Human trafficking in Nepal
The statistics concerning human trafficking in Nepal — considered as a ‘source’ country by people smugglers — are truly alarming. Over ten thousand women and girls are trafficked from Nepal into India every single year, across what is considered to be one of the world’s busiest human trafficking routes.
A shocking reality
Human trafficking is one of the biggest human security issues facing Nepal. A significant portion of the 20,000 young girls working in Kathmandu’s sex industry and the 300,000 Nepali women who work in the Middle East are thought to have been trafficked.
“Nepal is considered a ‘source’ country by people smugglers, with thousands of girls trafficked each year”
The desperation of women living in poor rural areas is exploited by unscrupulous people traffickers who dupe their victims with false promises of well-paid and dignified jobs in Kathmandu and overseas. Nothing could be further from the truth. Denied their freedom, trafficked women are forced to work as sex workers and labourers for little if any pay. Reports of physical and psychological abuse are common.
Combatting human trafficking
Here at Seven Women, we compliment the work of NGOs like Maiti Nepal and 3 Angels Nepal — whose specific mission it is to combat human trafficking.
The sad reality is that women who are disadvantaged are particularly vulnerable to being taken advantage of by traffickers. Conversely, women who are educated and economically empowered are far less likely to become victims of human trafficking.
Gender awareness training is an important part of the education process. Kathmandu
Accordingly, our work has helped to prevent people smuggling by providing training, employment and education to over 5,000 women who are disadvantaged by a combination of factors including geography, gender and disability. Seven Women also run several workshops to ensure that women are aware of the gender-based violence issues affecting Nepal.
Nobody should have to suffer the trauma induced by human trafficking. If you want to learn more about the situation on ground and connect with such women at a deeper level, we conduct specialist 10-day immersions in Nepal that expose you to the range of challenges faced by local communities and the innovative solutions developed to solve them.