Mumbai: For a long time, the ‘suppliers’ in the sex industry have been targeted by law enforcement while the ‘buyers’ have gone scot free. Now, Andhra Pradesh will be the first state in the country to take action against the people who avail the services of sex workers for money. This, the authorities say, is to crack down on the sexual slavery of women and children.

A panel of legal experts and campaigners was appointed to study the various anti human trafficking laws that could effectively be applied to the individuals who buy sex. They were given 60 days to come up with recommendations for the same.

The campaigners argued that unless law enforcement officers did not target people visiting brothels, the anti trafficking efforts would be in vain. They stated that for as long as the buyers went unpunished, girls would continue to be sold into sexual slavery.

Calls for people paying for sex with children to be criminalised have increased over time and a BJP member even raised a petition on change.org asking for stricter action to be taken against these offenders.