World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2023: UP, Bihar, AP among top states in child trafficking; Delhi records a rise

The report titled 'Child Trafficking in India: Insights from Situational Data Analysis and the Need for Tech-driven Intervention Strategies' identifies Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh as the top three states with the highest number of children trafficked between 2016 and 2022. 

The report was released today, to mark the ‘World Day Against Trafficking in Persons’ that indicated a troublesome picture of the child trafficking crisis in the country.

The new study conducted by the NGO Games24x7 and the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF) reveals alarming statistics about child trafficking in India. It sheds light on the child trafficking crisis in the country during this period.

Moreover, Delhi has experienced a 68 per cent rise in child trafficking cases from pre to post-Covid times. The number of reported incidents in the pre-Covid phase (2016-2019) was 267, but it rose intensely to 1214 in the post-Covid phase (2021-2022).

Karnataka witnessed an 18-fold increase, increasing from 6 to 110 reported incidents of child trafficking.

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Jaipur City emerged as the top district in child trafficking, with four other districts in Delhi appeared in the top slots. The study draws from data collected by Games24x7's data science team, which collaborated with KSCF and its partners to analyse child trafficking cases across 262 districts in 21 states.

The report highlights the age groups most affected by child trafficking, with 80 per cent of the rescued children falling between the ages of 13 to 18 years. As many as 13,549 children under the age of 18 were rescued during this period. Around 13 per cent children that were rescued were aged nine to 12 years and over 2 per cent were even younger than nine years. Children as young as five and eight years were found engaged in the cosmetic industry, demonstrating the pervasive nature of this issue.

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The study also sheds light on industries with rampant child labour, with hotels and dhabas employing the highest number of child labourers, followed by the automobile or transport industry and the garments sector.

While the report highlights the positive impact of government and law enforcement agencies' proactive approach in increasing reporting and curbing the number of trafficked children, it emphasises the urgent need for a comprehensive anti-trafficking law to effectively combat child trafficking. 

(With inputs from PTI)