Call for effective strategies to combat cyber-enabled human trafficking

With the accelerated and largely unchecked advent of technology, crimes related to human trafficking are increasing, says Home Minister V. Anitha

Andhra Pradesh Home Minister V. Anitha on September 26 (Thursday) said the complexities and the evolving nature of crimes related to Cyber-Enabled Human Trafficking (CEHT) call for urgent and comprehensive response.

Speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day national consultation on Cyber-Enabled Human Trafficking, organised by Government of Andhra Pradesh, in collaboration with NGO Prajwala that works to prevent human trafficking and U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad, Ms. Anitha said this is imperative to ensure that the growing crimes, especially in this category, do not continue unabated.

Pointing to the data that India had more than 850 million users of Internet, she said with this accelerated and largely unchecked advent of technology, crimes related to human trafficking are also increasing.

Referring to the National Action Research Report (NARR) put together by Prajwala, the Home Minister said it had brought to light some disturbing trends which “call for our collective efforts.”

She said Andhra Pradesh was a proud partner in the initiative to find solutions to this critical issue and become the first State in the country to bring out a State plan, contributing to building a safer space for its people.

Minister for Women and Child Welfare Sandhya Rani said cyberspace cuts across global boundaries and handling cybercrime requires coordination among stakeholders at all levels. She said the traffickers have been found using social network sites and online classified sites to market, recruit, sell and exploit their victims. “The use of technology in human trafficking is mostly to identify, locate, entice and recruit the gullible victims,” she said, adding that the purpose of the crime varied from labour exploitation, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, surrogacy and fertility exploitation.

Citing increase in cases of women and children being trafficked through these means, she called for effective ways to prevent the same.

National plan of action

Director General of Police (DGP) Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said the CEHT problem is very serious. “We are here for a solution-driven discussion and we will come up with a draft National Plan of Action for combating the menace,” he said, admitting that though it was a tall order, it was feasible.

Mr. Tirumala Rao said human trafficking in any form was deplorable. Pointing out that “the problem is exponentially increasing” he called for effective and collective measures to curb the menace.

Awareness campaign

Secretary, Department of IT, Saurabh Gaur said cyber crime was a matter of serious concern. “India has been on a rapid pace of digital transformation and the cheapest data rate is available in our country in the entire world. Referring to Section 69 A of IT Act which provides for regulating online content, he said technology was moving fast and it was difficult to catch up with it. He called for a citizen-driven awareness campaign on the issue.

US Consulate General, Hyderabad, Jennifer Larsen said combating global threats was her country’s first priority. “Technology-Enabled Human Trafficking is one of the most pressing global concerns. It transcends borders. Its scale and reach are far and wide. We need global partnerships to fight this growing menace,” she said.

National Action Research Report

Co-founder of Prajwala, Sunitha Krishnan said the National Action Research Report speaks about the trends and patterns of how technology is enabling trafficking across the globe. Explaining about the methodology employed to compile the report, she said “We engaged with global experts in six countries- US, UK, Spain Austria, Thailand and Philippines, collected data from 15 States covering 365 police officers, including from Andhra Pradesh. “We did decoy operations to check if every information we received was authentic. We spoke to victims to understand what happens inside those spaces and civil society organisations, she added.

Speaking about the magnitude of the problem, she urged every section to collaborate and address this serious concern in the most effective way.

Secretary, Women and Child Welfare, Surya Kumari, representatives of NGO and officers from across the country were present.

Published - September 26, 2024 08:02 pm IST