Analysis of the Demand Curbing Nordic Model against Trafficking of Women for Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Assessing its Adaptability in the Indian Legal Framework

Abstract

This paper attempts to critically analyse the demand curbing pillars of the Nordic model while assessing its adaptability in the legal framework of India to combat the trafficking of women for commercial sexual exploitation. The anti-trafficking regime in India is anchored in the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of 1956, which prioritises the suppression of the supply side; however, the persistent trafficking trends reveal the inadequacy, as accountability has been neglected by the law on the demand side. It is a comparative derivation of the constitutional jurisprudence established in Articles 21 and 23, and the reasoning given by the Supreme Court in the cases of Buddhadev Karmaskar, (2011) 10 SCC 756 and Putta Swamy, (2017) 10 SCC1. The paper explores whether criminalisation of the buyers or clients of the trafficked commercial sex workers can be sustained constitutionally, without infringing the bodily autonomy or the right of livelihood of the commercial sex workers. A doctrinal comparative methodology is used to analyse the experiences of the Nordic jurisdictions with the criminalisation of buyers, the efficacy of the victim-centric exit plans and mechanisms, along with the normative educational awareness campaigns. The paper contextualises these pillars within the socio-economic heterogeneity of India, its federal enforcement structure and the evolving digital landscape of trafficking. The paper proposes a calibrated hybrid model that incorporates graded penalties for buyers and the infrastructure for rehabilitation, and asserts a normatively grounded constitutionally under Article 51(A)(e). It concludes with careful doctrinal customisation and institutional safeguards that India can recalibrate with demand-curbing strategies in its anti-trafficking legal framework, upholding substantive equality and victim sovereignty while complying with international obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1979, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, 2000.