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COVER STORY |
GIRL TRAFFICKING Despite the vigorous
campaign against the girl trafficking by governmental as well as non-governmental
organizations, the illegal and inhuman flesh trade continues to flourish. With the
deterioration of law and order and spread of violence in rural areas, traffickers now seem
to have shifted their base. They no longer scout the remote parts for gullible victims,
but have started preying on young and minor girls even in sub-urban areas. Many girls who
move to cities in search of employment opportunities are easy prey to these unscrupulous
flesh-traders. With the growth of sex markets across the border and within the country,
there appears a new threat for migrating girls and children By KESHAB POUDEL Ruku, 22, (name changed on request), works
as a waitress at one of the many cabin restaurants that have sprouted in Kathmandu making
money enough to feed herself. Ruku who was rescued from a brothel in Mumbai, India, a few
years ago, does not want to talk about her past fearing that its disclosure may ruin her
career and livelihood. Ruku was sold to a brothel in India in
1998. Prior to that she used to work in a cabin restaurant in the New Bus Park area in
Gongabu, Kathmandu. After being rescued and brought back, she was compelled to join her
old profession, as she was unable to get reintegrated in her native village. "As soon
as my villagers knew about my sojourn in India, all of them started to hate me. When I
found no body sympathetic to my state, I decided to return to the capital," said
Ruku, a girl from Newar community. "I know this is a bad place to be working for a
girl my age but it is far better than what I used to do in brothels in Mumbai." The cabin restaurants, massage parlors and
dance restaurants are gradually emerging as new venues to entrap girls for trafficking.
Most of the girls, who are working in such restaurants, are poor but highly ambitious with
dreams for better and prosperous life. These girls are easily lured by offers of
high-paying jobs and high-class lives in foreign countries. Often such journeys to better
future end up in alleys of brothels in Mumbai and other Indian cities. Dreams are
shattered and hopes dashed.
Not all girls are lucky enough to
come out of the brothels unscathed by deadly diseases. The HIV virus, Hepatitis B and
Tuberculosis, infect majority of the girls rescued from those places. Sexually transmitted
diseases are common among them. As many non-governmental organizations are
raising the voices urging concerned authorities to monitor the activities in pubs, dance
restaurants and massage parlors, the authorities are yet to regulate them. "We cannot
stop the mobility of the people and their rights to work. We need evidences that such
cabin and dance restaurants are sexually exploiting the girls before we can take actions
against them," said a senior police officer at the Kathmandu Valley Police
Investigation Unit. With request from Maiti Nepal, the Police
have already raided and filed a number of cases against owners of some dance and cabin
restaurants. "We need to be more vigilant on the rise of new businesses which could
be the source for the cross border trafficking as well as market for the local flesh
trade," said Bishwo Khadka, director of Maiti Nepal. Story of Bina, 28, (not a real name), a
woman rescued from a brothel at Mumbai six years ago, is different than that of Ruku. Bina
does not know about her parents or where she was born as she was sold off in her early
age. She flatly rejected to talk about her past saying that she has already narrated her
painful stories to many people. Frustrated and tired, Bina, who has been staying at the
Maiti Nepal's shelter home at Gaushala for the last seven years, snubbed this scribe's
request as well. Bina's frustration and anger are
understandable since she has already recounted her painful past and her life in Mumbai
where she was forced to serve demands of males. "I am tired of narrating same story
and being reminded of my past again and again," wailed Bina, who is yet to
reintegrate in her family. For Bina, Maiti Nepal and Anuradha Koirala are her lifeline. This scribe is not the first journalist
whom she declined to talk about her past. She has already snubbed many other journalists
(foreigner and domestic)."When she was rescued from the brothel six years ago and
sent back to Nepal, Bina was traumatized and scared. We have never forced Bina to narrate
her painful and heart-rending experience," said Khadka, director of Maiti Nepal. Victims of trafficking are often subjected
to cruel mental and physical abuse in order to keep them in servitude, including beating,
rape, starvation, forced drug use, confinement and seclusion. Many victims suffer mental
breakdowns and are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS. "It took more than a couple of years
for Bina to recover from mental disorder. Unlike other girls, Bina, who was taken to the
brothel at Mumbai in her early age, remains adamant against narrating her past. We
understand her," said Khadka. Most of the girls who are rescued from
brothels do not have anywhere else to go because prostitutes are treated like outcastes
