India is hoping to introduce a much needed law to tackle human trafficking, plugging loopholes in the existing laws dealing with the issue.

Trafficking is the third largest organized crime in the world. According to the Walk Free Foundation’s 2016 Global Slavery Index, India has more adults and children trapped in modern slavery than any other country, with the number estimated as high as 18.35 million.

In a move that the Indian Women and Child Development Minister said should have been welcomed 60 years ago, the new draft aims to strengthen and consolidate the various laws under several ministries dealing with human trafficking.

Maneka Gandhi Releases Human Trafficking Draft Bill, Says Victims Will Not Go To Jail https://t.co/6WBrjaIkUt via @ndtv

— Manisha Pal (@PALMANISHAPAL) May 31, 2016

Thousands of women and children are trafficked within India as well as its neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh. Several are lured from villages and towns with false promises of well-paying jobs in the cities, while a large number of them are forcefully abducted by traffickers.

Many among those trafficked are sold to serve as domestic labour in houses or hotels, or are forced to work in industries that require manual labour. Some are forced into marriage. Others are sold to brothels and forced into prostitution.

In many cases, they are held unpaid or in debt bondage, and are not allowed to contact their families. The new law would have a provision to ensure that unpaid wages are reimbursed to the victims.

Apart from seizure of property belonging to traffickers, the law also has other economic penalties. The act of administering hormone shots to girls in order to accelerate their sexual maturity, a crime that is usually committed to sell trafficked girls to prostitution at a young age, will be made punishable with up to 10 years in jail and a fine of INR (Indian National Rupee) 1 lakh (approximately USD 1500).

According to previous legislature dealing with human trafficking, the traffickers as well as the trafficked are both treated as criminals. As per the new, comprehensive anti-human trafficking law, the first of its kind in India, victims would be offered assistance and protection.

Maneka Gandhi:To Combat Human Trafficking we need entire network of money, police training, better law, informers, lawyers etc. @MinistryWCD

— Ravi Kant (@ACTIVISTLAWYER) September 15, 2015

At the unveiling of the proposed law, currently still a draft, Maneka Gandhi, India’s Women and Child Development Minister said that the bill is “..very nuanced. At present, the law says the trafficked person and the trafficker are both criminals who should go to jail. With this, the trafficked person will be treated as a victim and spared a prison term. The new law is compassionate towards the victim.”

Victims will be given new identities, and be provided with rehabilitation. The draft also includes setting up of fast-track courts to expedite trafficking cases, building more shelters for trafficking survivors, and increasing the rehabilitation fund which will help in rebuilding the lives of those rescued.

The bill also proposes mandatory registration of agencies that supply domestic help, at the failure of which a fine would be imposed.

The law aims to increase the number of trafficking convictions by setting up a special investigative agency to coordinate work between the different states of India as well as with its neighbouring countries.

With the number of human trafficking cases reported in India in 2014 showing a 50% jump from the nearly 3,000 cases reported in 2009, the bill could be a step in the right direction towards combatting human trafficking.

If implemented, the law could have far-reaching benefits, like curbing the informal labour industry and ensuring that fair wages are paid. The draft’s unveiling has also already added to an ongoing debate on whether prostitution should be legalised.

The draft also indicates a welcome move away from the antiquated, bureaucratic, and loophole-packed legislature that currently exists in India.

If the bill succeeds in reducing human trafficking in South Asia by deterring traffickers with high penalties, it will lead to a decline in child labour practices, allowing more children to receive an education and to reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, contributing greatly to the country’s economic and overall development.