Nearly 230 million Indians have fallen below the poverty line since the COVID-19 pandemic began. And it’s a sad fact that vulnerable, desperate people attract predators. Between April 2020 and June 2021, more than 9000 children were rescued from human traffickers. Strict pandemic lockdowns followed by the devastation of cyclone Amphan in coastal Bengal in 2020 left girls highly vulnerable to traffickers.
But there is more to the story: Indian girls and women often have few rights and protections even before they are trafficked. Experts say they frequently see trafficking as their way out of poverty and into a life of at least some agency.
The poverty-stricken Sundarban areas of Bengal, where cyclone Amphan hit hardest, have become hot spots for trafficking in women and girls, according to a report in The Hindu. Cut off from legal aid because of damaged road and telecommunications infrastructure, these areas have seen an alarming spike in human trafficking.
