhi, making it the largest transit point for trafficking in the country. Human trafficking accounts for 1.3% of India's GDP, and 1.3% of that comes from Delhi. Of the 2015 rescue group, 194 females had been enticed to travel to Delhi by the promise of better employment opportunities. Yet, seven of these were coerced into prostitution and three more were trafficked to other states for prostitution. About 163 people involved in the trafficking of minors were apprehended. NCRB Statistics, 2015 provides a study of the entire amount of trafficking that occurred in 2015, and it was found that around 60% of the total number of trafficked victims belonged to the age group of 12-16 years old. About eighty-three percent of these traffickers were known to the victims. Police forces rescued the majority of casualties from the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha. One hundred and twenty-one persons were arrested for using a juvenile victim of trafficking in their home as a maid or housekeeper. In 2015, a total of 200 complaints were filed with the Delhi Police under the various sections of the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act. However, the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act recorded only one occurrence in 2014. More than 70% of the victims who had some connection to Delhi were involved in the 11,538 cases of sexual trafficking that were reported to be pending in various courts across the country in 2015. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) was utilized to charge the suspect in 10% of all cases. About 23 parents were arrested in 2015 for abandoning and/or trafficking their children for financial gain.
FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR WOMEN TRAFFICKING
Gender bias and social/cultural taboos are major contributors to the sex trade, yet they are not the sole reasons why it exists. Women and girls in India are particularly susceptible to being trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation due to a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural factors. The socio-economic reasons, which are the structural factors that push people to seek out ways to make money or improve their standard of living, are one of the main causes of trafficking's misery. Galtung posed the question, "Can we talk about violence while nobody is doing direct harm?" when explaining his idea of structural violence. In answering this question, Galtung remarked that "we shall refer to the form of violence where there is an actor that conducts the violence as personal or direct, and to violence where there is no such actor as structural or indirect". Galtung further argues that "In both circumstances individuals may be killed or mutilated, hit or harmed in both sense of these words, and manipulated by means of stick. In the first scenario, the actions of specific people can be linked to the results we see, but in the second case, such a connection is meaningless. Inside the building, nobody is allowed to cause physical harm to anyone else. The structural violence manifests itself in unequal access to resources and opportunities for advancement in life. It has been shown that the unequal distribution of power and resources is the root cause of structural violence. Inequitable access to resources and authority is a well-established contributor to human trafficking. It has been noted over time that the genesis countries of sex trafficking are developing countries or those in transition from developing to developed ones. The majority of migrants travel from countries with lower standards of living to those with higher standards and more secure political environments. The "pull" of a brighter tomorrow is a potent force. According to research the push and pull elements of trafficking are typically discussed in terms of people leaving developing nations for developed ones, but they are just as relevant to the movement of people inside countries. People in India leave their rural homes or smaller towns for greater urban centers like Delhi.
STUDY AREA
Delhi covers a total size of 1,484 km2 as the National Capital Territory (573 sq mi) Delhi is 51.9 kilometers (32 miles) long and 48.48 kilometers (29.2 miles) across (30 mi). The Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Committee, and the Delhi Cantonment Board are the three statutory towns in Delhi. The coordinates for this city in Northern India are 28°37′N 77°14′E and 28.61°N 77.23°E, respectively. This state is bounded to the east by Uttar Pradesh and to the north, west, and south by Haryana. The Köppen Climate Classification system classifies the city's climate as Humid Subtropical (Cwa). From about the beginning of April to about the middle of October, the sun doesn't take a break as temperatures soar into the triple digits, while the monsoons roll in from June to September. During March through May, when the weather is typically dusty, sticky, and hot, loo is the most common language spoken. With the arrival of the monsoon in the final week of June comes a welcome break from the sweltering heat, but with increased humidity. The short, moderate, and dry winters begin in late November and last into January, when thick fog sets in. Delhi experiences temperatures ranging from 30.9 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) to 116.1 degrees Fahrenheit (46.7 degrees Celsius). The average annual temperature in the city is a scorching 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), but the city receives only about 714 millimeters (28.1 inches) of rain, the