Human trafficking: A review of the crime in Odisha, India

Primary Care Clinician’s Knowledge of Trafficking in Persons: A Systematic Review

“…An ancient Hindu custom, the Devadasi system remains a culturally valued form of sex work (Hartmann, 2019). After Islamic rulers invaded northern India, women were denied patronage and raised to be sex workers for priests and local landlords (Hartmann, 2019; Kumar et al, 2020). It is important for clinicians to be mindful of the different cultural and behavioral presentations along with potential psychosocial vulnerabilities (Kumar et al, 2020).…”

“…After Islamic rulers invaded northern India, women were denied patronage and raised to be sex workers for priests and local landlords (Hartmann, 2019; Kumar et al, 2020). It is important for clinicians to be mindful of the different cultural and behavioral presentations along with potential psychosocial vulnerabilities (Kumar et al, 2020). Learning the various cultural beliefs and practices will enable clinicians to use this information to provide culturally competent care and ultimately break the barriers that are keeping them from accessing their needs.…”

Crime, Offenders, and Victims

“…However, the property crimes intrinsically tied to rural life (such as farm crime) decidedly demonstrate the need for contextualizing property crimes in the rural. While property crimes generally involve the theft of goods such as valuable objects and money, the definition could be expanded to the organized trade of, for example, people, as much of human trafficking takes part in rural areas (see, e.g., Barrick 2016;Byrne and Smith 2016;Kumar et al 2020). Environmental crimes such as the trade of exotic or endangered species (Korsell and Hagstedt 2008;Smith and McElwee 2013) could also be considered theft of goods and property crime, but such crimes have not been explored within the scope of this study.…”

“…One form of human trafficking is sex trafficking, which in the United States is defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 as "the recruitment, harbouring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act," where the sexual act is induced by force, coercion, fraud, or where the victim is a legal minor (Cole and Sprang 2015). While sex traffickers appear to operate similarly along the rural-urban continuum, there is a persistent lack of knowledge and preparedness to tackle the issue in rural areas, as rural government officials and professionals are less aware of and less likely to have received training in the subject (Cole and Sprang 2015;Kumar et al 2020). As rural areas are often characterized by financial instability and a lack of legitimate employment opportunities compared to urban areas, rural inhabitants may be more vulnerable to falling prey to the sex traffickers' strategies when trying to secure a livelihood for themselves and their families (Kumar et al 2020).…”

“…While sex traffickers appear to operate similarly along the rural-urban continuum, there is a persistent lack of knowledge and preparedness to tackle the issue in rural areas, as rural government officials and professionals are less aware of and less likely to have received training in the subject (Cole and Sprang 2015;Kumar et al 2020). As rural areas are often characterized by financial instability and a lack of legitimate employment opportunities compared to urban areas, rural inhabitants may be more vulnerable to falling prey to the sex traffickers' strategies when trying to secure a livelihood for themselves and their families (Kumar et al 2020).…”