and shunned like lepers in the society. In the lower caste communities, the reintegration
is comparatively easier but the girls of higher castes find it extremely hard to be
reintegrated. The traumas of victims do not end even after they are rescued and
reintegrated. Villagers still taunt the girls calling them names. Many NGOs, which are established to give
transit care for such girls, end up bearing the burden for a long period of time. In many
cases, NGOs hand over the girls to the concerned families by giving training and certain
amount of seed money to start small business for livelihood. The studies have shown that
process of reintegration is not fully successful. Neglected and ignored, many girls leave
their native villages and revert back to their old professions. In recent decades, economic and social
factors have fueled the boom in prostitution and trafficking of women. Because of spread
of violence and economic difficulties, many families are compelled to leave their villages
for security in the cities within and outside Nepal. The unscrupulous pimps and
traffickers may entrap many rural girls - who migrate from rural areas in search of secure
future- into flesh trade. Some businessmen and brothel bosses are exploiting the poorest
families of rural areas - buying their most precious assets: their children. With the vigorous awareness campaign and
income generating activities in the rural areas, the cases of women trafficking were in a
gradually declining trend till 2001 but the spread of violence and resulting economic
hardships have given sharp impetus to this illicit and immoral trade. "In a situation
where the law and order breaks down, it is easier for the criminal gangs to traffic more
girls," said Gauri Pradhan, president of CWIN, a leading NGO working in the children
sector. Although the situation is deteriorating,
Maiti Nepal's border surveillance units continue to intercept traffickers. Maiti Nepal
intercepted hundreds of girls in 2002 at the border points in various parts of the
country, "The situation is perfectly alright in the formal transit points where our
girls, working in the border surveillance units, will not let the traffickers to cross the
border freely," said Anuradha Koirala assistant minister for Women, Children and
Social Welfare. Koirala heads the Maiti Nepal and has been known for her decade-long
untiring crusade against girl trafficking. Central region still has the highest number
of trafficking followed by western, mid-west, far west and eastern regions. The cases in
eastern region are gradually increasing. Far-western and mid-western regions are also
turning into high frequency areas for trafficking. Even as this article goes to the press,
hundreds more Nepalese girls and children will have sneaked out of the country to India
through 1,800 kilometers long open Nepal-India border. According to an estimate of the
Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, 7000 rural Nepalese girl aged between 9 to
17 are stolen, sold or in other ways procured to feed the insatiable sex industry in the
major cities of India particularly Mumbai. The total number of Nepalese working as
prostitutes in India ranges from 200,000 to 250,000. Like Bina and Ruku many girls are simply
abducted off the streets, others lured from their homes by slick middlemen promising them
good jobs or marriage in India or other cities. Many children begin as domestic helpers
but end their life in hell. These are simple, usually illiterate girls, unworldly children
of subsistence farmers of the hill. According to a paper presented by then
additional Inspector General of Police D.M. Thapa on Crime Against Women and Children in
January 1999, two thirds of the victims of trafficking were illiterate or just literate
and most of the victims were lured by the promise of good jobs. It is difficult to know how many women were
trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The trade is secretive, the women are
reticent, the traffickers are dangerous and not many agencies are monitoring them. According to legal definition, the
trafficking means trafficking of women for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Trafficking
is any practice that involves moving people within and across local or national borders
for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Trafficking is the result of force, coercion,
manipulation, deception, community violence, economic desperation, family pressure and
other conditions of inequality for women and children. Donor Concern Donors through bilateral support and UN
agencies have also been supporting Nepalese NGOs in their quest to stop the human
trafficking. UNICEF, ILO and USAID have supported Nepalese NGOs to build their capability
in the rehabilitation and improvement of the status of women. As poverty, illiteracy and gender
discrimination remain major causes for girl trafficking; all concerned bilateral donors
are supporting one or other ways to eliminate this inhuman trade. In the last ten years or
so, the NGOs have been taking active part in awareness generation as well as the
rehabilitation of girls from brothels and reintegrate them into society. Although the civil code act has separate
clause to deal with trafficking, the first act against the girl trafficking was passed in
