Child Trafficking

Child trafficking is the unlawful recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of minors for exploitative ends such as forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation, and illegal adoption.

Under Social Issues

• It represents a direct violation of constitutional guarantees under Article 23, which explicitly prohibits human trafficking and forced labor.
• It serves as a key indicator of structural gaps in rural social safety nets, inter-state law enforcement coordination, and community-level child protection mechanisms.
• It tests the operational efficacy and synergy of statutory frameworks including the Juvenile Justice Act, POCSO Act, and specialized Anti-Human Trafficking Units.

UPSC frames questions on this topic primarily under GS Paper II and GS Paper I, examining socio-economic drivers alongside legal and institutional safeguards. Questions frequently require candidates to evaluate bottlenecks in victim rehabilitation, inter-agency coordination, and statutory enforcement.

• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections GS2
• Border security: challenges, organized crime, terrorism GS3