1 week ago
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Human rights activists person welcomed the Supreme Court’s first-of-its-kind guidelines aimed astatine protecting survivors of quality trafficking, saying the directions recognise the rights of victims and code long-standing gaps successful rescue and extortion measures.
On May 29, 2026, the Supreme Court of India successful Prajwala v. Union of India mandated a broad Victim Protection Plan for survivors of quality trafficking for intersexual exploitation. The plan, based connected Articles 21 and 23, covers the full process from pre-rescue to rehabilitation, treating survivors arsenic victims entitled to rehabilitation alternatively than offenders.
Sunitha Krishnan, co-founder of Prajwala, a Hyderabad-based anti-trafficking NGO, described the judgement arsenic some landmark and historic, saying it is the archetypal to recognise survivors of quality trafficking arsenic rights-holders entitled to dignity and rehabilitation, alternatively than arsenic recipients of charity.
Rights-focused framework
Describing the guidelines arsenic trauma-informed and quality rights-focused, Ms. Krishnan said nary of the words utilized successful it are rhetoric. The guidelines marque it mandatory for victims to person practice instantly aft rescue, including enactment from a dedicated caseworker from the societal assemblage who tin walk clip knowing their needs.
What is unsocial astir the Victim Protection Plan is, Ms. Krishnan said, astatine each level, the consent of the idiosyncratic has to beryllium taken, dignity has to beryllium ensured, and each of that is translated into circumstantial actions. It includes what should hap aft rescue, however a idiosyncratic tin beryllium admitted to a home, however agelong they tin beryllium kept there, and each the remainder of it.
The program besides addresses applicable challenges faced during rescue operations by laying down a structured process. All rescued persons indispensable archetypal beryllium provided harmless structure and trauma care, pursuing which societal workers behaviour an archetypal appraisal to find whether they entered prostitution voluntarily oregon done coercion.
“If determination is simply a mismatch betwixt a woman’s relationship and the societal workers’ findings, the magistrate indispensable bid a much elaborate inquiry. Even women who take to permission shelters cannot beryllium denied compensation, payment benefits, oregon different entitlements, with designated caseworkers liable for ensuring continued enactment for up to 3 years,” Ms. Krishnan said.
Need for clarity
Kandasamy Krishnan, president of Adhiboomi, welcomed the guidelines but said determination was a request for greater clarity connected implementation. “The guidelines laic down wide principles, but determination is nary circumstantial clarity connected which section volition instrumentality complaint of rehabilitation, which bureau volition relation arsenic the nodal authority, who volition put proscription erstwhile the unfortunate is recovered successful different State, oregon who volition supply impermanent shelter,” helium said.
He urged the State authorities to clasp consultations with experts, civilian nine organisations, and practitioners moving connected the crushed to make a State-specific framework.
Mr. Krishnan besides called for the State authorities to merchandise information connected the fig of trafficking survivors identified truthful acold and supply details connected the presumption of their rehabilitation.
Law for bonded labour
Welcoming the unfortunate extortion plan, P. Pathimaraj of SHED India said it provides a much-needed azygous protocol for implementation and argued that akin frameworks are required for different forms of trafficking arsenic well.
“Women are chiefly trafficked for commercialized intersexual exploitation, but trafficking besides occurs for bonded labour, organ trade, forced marriage, home servitude, and adjacent anti-national activities. There is nary proper, azygous program to code these forms of trafficking,” helium said.
Mr. Pathimaraj added a akin extortion and rehabilitation model is needed for bonded labour cases. He said the basal causes of trafficking, including unemployment and the relation of middlemen who often bask governmental patronage, besides request to beryllium addressed
