Saleya (name changed), a victim of domestic violence and sexual exploitation, was forced into prostitution by a woman from her own village. She had escaped an abusive marriage and returned to her parents’ home (specify city or state) and was looking for work. The woman duped him by luring him with domestic work in Mumbai and sold him in the Falkland Road red-light area for Rs. 1,00,000.She gave birth to a girl while working in a red-light area. Later, she met a man in Akluj and started a family with him. However, his happiness did not last long. She had to leave because her partner was an alcoholic and unfaithful. She moved between Tuljapur, Akluj and Mumbai, working hard to care for her children independently. She sought institutional help and bounced between several rehabilitation centers while training to become a beautician. In 2025, when she finds out she is pregnant again, she moves into a Mumbai shelter for human trafficking survivors.“I don’t want to go back to my family. They don’t even know about my current situation. I have learned a skill here and want to earn money myself while taking care of the children,” Saleya said.Udaan House is Saleya’s new address, which she now shares with 5 other women whose lives had a similar story before they were rescued and rehabilitated. Varsha Kamble, who works as a project manager at the shelter, said most of the people she rescued were either living in poverty, looking for a stable source of livelihood or had been emotionally manipulated by their lovers. Traffickers lure them with false promises of education, financial stability, love and a better life, and when they start trusting them, they are forced into prostitution.
What does the data reveal?
The ‘Crime in India Report’ released in May by the National Crime Bureau recorded a marginal decline of 3.3% in human trafficking cases, from 6,043 in 2023 to 5,839 in 2024.However, behind this silent achievement lies a dark truth highlighting the dire state of women’s safety in India. The report said a staggering 40% of human trafficking cases were committed for the purpose of prostitution. And when mapped based on five years of data, it was found that the number of cases has increased significantly from 2022 to 2024.Maharashtra has the highest number of cases at 829, followed by Telangana (770), Andhra Pradesh (279), and Bihar (97). This is not the first time that these states have been at the center of this crisis, accounting for the majority of cases nationally. Maharashtra leads the country in cases of human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution since 2017.
The proportion of human trafficking cases involving sexual exploitation for prostitution is increasing.
Barriers to anti-trafficking framework
Noting the shortcomings in existing protection and support efforts for survivors of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling on March 30 and constituted a nationwide “Victim Protection Scheme”. The proceedings began in 2004 with a PIL filed by anti-trafficking NGO Prajwala. Using his powers under Articles 32 and 142 of the Constitution, Justice J.B. the back of Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan issued a detailed set of binding instructions constituting a nationwide “Victim Protection Plan” covering rescue operations, identification, rehabilitation and prosecution.“The lack of a victim protection plan is a serious flaw that risks derailing any and all rescue efforts, as there is no clear, guiding and binding framework for how victims are to be handled during and after rescue,” the judgment said, according to the Bar and Bench report.The plan also sets out detailed operational standards for Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and rescue teams. The units should be headed by a DSP-rank officer and include at least two women police officers, along with a cyber crime officer wherever possible. States are required to notify AHTUs as police stations for their entire district, giving them jurisdiction to register and investigate trafficking cases. Each unit has to maintain a database which has to be updated every month and includes traffickers, victims and vulnerable communities, the information goes to the State Anti-Trafficking Bureau and from there to the NCRB.However, a major controversy exists between the installation, maintenance and operation of AHT units ordered by the authority and their implementation on the ground.In 2019, a scheme to set up AHTs in all districts was launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs and funded under the Nirbhaya Fund. The intention was to provide every district in the country with a dedicated unit equipped to detect, investigate and respond to cases of human trafficking. While states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have been successful in achieving this goal, implementation has been uneven. Many states still have a number of functional AHT units that are significantly less than their total district strength, meaning that a large portion of the districts in these states are functioning without a unit that is specifically mandated to handle trafficking cases.
States and Union Territories with fewer AHT units than total districts.
Data shows children at the center of the crisis
In 2023, Kamble saved a minor girl in Kalamboli area of Navi Mumbai. The girl was just 14 years old when her maternal uncle and aunt (maternal uncle and aunt) forced her into prostitution. His father had died and his mother supported the family by begging. His uncle and aunt brought him to Mumbai from Kishanganj in Uttar Pradesh with false promises of education and job. “She used to tell them that it hurts and she can’t do it. They used to tell her that this is what everyone does to earn money in Mumbai,” Kamble said.He told that betrayal by his own family members takes away from him the ability to trust anyone. He said, “When we raid brothels, the women think we have come to arrest them. Even during their rehabilitation, they lie about their past, and gradually they trust us and reveal the truth.”According to the report, a total of 2,301 female victims were reported under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956. Among all the states, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Bihar recorded the highest numbers, making them top in the list. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were notably prominent in this group.Of particular concern is the age profile of victims in three of these top five states, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where more than forty percent of victims were below 18 years of age, as recorded under Section 5 of the Act.
States where more than 40% of victims are minors.
Role of police and judiciary in human trafficking cases
Kamble, whose NGO has jointly conducted several anti-trafficking raids with the police, said there were instances where their rescue operations failed because the police leaked information.“We no longer tell the police the exact location where the crime is being committed. We ask them to come to a nearby location and take care of the rest themselves,” Kamble said.Apart from lapses in police proceedings, NCRB’s analysis of five years of data shows that the journey with the judicial system has not been easy either. The data point to two important concerns:First, the conviction rate in cases registered under the Act has seen a significant decline from 2022-2024, indicating a worsening rate of successful prosecution.Second, and perhaps more surprisingly, the percentage of pending cases has remained consistently above 90% for the last five years. This reflects a prolonged and persistent backlog within the system.
conviction rate
case pendency rate
“In my experience, I have observed that while people arrested under the POCSO Act face stringent criminal proceedings, it is comparatively easier for people arrested under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act to obtain bail and safe release.” Kamble addedMeanwhile, Saleya continues to work on reinventing herself and wants to work as a beautician, a skill she has worked hard to acquire through numerous training sessions. She envisions a secure and respectable future for herself and her children. She does not want to return to her parents’ home, where her life was marked by hardship, violence, and limited access to education. The fear of social embarrassment and family abandonment continues to haunt him.