1986. With the restoration of democracy in 1990, the actual execution of the act began.
Despite the global concern against the human trafficking, it is yet to subside. Change In The Base Areas For decades the primary districts of
Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Kavreplanchowk. With the growing awareness
were used for export of girls in those place, the traffickers have turned their attention
to other urban areas and districts. Along with Maiti Nepal, Agro-forestry, Basic Health
and Co-operatives/Nepal (ABC-Nepal) have been fighting against this immoral practice.
ABC-Nepal has already rehabilitated 200 girls returning from brothels. Most of these
rescued girls have already been reintegrated into their native society. The flesh trade, like other economic
activities, is driven by supply and demand. Countries and places where large sex
industries exist create the demand and they are receiving countries while countries where
traffickers can easily recruit women are the sending countries. "I have been working against the girl
trafficking for the last ten years and you can see there has been a sea change in the
pattern of trafficking. For instance, the trafficking of girls from traditionally
vulnerable districts like Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchowk, Dhading, Makwanpur and
Kavreplanchowk has drastically come down. But, it is unfortunate to see that the
traffickers are now active in new places where the cases of girl trafficking were unknown
till a few years ago. In terms of ethnicity and caste, the trafficking is no more
concentrated in Tamang and other lower caste communities. Now, girls irrespective of their
castes and ethnic division are vulnerable to trafficking. There has been the shift of
trafficking from traditional geographical locations and communities. It is still not out
of control," said Koirala (see box). "The trafficking is no more confined
to particular districts as it is now spreading out throughout the country and across all
communities," said Indu Aryal, director of ABC-Nepal (see box). Although there are a number of ways that
women are trafficked, their ultimate destination is the brothel where they are forced to
work as prostitutes. Sex industries use up women physically and emotionally, necessitating
fresh supplies on regular basis. This keeps the recruitment and trafficking of women
profitable. As the number of dance restaurants, massage
parlors and cabin restaurants grow; the demand of women goes higher in domestic market as
well. Since prostitution is illegal in Nepal, this business operates clandestinely. In the
past, people like former health minister Sarat Singh Bhandari have even openly advocated
the legalization of prostitution as a solution to trafficking in women. But the
experiences of other countries show that legalized sex industries actually result in
increased trafficking to meet the demand for women to be used in the legal sex industries. Maiti Nepal runs surveillance units in
different transit points to rescue the girls. According to its bulletin, the Maiti Nepal's
border units have already intercepted many girls and children as well as traffickers since
1994. It has also filed more than hundred cases against the traffickers. Every year more
than 150 girl trafficking cases are registered in police offices. There are many reasons behind the increase
in trafficking. In general, the criminal business feeds on poverty, despair, war, crisis,
and ignorance. There is high demand in the country for women and children for sex tourism,
sex workers, cheap sweatshop labors and domestic workers. Although trafficking has many dimensions,
human trafficking is mostly about women and children. The low status and high
vulnerability of women and girls in South Asia is an important enabler of traffickers'
efforts to coerce and exploit their victims. Women and girls who are lucky enough to
return to their communities also face greater difficulties, in part due to the greater
social stigma they face. Traffickers always fish in the stream of
migration. People move for many reasons - some for basic survival, some for greater
security, others for better opportunities. At a time when the people are taking decision
to move fearing insecurity they become more vulnerable to persuasion and coercion.
