Slavery in the IT Sector

Posted by Jim Stroud

July 5, 2007

Wow! Who knew?

Trafficking in women and children on the pretext of employing them as maids or offering them chances in the film industry is well known, but it may come as a surprise that such crimes exist in the lucrative Information Technology, Business Process Outsourcing and software sectors, said Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao.

Addressing the valedictory function of the two day seminar and workshop on ‘Trafficking in persons and role of police’ at B.N. Bahadur Institute auditorium, he said human trafficking should be taken more seriously as it had turned out be a lucrative trade.

As many are duped by job offers in the Information Technology sector, there should be more focus on these sectors, Rao said.

Vijay Kumar, registrar of the National Law School of India, said about 8-12 lakh women and children were being trafficked each year across the world, according to a report published in the United States.

While 7- 8 per cent of trafficking happens at a global level, 10 per cent is inter-state. The rest takes place within states. They generated a business volume of up to Rs 32,000 crore, Vijay Kumar said.

Read: IT sector embroiled in human trafficking