How Climate Change Fuels Human Trafficking

A woman named Saryu Devi in India was sold like chattel by her husband for about $170, so that he could pay his mounting debts. When her "new husband" brought her to the courthouse to sign the marriage license, she ran to the court room and yelled for help. She was sent back to her husband with a warning that he was not to sell her again. This form of human trafficking is actually related to climate change, as changing weather has caused several years of drought in India, often driving farmers to debt and desperation. A farmer borrows in a drought year, hoping he can pay back the debts when the rains come the next year since it used to be unheard of to have several years of droughts in a row.