18 January 2017, 20:19 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Almost 20,000 women and children were reported to have been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation in India in 2016, a report provided by the Indian National Crime Records Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs showed Thursday.
According to the data provided by the Bureau, a little over 10,100 women and 9,100 children under 18 years old were trafficked in 2016, as opposed to 8,300 women and some 7,100 minors in 2015.
The Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development announced on Thursday that it was implementing the special Ujjawala scheme, aimed at rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking.
In May 2016, Indian Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi released the draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, which aims to unify existing anti-trafficking laws and to provide the right for rehabilitation for those rescued from traffickers.
