Vijayawada: A total of 2,250 cases of human trafficking were registered in Andhra Pradesh in 2022, compared to 2,189 cases in 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This showed an increase of 2.8 per cent.
As many as 6,036 victims were trafficked. This involved 2,878 children and 3,158 adults.
During the year under review, 6,693 victims have been rescued from the clutches of traffickers and 5,864 persons arrested in these connections.
According to the NCRB 2022 Report, AP stands at the 7th place in such incidents in 2022 – in relation to the victims trafficked (for all purposes) in the country.
Odisha was in all-India first place with 1120 persons trafficked; Maharashtra in the second place with 805 persons trafficked; Bihar in third place with 751 persons, Telangana in the fourth place with 704 persons, Delhi in the fifth place with 687 persons and Rajasthan in the sixth place with 461 persons. AP in the seventh place recorded trafficking of 293 persons. In 2021, AP was in the fifth place.
The NCRB data stated that AP stood in third place in the country in 2022 in matters of victims trafficked only for sexual exploitation purposes.
The NCRB data showed Maharashtra in first place in India with trafficking of 784 persons for sexual exploitation, Telangana in second place with 646 persons and AP in third place with 260 persons.
The human trafficking cases in AP decreased for the past four years. Some 245 cases of human trafficking were registered in 2019, 171 cases in 2020, 168 cases in 2021 and 163 cases in 2022 and charge sheets were filed. The percentage of human trafficking cases in 2022 was 99.8 per cent.
A total of 293 persons were trafficked in AP in 2022, of which 14 persons were below age 18 and 279 persons were above age 18. A total of 294 persons were rescued from Human Trafficking in AP in 2022, in which the purpose of human trafficking of 260 persons was sexual exploitation while five persons were taken for domestic purposes, 21 for forced marriage and eight for other reasons.
Women leaders of the state-level forum of survivors of trafficking and victims of commercial sexual exploitation-VIMUKTHI demanded that the rescued survivors of trafficking be provided support for their socio-economic empowerment through community- based rehabilitation.