most majority of which falls during the monsoon season (July and August) (Wikipedia) 9 . According on 2011 Census estimates, Delhi has a population of 16,753,235 and a density of 11,320 people per square kilometer, both of which are significantly greater than the national average density of 382. Delhi has a lower female-to-male sex ratio than the rest of India (940 females for 1000 males), according to the 2011 Census of India. Delhi's literacy rate is on the rise, having gone from 81.67 to 86.21 percent during the last few years. There is a 90.94% literacy rate among males and a 68.85% literacy rate among females. Central Delhi's Garstin Bastion Road, with its roots in the Mughal era, was chosen as the study area. Between Ajmeri Gate to Lahori Gate is a stretch of road. Sexual services are offered in many different establishments in Delhi, not just brothels. This includes hotels, guesthouses, massage parlors, and bars. Yet, due to its central location among a high number of female sex worker populations with traditional cultures doing sex work within established networks, Garstin Bastion Road (GB Road) in Delhi has been identified as a core area of research. In essence, this area is a bustling marketplace famous for auto parts and hardware supplies, with two- or three-story buildings housing both businesses and brothels on its lower levels. It is estimated that there are 127 brothels in the city, with a total of about 3,500 prostitutes employed there. It is surrounded by dilapidated buildings of four or five stories. Instead of names, the brothels in this area are simply identified by a number, or Kotha Number, which is posted prominently on the exterior walls. The women who live here have iron bars over their windows, so passers-by may see them peering out.
OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
1) To assess the problem of women trafficking in metropolitan city of Delhi.
2) To prepare a comprehensive database for trafficking in the major red-light area of Delhi.
Data Sources:
The data included in the study comes from an ethnographic investigation the researcher conducted on GB Road, as well as secondary sources he or she consulted for background information. To obtain a glimpse into the real lives of these women sex workers, a sample of 300 was gathered from a random selection of four brothels.
DATA ANALYSIS
Women who were trafficked in the research area have the following demographic and socioeconomic characteristics:
Family Type
Table 1: G.B. Road, Delhi: Family Status Prior to Trafficking
Figure 1: G.B Road, Delhi: Family Type Prior to Trafficking
The majority of the 300 prostitutes working in four different brothels come from nuclear families, with only a small percentage coming from joint families. This demonstrates how victims and their children become increasingly reliant on the family's breadwinner, a situation that inevitably leads to poverty and, ultimately, the victims' decision to embrace trafficking out of desperation rather than choice.
Family Structure at the Place of Origin:
Table 2: G.B Road, Delhi: Family Structure at the Place of Origin
Figure 2: G.B Road, Delhi: Family Structure at the Place of Origin
As can be seen in Table 2 and Fig 2, most of the interviewed trafficked women had a long and successful career in the industry before their families abandoned them or they left on their own accord because they had no desire to return home. Only a small percentage of the women were able to successfully reunite with their families in the hope of being accepted.
Source of Income:
Table 3: G.B Road, Delhi: Source of Income of Family at the Place of Origin
Figure 3: G.B Road, Delhi: Source of Income of Family at the Place of Origin
The majority of the respondents from all four brothels came from a daily earnings background, as shown in Table 3 and Fig. 3. This was followed by those with backgrounds in agriculture, housekeeping, petty business, the vegetable business, and tailoring. As most women involved in trafficking are low-income farmworkers or factory workers, it is clear that their earnings are insufficient to cover basic living expenses. They've made the decision to engage in prostitution because they were enticed to do so by the promise of financial gain.
Level of Poverty at the Place of Origin:
Table 4: G.B Road, Delhi: Level of Poverty at Place of Origin
Figure 4: G.B Road, Delhi: Level of Poverty at Place of Origin
From the data shown in Table 4 and Fig 4, it is clear that the vast majority (300) of the respondents from all four brothels are economically disadvantaged. Data analysis shows that most victims of human trafficking were living in poverty prior to becoming victims themselves. The data shows that the poverty rate has fluctuated somewhat, which is consistent with the respondents' report that they live above the poverty line.
Type of House Living at the Place of Origin:
Table 5: G.B Road, Delhi: Type of House Living at the Place of Origin
 
Figure 5: G.B Road, Delhi: Type of House Living at the Place of Origin
Table 5 and Fig 5 show that the majority of respondents are from tiled houses, which may indicate affluence. Although receiving tiled dwellings from the government through various welfare initiatives, the lack of a reliable source of income was a major factor in driving many of these people into trafficking. Several of the women also lived in shabby thatched and terraced dwellings, a telling indicator of their extreme poverty and the likely motivation for their decision to turn to trafficking as a means of improving their economic prospects.
