According to almost every published research study, the root causes of trafficking are poverty and the low status of women. In the poorest parts of South Asia, girls have low status in the family and the community. Female value in much of their society is so low that girl infanticide is a significant problem. In Nepal, where many girls in India’s red light areas come from, married women are traditionally expected to wash their husbands’ feet each night, then to dip a hand in the dirty water and put some water into their mouth, symbolizing their deference and low status. This is merely one illustration of the culturally accepted view of women in areas with high incidence of gender violence. Girls in South Asia are often uneducated. If resources within a family are limited, only the boys are sent to school. Girls who grow up in this environment believe that there is no other option than to obey their parents and others in authority. This is why many girls who are trafficked do not even try to escape.

Given the dreadful conditions victims of trafficking are subjected to, it is no surprise that they suffer from a multitude of negative consequences, even after they’ve been rescued and returned home (if they’re fortunate enough). Women who are coerced into prostitution can suffer from a range of physical issues, such as sexually-transmitted infections (HIV/AIDS, HPV), menstrual irregularities, and other injuries (due to the prevalence of physical violence in brothels and other institutions). But many of the physical impacts come even earlier: during transportation, victims are commonly held in extremely close and unsanitary quarters, which can lead to the outbreak and spread of diseases. Other tactics traffickers use to subdue victims include starvation, beatings, and other forms of physical and sexual trauma—which can lead to a host of physical injuries, such as brain trauma, burns, bruises, and broken bones.

Trafficking also causes severe psychological damage. Some of the mental health consequences include the development of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), anxiety disorders (such as social anxiety), depression, Stockholm Syndrome (a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological bond, or “feelings”, for their captor), and substance abuse. Such psychological effects can emerge from a wide variety of factors—the initial separation and displacement from their former lives, the physical and sexual abuse they may face at the hands of their traffickers, economic exploitation, and social isolation. Prolonged and debilitating feelings of guilt, shame, hopelessness, and terror are some of the emotional repercussions that may wrestle with—all of which increase stress levels and further exacerbate their mental health. 

However, the suffering that trafficking victims face doesn’t end after their period of captivity (it that period does indeed end). A poignant article published by The Hindu, which focuses on the lives of female trafficking victims in West Bengal after rescue (West Bengal registered the highest number of human trafficking cases in 2016!), sheds light on this issue. For one woman, a victim of sex trafficking, her return home led to a “social boycott” of her and her family—to the extent that even leaving her house became a dangerous and stressful venture. Indeed, social stigma—and the self-stigma that results from internalizing these negative stereotypes—is a huge issue, and ostracizes and re-victimizes women who have already been through immense trauma.

Human trafficking is a violation in every sense of the word: it abuses victims physically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, and at times sexually. This is why it is so important to help survivors rebuild their lives and offer them the support they need—whether that’s medical, educational, or emotional. Women, and children are being trafficked and abused as we read this article—so the time to take action is now.