“To deny people their human rights, is to challenge
their very humanity.” – Nelson Mandela

“Child slavery is a crime against humanity and humanity
itself is at stake.” – Kailash Satyarthi

Various quotes have been quoted by famous people and this shows how grave the
issue of human trafficking is. Human trafficking is the violation of basic
human rights.

What are Human
Rights ? Human rights are the rights inherent to
all human beings,
regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any
other status.  These rights and freedoms belong to every person in the
world, from birth until death. These rights are all interrelated,
interdependent and indivisible.

The Human Rights-Based approach requires that human
rights are at the core of any anti-trafficking strategy, it seeks to identify
and redress the discriminatory practices and unequal distribution of power that
underlie trafficking. Human rights should be the priority. Human rights approach to trafficking is based
on certain basic premises, the first and foremost of which emphasizes that
trafficking itself is a grave violation of human rights to which all persons
are entitled. The human rights relevant to trafficking include:

·      
Right
to life

·      
Right
to liberty and security

·      
Right
against slavery, servitude, forced or bonded labor

·      
Right
against torture, cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment

·      
Right
to be free from gendered violence

·      
Right
to freedom of movement

·      
Right
to highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

·      
Right
of just and favorable conditions of work

·      
Right
to an adequate standard of living

·      
Right
to social security

·      
Right
to special protection for children

Human rights
approach takes cognizance of the factors that increase vulnerability to
trafficking such as poverty, unemployment, inequality and all forms of
discrimination. This approach, prioritizing the prevention, underscores the
responsibility of governments to protect and promote the rights of all persons
within their jurisdictions. This responsibility implies a legal obligation to
exercise due diligence to take all appropriate measures to prevent trafficking
and related exploitation. Passivity and inaction are inexcusable. Tolerance and
more active complicity are unacceptable. This approach fixes accountability at
the centre of all efforts and requires that the issue of demand be addressed. This
places responsibility on the governments of the countries. This means
establishing enforceable labor standards, measures to prevent sexual
exploitation, effective prosecution of the perpetrators and extending full
support and assistance to the victims. It means, the focus and attention has to
be on the victims.

The practices associated with modern-day
trafficking are clearly prohibited under international human rights law. For
instance, human rights law forbids debt bondage. Many trafficked persons
who enter into a debt with their exploiters find themselves in a situation of
debt bondage; the debt is used as a means of controlling and exploiting them.
Human rights law also prohibits forced labor, slavery, servitude,
child sexual exploitation, forced marriage, servile forms of marriage, child
marriage, enforced prostitution and the exploitation of prostitution are
also trafficking-related practices that are prohibited under international
human rights law.

 

A human rights approach to
trafficking means putting victims at the centre of anti-trafficking policies by
prioritizing the protection of their rights. By taking such an approach, the
victim’s rights are protected regardless of why they have been trafficked.

A core component of a human rights
approach is ensuring equal protections to all victims of trafficking,
regardless of their gender, age, or field of work. All victims are entitled to
equal access to aid mechanisms, protection, and justice, as well as the choice
to access these services in the way that they choose. Therefore policy
responses must take into consideration the often gendered nature of trafficking
and sufficiently compensate for any gender-based discrimination in terms of
access to aid and justice. In addition to actively ensuring these rights to
trafficking victims, other anti-trafficking policies involving criminal
prosecutions and migration regulations must not compromise human rights in the
process.