Improving the array of opportunities to the most vulnerable groups reduces the value of
the traffickers' best assets- desperation and lack of alternatives. Efforts to limit trafficking should not
limit freedom of movement for anyone. Migration must remain a basic option, not least
because it provides important sources of income for many families and communities, said an
economist. According to the available data, the number of trafficking continues to
increase. In 1979, only 75 cases were registered in police. This jumped to 104 in 1989
and137 in 1990. The cases reached 133 in 1996 and 130 in 1998. Nepal is party to the international
conventions like Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women 1979, Convention on Child Rights 1989, Convention on the Traffic in Persons and on
the Exploitation of the Prostitution and other 1949. The South Asian Countries recently
signed SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children For
Prostitution in 2002. "We have signed many conventions but
it is just limited to the formality, the problem is implementation and execution,"
said advocate and women rights activists Sapana Pradhan Malla. "However, after the
passage of new bill that is pending in the parliament, the traffickers can be easily
punished." The studies conducted by international
organizations revealed that India is a source, transit, as well as destination country,
receiving women and children from Nepal Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and
sending them to Europe and the Middle East. With the upsurge of violence in rural areas
and closing down of the factories, like garment and carpet industries, owing to recession
in urban centers, the trafficking of girls and children for prostitution has become one of
the fastest growing areas of domestic criminal activity. Nepal is facing two fold crises,
as it has to work to stop the trafficking as well as to rehabilitate and reintegrate the
girls and women rescued from the brothels. "I Am Still An Activist" — Anuradha Koirala
Assistant Minister
for Women, Children and Social welfare ANURADHA KOIRALA is a well-known name in the social
service sector in the country. Having spent more than a decade leading a crusade against
girl trafficking, Koirala has also won a number of international awards. She spoke to
SPOTLIGHT at her Maiti Nepal's office on various issues dear to her. Excerpts: You have been working as an
activist to prevent girl trafficking for the last ten years, what kind of changes have you
witnessed in the girl trafficking trend? I have been working against the girl
trafficking for the last ten years and you can see there has been a sea change in the
pattern of trafficking. For instance, the trafficking of girls from traditionally
vulnerable districts like Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchowk, Dhading, Makwanpur and
Kavreplanchowk has drastically come down. But, it is unfortunate to see that the
traffickers are now active in new places where the cases of girl trafficking were unknown
until a few years ago. In terms of ethnicity and caste, the trafficking is no more
concentrated in Tamang and other lower caste communities. Now, girls irrespective of their
castes and ethnic division are vulnerable to trafficking. There has been the shift of
trafficking from traditional geographical locations and communities. It is still not out
of control. In the last ten years, you have
generated mass awareness against girl trafficking. As the country is passing through a
very critical phase of violence and lawlessness, how do you think this problem will
develop? We have very effective administrative
systems, run jointly by Maiti Nepal and Nepal Police, in all 26 formal transit points
between Nepal and India. Since police and our border surveillance units have been very
active in those areas for quite a long time, it is not easy to traffic the girl from those
points. As many people from mid-western and far western regions are leaving Nepal, it is
difficult to intercept the girls who are moving along with their family members. Our girls
in the surveillance unit at the border points cannot stop the movement of such families
and they are now concentrating in advocacy and in generating awareness to prevent the
possible entrapment of naÔve girls at the hand of traffickers. We also provide the
migrating people the addresses of the NGOs working in different parts of India against
girl trafficking. Our volunteers are informing children and girls about the danger of
trafficking. In case of difficulties, our Indian counterparts and police also cooperates
with them. Along with the cross border
trafficking, cases are also reported about the domestic trafficking. What is your
observation on that? Maiti Nepal receives a number of calls
regarding sexual harassment and sexual exploitation in the local restaurants. You may call
this as domestic trafficking in which girls are hired for sexual exploitation at places
like dance clubs, cabin restaurants and other bars. There are massive irregularities in
the process of awarding license to such entertainment business. Many countries have
restaurants and dance clubs but they have also strong regulatory mechanisms for
monitoring. Interestingly, we don't have effective monitoring mechanisms here. Once
license is issued. There is hardly an official monitoring. Being a minister of the government,
how could you blame it on your own institutions? I am an administrator at the ministry but
primarily I am still an activist as the president of the Maiti Nepal. It is not that the
society's movement should be hindered but the government must ensure the safety of the
girls working in dance restaurant, cabin bars and other similar places. The previous
administrations did not take any action to monitor them. That was one of the reasons why
girls were sexually exploited in such places. I am free to raise my voice if I find there
is something wrong going on. You have been working as an activist for a
long time and now you are in a position to influence the policy decision? What steps are
you taking to make the policies more effective? I have recently been appointed as a
minister but I still prefer to call myself as an activist. I am spending my whole days
during Saturday and Sunday as an activist meeting various kinds of people. Frankly
speaking, I act as an activist once I finish my official business in the ministry. To
answer your question, I must say that we are currently working to devise and finalize an
effective monitoring system and it will be announced soon. How do you see the nature of
exploitation against girls at present? The nature of exploitation is very inhuman
as the restaurant owners hire rural girls giving them assurances of better livelihood.
