New Delhi: Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi unveiled a draft of India's first-ever comprehensive anti-human trafficking law.
The draft would treat survivors as victims in need of assistance and protection.
“The bill makes a clear distinction between the trafficked and the traffickers. Such law should have been made 60 years ago,” Gandhi said on Monday.
- The draft legislation provides for special courts to expedite trafficking cases.
- South Asia, with India at its centre, is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world.
- There are no accurate figures on the number of people trafficked within South Asia.
- The bill is aim to unify existing anti-trafficking laws, prioritise survivors' needs, and prevent victims such as those found in brothel raids from being arrested.