Fifty years after abolition in India, bonded labour endures

The government needs to prioritise deterrence measures against the crime and improve prosecution outcomes. 6 min readJul 30, 2026 03:25 PM IST First published on: Jul 30, 2026 at 03:23 PM IST By Tina Kuriakose Jacob They are hidden in plain sight. They may be behind closed doors — in brothels or trapped in online scamming. These are the victims of human trafficking (HT), and they remain trapped and misunderstood. They also remain at a distance, so no harm is visible to us, nor does it seem to be done. They are seen as voluntarily choosing the kind of work they do. Some even get paid for it. But there is more to HT than that which meets the eye. A common thread holds together sexual exploitation, forced labour, begging, domestic servitude, forced marriage and forms of HT prevalent in India.