Later, the girls are used in flesh trade. I have heard terrible stories of sexual
harassment from minor girls rescued from such places. In the course of sexual violence,
the minor girls are asked to expose their bodies. There are many places where minor girls
are served as prostitutes. There are also cases of minor girls being gang raped and
beaten. Don't the police take any actions
against such restaurants? With the support from police, we have filed
a number of cases against restaurants owners under the Girl Trafficking Act as the owners
often hire the minors to use them for sexual exploitation. Our law recognizes prostitution
as a crime. Strong actions must be taken against those who exploit the minor girls for
sexual purposes. Nepalese culture, religion and society are also against girl trafficking.
You spent the last one-decade in
generating awareness against girl trafficking and rescuing Nepalese girls. As you said
earlier, a large number of rural people are migrating to urban centers and across the
border. What would be your next strategy to control this inhuman flesh trade? With the upsurge of insurgency, large
number of people are migrating to cities inside Nepal and across to India. The women and
girls are much vulnerable on this score. Along with losing their ancestral property and
home, the girls fall easy targets for trafficking. The NGOs should concentrate towards
rehabilitation and education for minor girls and income generating activities for women.
The government is formulating policies for helping the victims of insurgency. How do you see the role of donor
agencies supporting programs against the girl trafficking? This is high time to discuss the role of
donor agencies. Unlike during the initial phase when donors used to beat the drum and the
NGOs had to dance to their tune, but now the time has come for reversal of the role. We
know solutions to the problems we have been facing. The donors should select NGOs on the
basis of their objectives. There were many cases in the past when an environment related
NGOs secured the budget for programs against girl trafficking. This system must be
changed. There are many issues related to trafficking including rescue, rehabilitation,
re-integration, prevention, awareness, advocacy and income generation. The NGOs must be
categorized on the basis of their objectives. As you yourself are a
minister now, do you see any possibility to improve the situation? It will take many more years to
build-up impartial and non-political institutions. Since we are leaders without political
workers, we don't have to appoint our own protÈgÈs in different official positions and
we don't have any axe to grind for ourselves. Our appointment was based on our
qualification and dedication. So, obviously you can see the change. How do you manage your time? I am staying with my girls and children as
I used to do before my appointment as a minister. I just completed visits to transit camps
in Nepalgunj and Dhangadi. So, I don't have any problems dividing time as a minister and
NGO activist. I spend most of my mornings and evenings time to perform my duty at Maiti
Nepal. I am busy in ministerial works only at daytime. Are there still girls in India to
be rescue? Yes, we are still receiving rescued
Nepalese minor girls from brothels in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Benaras etc. Maybe within a
week, another group of girls rescued from brothels will be returning to Nepal. The parents
of missing girls frequently approach us with requests for their rescue. How effective is the alliance with
NGOs in this regard? In the international and regional level,
the alliance against girl trafficking is working perfectly well. It is unfortunate to say
that the alliance within Nepal is not effective because of ego problems among us. As long
as the people working in these areas do not realize that this is our country's problem and
not a problem of particular individual, no networking will function well. You should not
consider that we have done enough justice by organizing and attending seminars and
speaking in fluent English language at five star hotels. We must have people with clear
understanding in order to build networking. "Girl Trafficking Is Inter-linked
With Labor Migration" — Indu Aryal INDU ARYAL, executive
director of ABC, popular NGO working against girl trafficking, does not hesitate to admit
the burgeoning problems of the trafficking. Aryal spoke to SPOTLIGHT on various issues
related to the girl trafficking. Excerpts: How do you see the overall
situation of girl trafficking?
