Laws related to Women Exploitation in India

This article is written by one of our authors  Shashank Sahay .

Child Labour in India

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, bans employment of children less than 18 years in certain fields such as transport, railways, ports etc. Employment of children is also regulated under several legislations such as Factories Act, 1948, Mines Act, 1983, Apprentices Act, 1951. The cut off age is 14 in most of the cases. However, the penalizing provisions of these Acts scarcely touch the exploiters/violators of the law. Monitoring of the law is extremely poor. The Supreme Court judgments on child labour have done little to improve the situation. (Image taken from here.)

Similarly, the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, stipulates the

minimum age of 21 years for boys and 18 years for girls. But these provisions have also been flouted without much trouble. Underage girls are married off and in many cases sold in flesh trade.

Prostitution and Trafficking in India is sought to be controlled under the Immoral Traffic in Persons Prevention act, 1986. The Indian Penal Code supplements it in that it prohibits traffic in human beings and children. Enhanced punishment is prescribed for offenders in case of a child and minor. However, these legal provisions need to be strengthened to successfully trap the procurers. Most often Women are criminalized for soliciting in public place. The law needs to view these women as victims of circumstance instead of treating them as delinquents.

Section 13(1) of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1986 provides for Special Police Officers for controlling trafficking and curbing exploitation. In the few states where such officers have been notified, they have been to the dismay of public found to be ineffective. At least in the high risk source areas and destination points, the efficiency of such officers needs to be ensured by the superior police officers. In fact, most of them do not regard this as a serious offence and often collude with traffickers. This legislation provides for several offences such as punishment for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel, punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution, etc.

Moreover, no penal sanctions exist against the officials who take action in cases involving trafficking of women and girls. There is no punishment for the clients. Thereby in practice all the laws relevant to the above mentioned cause as remained as a dead letter. Despite Constitutional guarantees and ratification of international conventions that protect the rights of women and children, laws are followed more in their breach rather than in their observance. (Image taken from here.)

Criminal procedure under the law needs to be streamlined. Speedy trials are a must. Moreover, a total revamping of the country’s rescue rehabilitation centers is essential before an large scale rescue attempts are made.

This article is written by one of our authors  Shashank Sahay .

Shashank Sahay is pursuing BA.LLB from School of Law, Kiit University, Bhubaneswar and is currently in 2nd Semester. So far he has managed to write research paper and articles on issues ranging from homosexuality, AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Millitary Act), JIHAD to status of marital rape in India. Apart from writing research papers, his interests include MUNning (model united nations) and playing Football.

Keywords: Apprentices Act 1948, child labour india, Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986, child trafficking india, Factories Act 1948, Immoral Traffic Prevention act 1986, Mines Act 1983, Shashank Sahay kiit university