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Original Research Article | Open Access | Peer Reviewed
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Reforming Rescue: A Critical Examination of India's Anti-Trafficking Legislation from a Victim-Centered Perspective
Devarya Grover
Abstract
This article interrogates the legal and linguistic design of India's anti-human trafficking legislation to query
whether it is, in fact, victim-centered or rhetorically reformist. Indian Bills of 2021, 2022, and 2023, for example,
invoke themes of "comprehensive victim care" but fail to include assurances of enforcement, budgetary
allocations, or survivor-driven accountability. The central lacuna this study fills is not if India's laws use the
rhetoric of victim protection, but how such rhetoric may cloak coercive state power, moral control, and
institutional neglect. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative, document-based approach within Alan
Bryman's interpretive paradigm. Through the thematic analysis of five key legislative and parliamentary
documents, such as the 2013 Lok Sabha Committee Report and anti-trafficking Bills currently under
consideration, the research takes into account both what is stated and what is legally or morally implied. In
doing so, it allows for an analysis of the ways in which victimhood, agency, and rehabilitation are legal
constructions under a bureaucratic and often carceral rationale. Rather than itemizing legal provisions, the
focus is on how legal discourse expresses political will, structural silences, and contested visions of care and
control. Ultimately, the paper argues that while India's laws mirror international rhetoric, they fall short in
operationalizing survivor agency. Comparative reflections with international models and deeper participatory
reform remain critical to bridging the gap between symbolic rights and institutional practice.
Full Text: PDF |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30845/ijhss.vol15p24
Article History:
21 June 2025 | Accepted: 10 July 2025 | Published: 24 July 2025
Reviewer(s):
Dr. Stilia Felisi, St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Bulgaria; ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4784-0611; Phone: +359 878 606646
Email: [email protected] Dr. Olaleye Yetunde, University of Westminster, London, UK; ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4617-6625; Phone: +44 7881 184805.
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected] Dr. Olaleye Yetunde, University of Westminster, London, UK; ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4617-6625; Phone: +44 7881 184805.
Email: [email protected]
Address for Correspondence:
Devarya Grover, 1 Rhu Cross, Tanjong Rhu Road, Costa Rhu, Singapore
437431, +65 9830 3053.
[email protected]
[email protected]
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