The Supreme Court on Friday passed a slew of directions to the Centre, states and Union Territories to prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children.
The court directed that probe agencies should not misuse anti-trafficking laws to harass victims who had been forced into the trade through coercion and fraud. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan directed a “victim protection plan” to be followed across the country to provide rehabilitation and rescue measures to those who are forced into the sex trade through deceit and coercion.
The directions were passed while dealing with a two-decade-old PIL filed by the NGO Prajwala, which had brought to the court’s notice the widespread trafficking of women, including minors, by the organised mafia. The bench said that before taking action against the victims under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, the authorities must verify their background to check whether they voluntarily entered theprofession or were coerced into the trade.