Trafficking mechanisms and HIV status among sex‐trafficking survivors in Calcutta, India

The fact that India has been identified as a destination country for the estimated 150 000 women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation each year within and across South Asia draws attention to Calcutta, a potential sex-trafficking hub [1]. Although Calcutta has been the site of sex-worker collectivization efforts—including advocacy and community mobilization via the Sonagachi Project [2]—that are intended to reduce trafficking, the city's proximity to Bangladesh highlights the potential for cross-border trafficking for sexual exploitation. Moreover, recent evidence from South Asia indicating that 1 in 4 women enter sex work via trafficking [3] emphasizes the importance of understanding trafficking mechanisms. The present study focused on women and girls who had been trafficked for sexual exploitation, were either removed…