Reforming Rescue: A Critical Examination of India's Anti-Trafficking Legislation from a Victim-Centered Perspective
Devarya Grover

Abstract
This article interrogates the legal and linguistic design of India's anti-human trafficking legislation to query whether it is, in fact, victim-centered or rhetorically reformist. Indian Bills of 2021, 2022, and 2023, for example, invoke themes of "comprehensive victim care" but fail to include assurances of enforcement, budgetary allocations, or survivor-driven accountability. The central lacuna this study fills is not if India's laws use the rhetoric of victim protection, but how such rhetoric may cloak coercive state power, moral control, and institutional neglect. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative, document-based approach within Alan Bryman's interpretive paradigm. Through the thematic analysis of five key legislative and parliamentary documents, such as the 2013 Lok Sabha Committee Report and anti-trafficking Bills currently under consideration, the research takes into account both what is stated and what is legally or morally implied. In doing so, it allows for an analysis of the ways in which victimhood, agency, and rehabilitation are legal constructions under a bureaucratic and often carceral rationale. Rather than itemizing legal provisions, the focus is on how legal discourse expresses political will, structural silences, and contested visions of care and control. Ultimately, the paper argues that while India's laws mirror international rhetoric, they fall short in operationalizing survivor agency. Comparative reflections with international models and deeper participatory reform remain critical to bridging the gap between symbolic rights and institutional practice.

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