India, July 9 -- For many years now, the response by the State to human trafficking in India has involved the following visual imagery; the police raid and rescue cum rehabilitation of victims from their trafficked status. The number of brothels raided, victims rescued, and FIRs filed used to be indicators of success in this framework. There was a problem, however, in the enforcement-based strategy, that many of those who survived remained traumatised, impoverished, socially stigmatised, and neglected once they were rescued.

What makes the latest judgment delivered in the case of Prajwala v. Union of India (2026 INSC 609) distinct from this tradition is the simple fact that it is an explicit departure from what is traditionally expected ...