Revision summary
Poverty, debt, cheap-labour demand, and fake overseas jobs drive trafficking. ITPA 1956 is the older law against immoral traffic; newer criminal codes also punish trafficking. Anti-Human Trafficking Units handle rescue and investigation in districts. Ujjawala supports shelter and rehabilitation for women in sexual exploitation. Nirbhaya Fund projects add women-safety and victim support; livelihood after rescue is the real test.
Model answer
Introduction
Human trafficking is trade in persons for sex, labour, begging, or organs. Poverty and weak borders feed it; law and shelters are how the State answers.
Body
Causes
- Poverty, debt, and disaster push families to send children with agents who then sell them.
- Demand for cheap labour and commercial sex, plus caste and gender power, keep the market alive.
- Porous borders, fake jobs abroad, and internet luring have made recruitment easier.
Protection and rehabilitation
- The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, is the older criminal frame against commercial sexual exploitation; the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IPC successor provisions also punish trafficking.
- Anti-Human Trafficking Units in districts rescue, investigate, and coordinate with police and NGOs.
- Ujjawala funds homes for prevention, rescue, and rehabilitation of women in commercial sexual exploitation.
- The Nirbhaya Fund has supported women-safety and victim-support projects, including some trafficking-related work.
- Compensation, skills, and witness protection decide whether a rescued person stays free; rescue without a livelihood often fails.
Flow diagram
Conclusion
Trafficking is driven by poverty, demand, and weak borders. ITPA, AHTUs, Ujjawala, and Nirbhaya-backed projects are the State’s protection and rehabilitation tools; they work only when shelter is followed by work and safety.
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Next question in the 2025 paper (Q11). View answer →
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Is trafficking only about sex work?
No. Forced labour, begging, domestic work, and organs are also trafficking.
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Does rescue complete rehabilitation?
No. Shelter, compensation, skill, and protection from the old network must follow.
Same topic · past papers
UPPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2020 · Q9 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Analyse 'Money Laundering' and 'Human Trafficking' as non-traditional security challenges.
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