HIGH HIV INFECTION RATE IN SEX-TRAFFICKED GIRLS
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), USA, have come up with a shocking report that says Nepali girls sex-trafficked to India and then repatriated have high HIV infection rate.
The HSPH researchers found that among the 287 girls and women documented in the research, 38 percent tested positive for HIV. Among those with complete documentation of trafficking experiences (225 girls and women), the median age at time of trafficking was 17 years, with 33 girls (14.7 percent) trafficked prior to age 15 years.
Compared to those trafficked at 18 years or older, girls trafficked prior to age 15 years had an increased risk for HIV, with 60.6 percent infected among this youngest age group, the research paper published Wednesday (August 1) said. “HIV infection has been seen as perhaps the most critical health consequence of sex trafficking, but sex-trafficked girls and women are rarely studied — leaving the prevalence of HIV and other health issues among this highly vulnerable population little understood,” research team Jay Silverman, Associate Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at HSPH, said.
“This study sheds new light on infection rates among a sex-trafficked population and exposes both the tragic existence of the youngest victims and the dire health consequences of this crime,” added he.
The research indicates the infection rate exceeded 60 percent among girls forced into prostitution prior to age 15 years. One in seven of the study’s participants had been trafficked into sexual servitude prior to this young age. “The high rates of HIV we have documented support concerns that sex trafficking may be a significant factor in both maintaining the HIV epidemic in India and in the expansion of this epidemic to its lower-prevalence neighbors,” Silverman further said.
The team reviewed the medical documentation and case records of 287 girls and women who had been sex-trafficked from Nepal to India between the years 1997 and 2005. All of them had been repatriated back to Nepal and had received rehabilitative services from Maiti Nepal, a non-governmental organization that works to assist trafficking victims, the report said.
According to the US Department of State, which partly funded the HSPH research, approximately 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across the globe every year, and 80 percent of these individuals are estimated to be women and girls. The State Department further reports that the majority of transnational victims are females trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation.
TOURIST ARRIVAL INCREASES
The number of tourists arriving, by air, in July grew by 25 percent compared with the same month last year. A total of 26078 tourists came to the country in July, according to the data released by Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA), Office.
The European market as a whole has shown a healthy growth of 45 percent with encouraging figures from major tourist generating individual countries, says a statement released by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). The UK market with the largest share of the total European arrivals has increased by 30.8 percent. Germany (33.4%), France (65.7%), Spain (65.8%), Netherlands (21.6%) and Belgium (75.1%) also registered very healthy growth this month compared to the corresponding month of last year.
The arrivals from the Australian and American markets are also very encouraging with 53.9 % and 82.9 % growth respectively. Arrivals from Austria and Norway are down by 34.2% and 21.2 percent respectively. Some regional and emerging markets like Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand are pro-actively depicting an upward growth trend instilling a sense of hope. Korean and Chinese markets grew by staggering 180.4% and 90% establishing their prominence with 4% and 3.8% respectively in total arrivals.
“It is very noteworthy that Korea and China are in the same range contributing more than 3 percent in the total arrivals till July. Only UK, USA, France, Germany, Japan, Korea and China are such countries, excluding India in the count,” says NTB.
The arrival figures from some neighboring countries have not gained the momentum and hence not encouraging as yet. Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan arrivals are down by 4.4%, 7.6% and 8.8% respectively. The Bangladesh market nevertheless grew by 94.8%. The total arrivals till July increased by 35.6 % with total 193211 numbers of tourists till the month of July.
“The situation manifests that not a single country records negative growth in its total arrivals till July. Which means, the prospect and the trend of tourist arriving is on the rise for the days to come. NTB presumes we all should collectively engross more for fetching more number of tourists capitalizing the peace and stability in line with the promotional efforts of all,” the statement adds.
