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Human trafficking cases: Goa tops list per lakh population, reveals NCRB data
Goa has recorded 15 cases of human trafficking in which 38 victims - all adult women and Indian nationals - were rescued for a population of 15.6lakh
Goa has the highest rate of human trafficking cases per lakh population, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2021 revealed.
According to the data compiled by the NCRB, Goa records one case of human trafficking per lakh population as against the national average of 0.2cases.
Goa has recorded 15 cases of human trafficking in which 38 victims - all adult women and Indian nationals - were rescued for a population of 15.6lakh.
Incidentally, the number of cases has gone down from 38 in 2019 to 17 in 2020 and 15 for the year 2021.
35 of the 38 women victims were rescued of which the police found that 29 were trafficked for sexual exploitation while six were trafficked for domestic servitude.
Also Read: 6 held in Telangana for trafficking; 2 Bangladesh nationals among rescued
In terms of absolute numbers, according to data provided by States/UTs, 2,189 cases of human trafficking have been registered by AHTUs of States/UTs during 2021.
The highest number of cases have been registered in Telangana (347 cases), Maharashtra (320 cases), and Assam (203 cases).
Unfortunately, just like 2020, the conviction rate in human trafficking remains poor.
“The NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) report establishes that Goa is increasingly becoming a destination state. To control sex trafficking, it is important that the state government collaborate with the source states to prosecute the traffickers and act against the online commercial sexual activities. There is also a need for review the cause for poor conviction rate in the cases of sex trafficking in Goa,” said Arun Pandey, director of ARZ, an NGO that works primarily with the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Pandey also highlighted a disturbing trend for the year 2022, which he said could further embolden human traffickers.
“Since March this year, there have been no cases of human trafficking that have been solved. This will encourage traffickers ahead of the upcoming tourist season. If they see action taking place and women being rescued, then at least it serves as a deterrent,” he added.
The dip in cases has coincided with the transfer of several police officers who have been moved around after the new government took charge earlier this year.
“ARZ is concerned with no rescue by the police in the last 4 months. We believe that the police should not loosen its guard, or it will send a message to traffickers that Goa is a safe state for sex trafficking,” Pandey said.
Across the country, a total of 2,189 cases of human trafficking were registered in 2021 as compared to 1,714 cases in the year 2020, showing an increase of 27.7%.
A total of 6,533 victims were reported to be trafficked, in which 2,877 children and 3,656 adults were trafficked. Apart from this, 6,213 victims have been rescued from clutches of traffickers.
A total of 5,755 persons were arrested in 2,189 cases of trafficking.
