Department of Social Work of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) hosted an interactive session with eminent speakers for its students to make them aware about the human trafficking on July 29, 2022. As proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/68/192, this day is observed on July 30 every year.

Ms. Anwesha Banerjee, Assistant Editor, Ei Samay, a noted Bengali daily delivered a lecture on ‘Trafficking in Person: Post Pandemic Scenario in West Bengal’ and informed the students on the increasing number of human trafficking cases after the pandemic. She also deliberated on the concept of trafficking, demand and supply factors in human trafficking, nature and modus operandi of traffickers, and existing legal provisions to curb this menace.

While speaking on the theme of this year, ‘The Use and Abuse of Technology in Human Trafficking’, Mr. Robin Paul, Senior Lead, International Justice Mission Kolkata shared case studies from his experience to explain how traffickers used technology to track victims and how investigating agencies also used technology to track and arrest traffickers and rescue victims. He cautioned the students that they should be very careful with their dealings in the virtual world.

- Dr. Rupa Biswas