HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN INDIA: LEGAL FRAMEWORKS, CHALLENGES, AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

In India, human trafficking is still a serious and complex human rights violation that is ingrained in institutional shortcomings, caste and gender-based discrimination, and systemic socioeconomic inequality. Enforcement is still dispersed and mostly ineffectual in spite of constitutional guarantees and a variety of domestic regulations, such as the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. Through deceit, coercion, or abuse of vulnerability, victims, who are primarily women, children, Dalits, and migrants, are frequently forced into exploitative practices such as child trafficking, forced labour, sexual slavery, and organ trafficking. Identification, prosecution, and rehabilitation operations are significantly hampered by the organized and covert nature of human trafficking, as well as by corruption and inadequate interagency collaboration. Although India's judicial patterns have changed to adopt a victim-centered and rights-based approach, major obstacles to justice still include stigma, underreporting, and delays. While India has complied with international conventions, comparative legal analysis shows that its application falls short of that of nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom, particularly in the areas of victim protection and institutional capacity. Vulnerabilities are nonetheless made worse by important socioeconomic factors like poverty, illiteracy, violence, and the need for cheap labour. The study makes the case for immediate legal changes, such as a thorough anti-trafficking law that covers all types of exploitation, improved enforcement tactics, and integrated victim care programs. In order to address structural reasons and impose responsibility, policy recommendations place a strong emphasis on community engagement, public awareness, international cooperation, and evidence-based research. In the end, stopping human trafficking in India necessitates a multi-sectoral, victim-centered framework that not only punishes offenders but also gives the most disadvantaged people of society their rights, dignity, and justice back.