Age Structure
Table 6: G.B Road, Delhi: Age Structure
Figure 6: G.B Road, Delhi: Age Structure
To better understand the age distribution of women working in four different brothels, the data presented in Table 6 and Fig. 6 has been tabulated and graphically represented. It is clear from the above table that the largest age range represented by women in all four brothels is between 19 and 25 years old, with women aged 26 to 35 coming in a close second. According to the data presented above, consumers place a premium on young girls and women in the highest fertile age range due to their vigor and enthusiasm. While it is true that the majority of trafficked women in all samples were between the ages of 19 and 25, with the next largest age group being women between the ages of 26 and 35, the presence of a troublingly large number of women under the age of 18 suggests that they were all minors when they were trafficked.
Marital Status
Table 7: G.B Road, Delhi: Marital Status
Figure 7: G.B Road, Delhi: Marital Status
Based on the data presented in Table 7 and Fig. 7, it is apparent that the vast majority of women who were trafficked into the four different brothels had never been married. It demonstrates that most victims of trafficking are young, single women who have few alternatives for making a living and are therefore more likely to choose trafficking as a career.
Motherhood
Table 8: G.B Road, Delhi: Status of Motherhood
Figure 8: G.B Road, Delhi: Status of Motherhood
The loss of maternal rights does not necessarily accompany a woman's involvement in the trafficking industry. Based on the data shown in Table 8 and Fig. 8, it is clear that the vast majority of the 300 respondents from the four brothels did not choose motherhood and have never had children, while only a minority of women has ever given birth.
Educational Status:
Table 9: G.B Road, Delhi: Educational Status
Figure 9: G.B Road, Delhi: Educational Status
Literacy and lack thereof are the two main indicators of education that have been used thus far. There were attempts to get more specific by sub-classifying the literates into groups of primary, secondary, and college graduates, despite the fact that the definition of literacy does not imply educational level in those words. Table 9 and Figure 9 reveal that among all respondents, roughly 40% are educated, whereas 60% are not. This fact highlights the precarious position of the illiterate in society and the danger they face while entering the trafficking industry. Only a small percentage of women in the brothel industry have completed higher education. Most of the literate women in the industry have only reached the elementary and secondary school levels. It shows that the majority of victims of trafficking are low-skilled individuals with little education who have few other options for making a living and thus turn to human trafficking as a means of subsistence.
Additional source of Income:
Table 10: G.B Road, Delhi: Additional Source of Income
Figure 10: G.B Road, Delhi: Additional Source of Income
As can be seen in Table 10 and Fig 10, above, women in all brothels are increasingly feeling the pressure to find ways to make extra money to cover rising costs of living and basic necessities. As a result, they find themselves working in a variety of professions out of necessity rather than interest. Working as a housekeeper, bartender, factory worker for minimum wage, or office clerk are all viable options for those looking to supplement their income. This demonstrates the unpredictability of earnings in this field, which may or may not be sufficient to support a comfortable lifestyle.
CONCLUSION
The majority of women and children are victims of this horrendous crime, and they are primarily trafficked by luring, deceit, force, and threat before being bought into the world of flesh trade, which raises a number of issues and challenges that are integral to the reality or truth of the miserable dark world of human trafficking. They suffer severe mental, emotional, and bodily suffering that follows them to their graves. Sex tourism, religious communities, tourist locations, and transnational trafficking are all on the rise as vectors for sexual exploitation around the world. No nation's borders can truly protect its citizens from the horrors of human trafficking. The area is enormous and extends far beyond any single country's borders. Over the years, various nations in South Asia have become pivotal hubs where trafficking originates, ends, or passes through. For various reasons, including commercial sexual exploitation and forced bonded labor, India is becoming a major origin, destination, and transit country for trafficking. While most victims are trafficked within their own region, others are taken from other nations, such as Nepal and Bangladesh, for exploitation in other regions. There is a significant trade in women and children from India to the Middle Eastern countries for the purposes of forced labor bondage and commercial sexual exploitation.
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