GIRLS' TRAFFICKERS EXPEDITE THEIR ACTIVITIES TO LURE GIRLS INTO PROSTITUTION OF EARTHQUAKE AFFECTED AREAS

Many governments have come and gone but girl trafficking has been going on unabatedly. Photo: globalorphanprevention.org.com

 

By LB THAPA

The earthquake on 25 April did not only cause the loss of lives and property, but it has also brought several other problems in the country. Among many of those problems, one is girl's trafficking! In recent times the activities of girl's trafficking have increased dramatically. Girl's traffickers want to take advantage of an extreme situation where many traumatized people of the country are trying hard to cope with the post-quake situations. 

The normal lives of many people have been hit hard by the earthquake. Many people have lost their homes and now they are forced to look for an alternative source of living. Taking the advantage of such a difficult time, girl's traffickers have found an opportunity to traffic beleaguered girls to India. Reports have it that a large number of Nepali girls have already been trafficked to India only in the last month. The traffickers are active in Kathmandu and earthquake-affected areas where they can easily lure plenty of girls for employment in India. Due to poverty and starvation, many girls have no choice but to agree to go to India where they are forced to satisfy the sexual lust of their customers, or dance in bars and restaurants. 

The other day Maiti Nepal, a women and child rights organization, has taken five girls and a six-year-old girl under its control when they were attempting to sneak into the Indian Territory. However, Maiti Nepal could not grab two Indian men who were taking those girls with them. In a police investigation, it was revealed that those girls were the local resident of Kathmandu. When police turned strict two of the women in the group accepted that they had already worked in Patiala, Punjab as showgirls. They informed the police that there is a huge demand for Nepali girls in Punjab where Nepali girls work in bars, restaurants, hotels, and illegally running brothels. Nepali girls working in any sector in India ultimately are sexually exploited. They are dumped into prostitution. Normally an escape is next to impossible from such places. However, due to the well-coordinated efforts of Maiti Nepal, Indian police and some philanthropic organizations from time to time some lucky girls have been rescued as well.   

According to the girls who have been rescued from Punjab, India, there are already too many Nepali girls who are involved in various activities including the flesh trade. Many Nepali women who have already spent fairly a long time working in India later turn to agents and frequently visit Nepal to take young girls with them. It is always much easier to work for Nepali women in Nepal who can easily take the girls into confidence. Nepali girls to feel more secure to follow a Nepali woman than an unknown man. The trend has it that many men trap young girls for marriage and take them to India for a honeymoon. Likewise, many girls are told by the agents that they would get better jobs in India. It is also seen that Nepali agents successfully convince the parents to send their daughters to India for employment. 

Many girls' traffickers, under the pretext of helping the earthquake victims, meet the victims in tents and lure them with lucrative employment offers. Those helpless, quake victims see a silver line in the clouds and follow those agents to India where they are dumped into prostitution. 

Speaking with journalists, Anuradha Koirala, chairperson of Maiti Nepal, said that the girl's traffickers have started targeting educated girls in cities where educated girls are more desperate for better employment. "It is very unfortunate that those educated girls who know many things about girl's trafficking yet become easy prey at the hands of girl's traffickers. They should not trust any job proposal by an individual or unofficial organization. They should also make proper inquiries about the place and organization they want to join. If they suspect anything wrong they can inform the police or Maiti Nepal. We will take immediate action against those people who run such organizations" said Anuradha Koirala. 

To some extent, our government is also responsible for the increasing cases of violence against women and girl's trafficking. The government has never introduced any concrete plans to empower the women of rural Nepal where poverty is rampant. Government has no budget for the empowerment of those women who are toiling in remote villages. They are left to fend themselves in poverty-ridden villages where they have very little to sustain life.

LB Thapa is a Pokhara-based freelance writer and author. 

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