Women’s trafficking in twenty-first century India: A quest for regional variations

ABSTRACT Trafficking of women is a serious global concern today that threatens many women’s lives and security and violates their rights and dignity. This represents a cross-border criminal trade, mainly for the purpose of marketable sexual exploitation. India has rampant and widespread trafficking of women and comprehensive studies are required to assess its dynamics for prevention. This paper attempts a study of the spatio-temporal variations of women’s trafficking in India from 2001 to 2015. It also seeks to identify underlying factors in its regional variations in the study period and highlights possible strategies for combating it. In spite of its persistence, the absolute numbers of trafficked women show a decreasing trend during this period. Historical tradition, socio-economic deprivation and cultural rigidity are major contributing factors in its regional variations. Awareness generation and empowerment of women are considered to play key roles for eradicating it apart from enforcement of legal provisions and active involvement by NGOs.