December 7, 2008
“For the last decade it has been estimated that 6,000 - 7,000 girls are trafficked out of Nepal each year. But these numbers have recently risen substantially. Current numbers for girls trafficked out of the country are now 10,000 to 15,000 yearly. This is compounded as the US Central Intelligence Agency states that most trafficked girls are currently worth, in their span as a sex-worker, approx $250,000 (USD) on the sex-trades market.” from Lost Daughters – An ongoing tragedy in Nepal, an article co-written by KAMALA SARUP and LYS ANZIA of Women News Network (WNN) a non-profit media news network that brings in-depth international women’s news seldom covered by the current public media stream.
I’m recommending this article to those who are interested in the ongoing girl-trafficking crisis in Nepal. The sad fact is that nearly a quarter of a million Nepali girls have been reduced to the status of “sex products for sale.” India, China, Eastern Europe, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other mid-Eastern regions are the leading countries that exploit Nepali girls in the sex-trafficking industry. And once imprisoned in brothels, which can last for years, the young women not only face brutality on a daily basis, but are at a very high risk for AIDS. According to a 2004 World Bank report, to give but one example, it’s estimated that 50 % of Nepalese sex workers in Mumbai brothels are HIV positive.
But not all Nepali girls, forced into prostitution, are exported to foreign countries. On the matter of domestic trafficking, the article cites my 2007 interview with Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, Executive Chairperson of Samanata Institute for Social and Gender Equality in Kathmandu:
“Controlling trafficking has been compounded by the conflict of the last ten years. The communities [in Nepal] became poorer and some of them had no recourse but to try to find a means for a livelihood. During and after the conflict, there was a lot of displacement, a lot of women came to the urban centers, and most were not equipped to get into jobs. They were not educated -- no skills. So a lot of them became ‘dancers’, you know? So now, it’s like a phenomenon. Every town you go to, you have all these dance bars. It’s just a front for brothels.”
For the complete article, including an eight minute video:
Lost Daughters -- An Ongoing Tragedy in Nepal
For my interview with Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba:
Mikel Dunham talks with Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba
For more information on Women News Network:
Women News Network Home Page
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