The following is an article on human trafficking.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is defined as the use of force or compulsion to gain labor or commercial sex acts. To entice victims into trafficking situations, traffickers may employ violence, deception, or false promises of well-paying jobs. The Pakistani government does not entirely satisfy the basic requirements for the abolition of human trafficking, although it is making considerable efforts to do so. These efforts would include indicting traffickers for the first time under the government’s extensive human trafficking law, indicting more traffickers for indentured servitude than the previous year, and increasing brick kiln registration nationwide to improve oversight of workers targeted by labor traffickers.

In addition, the authorities recognized more trafficking victims than in the previous reporting period, and many investigations against suspected traffickers for Pakistani trafficking victims discovered abroad were launched. In addition, federal and provincial authorities continued to engage in anti-trafficking operations with international partners and foreign governments. However, in comparison to the preceding reporting period, the government did not demonstrate overall increased efforts. The government reduced the number of sex trafficking investigations and prosecutions while increasing the number of labor trafficking charges and convictions.

Sex trafficking and labor trafficking are both illegal in Pakistan. The 2018 PTPA made sex trafficking and labor trafficking illegal, with penalties ranging from two to ten years in prison, a fine of up to one million Pakistani rupees (PKR) ($6,460), or both, for offenses involving an adult male victim, and between two and ten years in prison, a fine of up to one million PKR ($6,460), or both, for offenses involving an adult female or child victim. These punishments were suitably severe. However, the punishments for sex trafficking were not equivalent to those for other major crimes, such as rape, because they allowed for a fine instead of jail. Pakistan is a popular destination for men, women, and children who have been compelled to work in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, Chinese construction workers may be subjected to forced labor. In sex trafficking in Pakistan, traffickers abuse women and girls and to a lesser extent, boys from Afghanistan, Iran, and other Asian nations. In Pakistan, traffickers target refugees and stateless people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Burma, as well as religious and ethnic minorities like Christians and Hazaras. Rohingya refugees are forced to work in Pakistan by traffickers.