Experiences of Working as a Social Worker with the Delhi Police on Human Trafficking Cases: Issues and Challenges

Abstract

Social workers within police departments are not very common in India. However, social workers do work with the police under some laws, like human trafficking and child labour. The rescued in cases of human trafficking and child labour require counselling (emotional and legal), and they need postrescue rehabilitation, which requires the active participation of social workers. The author spent a year working on the issue of human trafficking between 2011 and 2012 with a non-government organisation. The work involved actively participating in the rescues of trafficked minors and their repatriation as well as training the lowest rungs of the police in how to handle cases of trafficking in Delhi, India. This article is based on the experiences that the author gained from working with the police.