COMBATING VICE: THE IMMORAL TRAFFIC PREVENTION ACT 1956

AUTHOR – SARA RIZVI, LL.M.(CRIMINAL LAW) STUDENT AT AMITY UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

BEST CITATION – SARA RIZVI, COMBATING VICE: THE IMMORAL TRAFFIC PREVENTION ACT 1956, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (5) OF 2026, PG. 673-677, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

One of the oldest profession that has existed since the beginning of time is prostitution. In a society where girls are forced into the flesh trade by their parents and relatives, prostitution is a necessary evil that is widely accepted and reinforced by complicated web of social factors. Their own people treat these young girls as a commodity that may be bought and sold to brothel for a fee. Therefore, prostitution resembles a kaleidoscope of images fostered by social public programs such as the portrayal of women as sex object to satisfy their obsessive demands. Despite laws prohibiting it, it has endured throughout history in almost every nation and is openly practiced supported and defended. The international world responded to this heinous advancement of prostitution and the immorality of trafficking in persons for prostitution by enacting a number of conventions. The constitution mandate under Article 23 talks about prohibition of trafficking and all forms of exploitation. Prostitution and beggary were among the several forms of human trafficking that were intended to be eradicated. Despite the fact there were numerous local acts, but nothing of them were uniform. In 1956, the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and girls act, known as SITA the purpose of this law was to penalize brothels for procuring and pimping as well as to stop prostitution near public areas. The goal of the act is to prevent or outlaw the commercial vice of trafficking women, which includes children for the purpose of prostitution as a structured form of income. Therefore this paper aims to analyze and examine the effectiveness of the present legislation whether this act attempts to combat the problems relating the trafficking of women and children.