Well, the girl trafficking is no more
exclusive to particular geographical areas or castes. It has already spread throughout the
country. If we look at the history of the trafficking problem, it is related to labor
migration. In early stage, this was a mere labor migration problem. Girls who moved from
one geographical region to another in search of work fell prey to traffickers. When
agriculture production was not doing well, there was a tendency to shift towards more
dependable professions. This is the point where trafficking of women and girls began. Have you seen any change in
the nature of trafficking? As a large number of minor girls are
flocking to the urban areas in search of work, they are more vulnerable to getting
trafficked for flesh trade. We have reports that minor girls are sexually exploited in
restaurants and dance clubs in the cities. The nature of trafficking is changing but
internal trafficking is still lower compared to the cross border. Many minor girls were
taken away to cities household work. In general, the cross border trafficking is the major
problem. The present trend is such that there is a chain of traffickers active at
different levels to traffic Nepalese girl to Indian brothels. How do you see the cases of
trafficking of urban girls? The trafficking is shifting to urban
areas. Even the girls from Gaushala, Thali, Boudha and other urban and semi-urban areas of
Kathmandu were sold away. There are very few cases of trafficking of local girls from
Kathmandu. Usually, the migrant workers were trafficked from the valley. The workers in
carpet and garment factories were the primary victims. How many girls are there in
the ABC's rehabilitation center? We have been running the rehabilitation
center since 1996. We received the first batch of girls rescued from India. Since then we
have continued to rehabilitate a number of girls. Along with many other NGOs, we provided
shelter to 30 girls rescued from Indian brothels in 1996. The center has already given
shelter to more than 80 girls till date. We provide all kinds of facilities and training
before sending such girls to their villages for re-integration into society. For the girls
infected with HIV positive, we take more care. We give some kind of seed money for them to
start income-generating activities. What are the levels of girl
trafficking? Labor migration is very high; so is the
trafficking. They are closely interlinked. With the upsurge of Maoist problems, many more
youths are migrating to urban areas. There are a large number of unemployed people. The
problem of migrant families of middle class and higher-class is not as severe as that of
poor and marginalized communities. Our studies have also shown that deprived communities
are more vulnerable to the trafficking as majority of girls trafficked across the border
represent these communities. Then, what about the level of
awareness? It is very difficult to generate awareness
among the deprived communities. Frankly speaking, the level of awareness is still low in
certain ethnic and backward communities since education level is negligible among these
groups. As these groups were exploited for long in society, it is very difficult to
convince them about the long-term benefits of education. The NGO workers need to do hard
work in this sphere. In many cases, the support is not properly utilized for the group.
The girls who belong to oppressed and exploited community need special protection
including education. There must be compulsory education and proper employment
opportunities for girls. A large number of unemployed and illiterate teenage girls are
easy prey for traffickers. Generating awareness is not alone adequate to prevent the
trafficking. Since lower and backward communities have higher percentage of alcoholic male
and are fraught with cases of domestic violence, women are easily lured by false
assurances of love and better livelihood. They easily fall into the trap of unscrupulous
traffickers. What is the average age group of
the victims? The girls between 9-17 years are more
vulnerable to trafficking. Women from the higher age group do not prefer to return. If we
generate the opportunity of education and employment, the girl trafficking problem will be
reduced. How do you see the response of the
community towards the rehabilitated girls? We have not seen any problems
rehabilitating the girls of backward communities as such girls are easily re-integrated
into family. But the situation is different as far as girls of higher caste families are
concerned. The re-integration of such girls is difficult, sometimes impossible, in
families of higher caste. |
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editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
