Human Trafficking escalates by anonymity & complex network in digital age, says NHRC Chairman | Raipur News
RAIPUR: National Human Rights Commission and Hidayatullah National Law University jointly organized a conference on ‘Combating Human Trafficking in the Digital Age’, at the law university premises on Feb 7. NHRC chairperson urged for the need of effective national and international steps to combat the crime of human trafficking.
Delivering the Inaugural address, the chairperson of NHRC, Justice Ramasubramanian underlined the huge surge in human trafficking from the data available which require awareness in digital navigation and International collaboration to contain this organized crime which is carried out with the aid of the complex digital network. He urged the younger generation for appropriate safe practices when using the net with social media in particular.
R Shangeetha, secretary and commissioner, excise, commercial tax department in Chhattisgarh, delivering the address as guest of honour narrated her field experience of tackling the menace of human trafficking and the measures taken by the CG government to combat it. She lamented that most of the cases do not result in conviction for lack of procedural rigour and urged the law student to take a proactive role in building awareness, helping the victims and joining hands with the efforts of the Government,
Earlier in giving the opening remarks, Prof. Dr. Vivekanandan, Vice Chancellor of HNLU traced the history of human trafficking during colonial times as indentured labour, slavery from the African continent and continuing in modern times cashing on issues of poverty, internal conflicts, war and gullibility of juveniles. He remarked that the digital aid of such crime has not got the due attention and require an effective legal framework taking digital complexities into account.
The conference’s first panel discussion had the theme of “Role of the Internet in Facilitating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling – A Legal and Regulatory Perspective,” dealing with internet facilitation of human trafficking and migrant smuggling, which complicates the enforcement efforts. The key recommendations that the officials gave were strengthening cybercrime and anti-human trafficking units with trained personnel, expanding AI and cyber surveillance to track traffickers and identify victims, mandating ISP cooperation for monitoring and reporting trafficking-related activities, enhancing victim rehabilitation programs to prevent re-trafficking.
The second panel discussion session titled “Preventive Strategies Against Human Trafficking: Role of Technology, Law Enforcement Agencies, Victim Support, and Community Engagement,” focused on preventive strategies to combat human trafficking, emphasizing technological interventions, law enforcement coordination, victim rehabilitation, and community engagement.
The key recommendations by dignitaries included leveraging technology like AI, geo-tagging, and cyber tools to track trafficking activities and aid law enforcement, strengthening victim support with safe houses, psychological care, and financial assistance programmes, raising awareness in vulnerable communities to prevent recruitment by traffickers.
