Sex Trade in India Worth £215bn, Says Nobel Winner Kailash Satyarthi

A study conducted by Nobel Peace prize winner Kailash Satyarthi's organisation has found that sex trade in India generates around £215 billion ($343 billion) and shows no signs of abating.

Satyarthi said in the study that traffickers, brothel owners, money lenders, lawyers, judges and victims benefit to various extents from the trade which sees between three to nine million women trapped in the flesh trade.

Most of the victims are young girls.

The study reported by India Today is titled 'Economics behind forced labour trafficking' and was conducted by Satyarthi-led Global March Against Child Labour.

It notes that around three million women are caught in the sex trade with the numbers going further up when those employed at massage parlours and dance bars are also included, writes India Today.

Girls as young as 10 years are being sold to brothels, with 70 percent of the victims rescued belonging to the 16-18 years age group or younger. the report said.

A shocking revelation in the analysis was the role of immediate and close family members as traffickers.

Key source areas for trafficking of the victims are the impoverished states in India such as West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which shows poverty and lure of employment were the key factors driving trafficking.

The report also noted that around 3.6 million children are forced into domestic labour and increasing numbers from this market being trapped in the sex trade.