State govt committed to check human trafficking: HM

Vijayawada: Home minister Vangalapudi Anitha expressed concern over the growing menace of human trafficking with the criminals using cyber space to perpetrate the crime. The state government headed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is committed to find solution to the problem of cyber-enabled human trafficking, she added.

She was inaugurating the two-day conference titled ‘National Consultation on Cyber-enabled Human Trafficking’ here on Thursday. Anitha said that cyber-enabled human trafficking could be for various purposes such as labour exploitation, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, surrogacy and fertility exploitation.

A recent case of 300 educated young men with computer knowledge being trafficked to Myanmar to commit cybercrimes is a new dimension to this ever-evolving crime. She hoped that the two-day conference would come out with concrete recommendations to find solutions to the problem.

US Consul General Jennnifer Larson said this national consultation is a landmark event that underscores our collective commitment to eradicating cyber-enabled human trafficking.

By working together, we can develop robust strategies to protect vulnerable communities and hold those committing CEHT accountable, she said.

Minister for women and child development Gummadi Sandhya Rani, director general of police Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, additional DGP, CID, Dr Ravi Shankar, additional DGP (law and order) from Telangana Mahesh Bhagwat, secretary of IT department Saurabh Gaur, secretary, women and child welfare Surya Kumari, NGO Prajwala founder Dr Sunita Krishnan and other activists were present.

The two-day event brings together representatives from 27 states, including senior police officers, public prosecutors, directors of judicial academies, women and child welfare officers and civil society members, who will collaborate to finalise a comprehensive and actionable draft which will serve as a roadmap for states to implement robust measures against cyber-enabled human trafficking.

Earlier, home minister Anitha, women and child development minister Gummadi Sandhya Rani and other dignitaries released a book on the research on cyber-enabled human trafficking brought out by Prajwala.