Lecture Notes on Human Trafficking in GB Road

Overview

• Discussion about raids in GB Road, a major red-light area and hardware market in Asia.
• Criminal activities and human trafficking prevalent.

Police and Raids

• Police often intimidated or compromised by receiving commissions from brothel operators.
• Rescue operations are dangerous and complex.
  • Police avoid direct engagement; use informers for safety.
  • Rescued minors are often hidden in tunnels or moved to different locations like cinema halls.
• Surveillance by traffickers via strategically placed cameras and inter-connected brothel roofs.

Brothel Layout and Identification

• GB Road consists of various courtyards and rooms assigned by numbers (e.g., 40 right, 40 left).
• Identification via large numbers on houses and brothels.

Demographics of Trafficked Victims

• Different brothels house girls from specific regions:
  • House 64: Nepali girls
  • House 56: Bengali, Nepali, Andhra girls
  • Houses 1955-58: Beria community girls
• Beria community cultural background includes normalized prostitution, family involvement.
• Misbelief about curing HIV by being intimate with virgin girls.

Decrease in Raids

• Raids on GB Road have reduced since 2017-18 due to increased criminal activity sophistication.
• Traffickers keep victims in different locations before moving them to GB Road.

Challenges in Rescue

• Timely information is rare, delaying rescue operations.
• Rescued victims often subject to heavy makeup and tattoos to change appearance.
• Emotional trauma and manipulation make victims difficult to identify.

Personal Accounts and Anecdotes

• Story of a 16-year-old girl rescued after being severely abused and manipulated.
• Brothel owners themselves are often ex-victims, trapped in the same cycle.
• Socio-economic factors contribute to vulnerability (e.g., domestic violence, poverty, lack of family attention).

Kidnapping & Trafficking Methods

• Traffickers use various deceitful methods to lure and trap girls (fake love interests, job promises).
• Transition from random phone contact to internet platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and previously TikTok—and how they are utilized for trafficking.

Social and Cultural Factors

• Social norms in certain regions exacerbate the problem, e.g., high parental control in Bengal pushing girls towards risky behaviors.
• Large families with inadequate supervision also increase vulnerability.

Substance Abuse

• Children in poverty-stricken areas often resort to substance abuse (e.g., sniffing dendrites).

Technological Influences

• Increase in cyber crimes and dark web activities contributing to human trafficking.
• Incidents of girls being deceived through social media interactions.

Government and Legal Challenges

• Organized crime and corruption within legal systems hinder effective rescue and prosecution of traffickers.