A progressive piece of legislation

This refers to the editorial, “Fighting trafficking” (July 24 ).  The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, introduced in the Parliament last week is welcome.  Prostitution,  child labour, begging, domestic and farm work are some of the off-shoots of child lifting which the Bill hopes to encompass. The thrust is essentially on prevention, rescue and rehabilitation.  Human trafficking comes under Section 370 of the IPC and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956.  The new law is directed towards amalgamating the two Acts with new innovations.  Of course, focus is on breaking the anti-social mafia and networks.

No Bill can be comprehensive; nor can it satisfy every section. Many sex workers are opposed to the Bill because while the police conduct raids on sex workers, the question as to whether or not  they were forcefully pushed into the profession becomes wafer thin.  In other words, sex workers have the right to choose their profession and they should not be harassed.  Those rescued may not necessarily feel comfortable under the rehabilitation centres.  Activists argue that the Bill fails to address the root causes of trafficking and views it from a bureaucratic angle bypassing socio-economic compulsions. The Bill must be thoroughly debated before it is passed to negate the impression that it is more about contempt and less on compassion.