NHRC and HNLU host National Conference on combatting Human Trafficking in the Digital Age

The Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently held a Conference on Combatting Human Trafficking in the Digital Era on February 7, 2025.

Delivering the inaugural address, Chairperson, NHRC, Justice (retired) V Ramasubramanian urged the need for effective national and international steps to combat the crime of human trafficking.

He observed that a huge surge in human trafficking can be attributed to data available online. Justice Ramasubramanian urged younger generations to adopt appropriate safe practices when using the internet and, particularly, social media.

Secretary and Commissioner, Excise, Commercial Tax Department, Chhattisgarh Government, R Shangeetha, who has a guest of honor, narrated her field experience of tackling human trafficking and the measures that have been put in place by the Chhattisgarh government to combat it.

She lamented that a lower rate of conviction in such cases was due to the lack of procedural rigour and urged law students to be proactive in building awareness.

In his opening remarks, Vice-Chancellor of HNLU, Prof Dr VC Vivekanandan provided a history of human trafficking during colonial times as indentured labour, slavery from the African continent and how it is continuing in modern times.

Prof Vivekanandan noted that modern-day human trafficking is often linked to issues like poverty, internal conflicts, war, and the gullibility of juveniles. He remarked that the digital aid of such crime has not got the due attention and requires an effective legal framework, taking digital complexities into account. 

The inaugural session had Registrar of HNLU, Dr Deepak Srivastav welcom the dignitaries and faculty member. Dr Debmita Mondal briefed the audience on the structure of the conference. Faculty member, Garima Panwar delivered the vote of thanks. The dignitaries also released the HNLU Gazette, the newsletter of the University.

The Conference had two panel discussions. The first panel dealt for the theme, 'Role of the Internet in Facilitating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling: A Legal and Regulatory Perspective'.

During the panel discussion, retired IAS officer and former member of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Bhamati Balasubramaniam emphasized that trafficking can occur without physical movement and highlighted Northeast India’s trafficking concerns.

Inspector-General of Police, Bilaspur Range, Chhattisgarh, Dr Sanjeev Shukla stressed the importance of rehabilitation programs to break the cycle of re-trafficking.

Professor of Law, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Dr KVK Santhy discussed the need for stronger cyber-patrolling and judicial reforms.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Kirtan Rathore shared case studies and emphasized the need for expedited trials.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh, Pratibha Tiwari detailed the role of technology in trafficking, including fake job offers and cryptocurrency transactions.

The key recommendations of the panel were to strengthen cybercrime and anti-human trafficking units with trained personnel, expand the use of Artificial Intelligence and cyber-surveillance to track traffickers and identify victims, to mandate co-operation by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to monitor and report trafficking related activities and to enhance victim rehabilitation programs to prevent re-trafficking.

The second panel discussion was on 'Preventive Strategies Against Human Trafficking: Role of Technology, Law Enforcement Agencies, Victim Support, and Community Engagement'. It focused on preventive strategies to combat human trafficking, emphasizing technological interventions, law enforcement coordination, victim rehabilitation, and community engagement.

During this discussion, Joint Director, Chhattisgarh Human Rights Commission, Dr Manish Mishra highlighted the ancient origins of human trafficking and the need for stronger laws and victim-centric policies.

Member of the Child Welfare Committee (Raipur), Dr Purushotam Chandrakar discussed the importance of rehabilitation programs and legal frameworks for protecting trafficked children.

Founder and Director, Impact and Dialogue Foundation (Kolkata), Pallabi Ghosh stressed on the role of community vigilance and education to prevent trafficking, warning about the misuse of social media platforms by traffickers.

Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF (Raipur), Ritesh Kumar) emphasized the role of international organizations in fighting trafficking and protecting children.

Professor of Law, HNLU, Prof (Dr) Vishnu Konoorayar analyzed legal challenges and recommended strengthening India's legal framework with specialized courts, faster trials, and stricter penalties.

The key recommendations of the panel included that law enforcement should adopt AI, geo-tagging, and cyber tools to track trafficking activities, that victim support measures should be strengthened with safe houses, psychological care, and financial assistance programs, and that international cooperation for intelligence sharing and cross-border crackdowns on trafficking networks should be enhanced. The panellists also suggested stricter law enforcement measures, with dedicated anti-trafficking units and faster prosecution mechanisms and advocated for raising awareness in vulnerable communities to prevent recruitment by traffickers.

Registrar, NHRC, Joginder Singh gave the valedictory speech and called for a victim-centred approach to tackling the menace of human-trafficking.

A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed during the event, between HNLU, Registrar, Dr Deepak Srivastava and Shri Rawatpura Sarkar University of Raipur, Registrar, Dr Saurabh Kumar Sharma to facilitate academic collaboration between the Universities.

The gathering was welcomed by the Dean PG Studies, HNLU, Prof (Dr) Yogendra Kumar Srivastava during the valedictory session.

Conference Co-Secretary, Dr Priyanka Dhar presented the conference report. Head of the Centre for Human Rights, Dr Kiran Kori proposed the vote of thanks.

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