In 2020, the Indian government published its first ever climate change assessment. The report found that the ferocity and frequency of droughts was increasing, together with other extreme events (floods, heatwaves, wildfires and landslides).

Climate disruption is greatly disturbing daily life across India in rural and urban areas. Increasing temperatures are interrupting agricultural practices - partly because India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. The flooding seasons bring water, but the worsening floods destroy infrastructure, homes, small businesses, and subsequently dash incomes and security for millions.

As a result of these disruptions, it is not surprising that climate change ‘exacerbates poverty’ and causes ‘conflict and instability’. Amidst the chaos and rising desperation, bad actors flourish. As more families lose their homes and livelihoods., it becomes easy to tempt them with offers of false employment. Victims are trafficked into forced labour, sexual exploitation and forced marriage. To control their victims, traffickers use a number of methods, from threats and coercion, to debt bondage and the withholding of documents.

Sudden destruction of property and other assets can often result in immediate desperation for families, which leaves them open to exploitation. But slower-onset disasters, like drought and desertification, are damaging entire regions, sending inhabitants on dangerous migration routes (often across Asian borders) where traffickers operate. This is very prevalent in the Sundarbans regions in India & Bangladesh: Traffickers target widows, female-headed households, and men desperate to cross the border to India for employment.

There are nearly 8.1m people trapped in modern slavery in India according to 2018 Global Slavery Index (GSI) estimates. That is over 20% of the number of victims worldwide. Around two thirds of them are in forced labor. There are an additional 10 million children aged 5-14 in illegal labor.

1) Sex trafficking

Sex trafficking is often a hidden crime, characterized by low levels of data. However, we know that India is a global hotspot for sex trafficking. Millions of women and girls are at risk. Causes include low job security, lack of documentation (especially those from Bangladesh and Nepal) and a notable lack of escape routes from poverty. Affected women are often from marginalized groups, defined sometimes by caste or migration status. An extremely high proportion of women in prostitution in India are trapped through debt bondage.

Victims of sex trafficking are subject to appalling treatment - including beating, rape, and imprisonment. Girls as young as five years old have been found in brothels. In some cases, younger girls have been given hormone injections to look older. Recruitment has evolved, and is regularly carried out through websites and dating apps.

2) Forced and child marriage

There is a difference between arranged marriage and forced marriage, specifically the presence (or lack) of mutual consent. In India, women and girls are often coerced into marriage. Such situations can be next to impossible to escape, with tight control and cases of violent retribution towards escaped brides.

Those affected are usually from marginalized groups and have typically not had many economic or educational opportunities. As UNICEF write, ‘child marriage ends childhood’. Child brides are considerably more likely to die in childbirth, contract HIV and experience domestic violence, rape and malnutrition.

In 2016, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs reported 33,796 women and 16,695 girls being forced into marriage. The bride trafficking problem is not confined to Indian borders - it was estimated in 2018 that 50 Nepalese women are trafficked to India daily.

3) Forced labor

Just over two thirds of rescued victims of slavery in India, reported by the GSI, are trafficked for forced labor. Forced labor spans many sectors, including the tea sector, mining, cotton, brickmaking and manufacturing industries. Forms of forced labor can vary but include withholding pay, debt bondage, entrapment and wage exploitation. As with other forms of slavery, victims are often vulnerable as a result of poverty and lack of opportunity.

The tea sector is particularly high risk, with over 40% of surveyed tea sector workers having experienced wage exploitation. The granite mining industry is similarly problematic: In Raichur in 2015, 1 in 10 members of a sample of quarries’ workforces were children, paid considerably less than the minimum wage. In brick-making, a 2017 investigation found that 96% of workers had taken an advance (loan) before starting work in the kiln.

4) Child labor

India’s 2011 census registered over 10 million children (defined as under the age of 14) in work. Children are exploited in brick kilns, quarrying and garment production, amongst other occupations. There are strong correlations between poverty and child labor, and any long-term preventative strategy must involve the provision of education, paired with interventions to enable children to attend school (e.g. food and alternative income for their families). Child laborers are often treated exceptionally poorly as exploited workers. They are often paid under the minimum wage and forced to work in dangerous occupations like mining without protective equipment.

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And remember: Today, at almost 50 million people, there are more slaves in the world than ever before. Though investment in anti-slavery work has increased, there is little evidence to suggest that slavery is decreasing. In other words, the current approach isn't working!

Arise believes that frontline groups and their networks are the key to ending slavery. They are a hugely powerful, but marginalised and underdeveloped, resource in the fight against slavery. There are countless embedded local anti-slavery groups performing vital protective work, and they are well-placed to scale up protections in their regions if given the opportunity. Until now, they do not receive close to the support or platform they deserve to unlock their incredible potential. Help us change that.