UoH research cited in Supreme Court trafficking ruling

Questions raised by social science researchers nearly a decade ago on trafficking, rehabilitation and survivor autonomy have found mention in a recent Supreme Court judgment, the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has said. 

The judgment in ‘Prajwala vs Union of India’, delivered on May 29, stemmed from a 2004 public interest litigation filed by Hyderabad?based anti?trafficking organisation Prajwala. 

It sought stronger legal protections, rehabilitation measures and institutional accountability for victims of trafficking and commercial sexual



exploitation.

According to UoH, the court referred to a 2016 special issue of Economic and Political Weekly on human trafficking edited by historian Geraldine Forbes, which emerged from discussions at the Women’s World Congress hosted by the university in 2014. 

The works of Dr Barnali Das, a UoH alumna, and Prof. Ajailiu Niumai were among those acknowledged. Dr Das examined conditions in shelter homes in Assam, raising questions about autonomy in rehabilitation, while Prof. Niumai’s research on trafficking in Manipur highlighted social exclusion and regional marginalisation.