"I am destroyed. I was hoping to help rid my family of poverty but all was in
vain," Maskey told IRIN, recounting her story of how she sold the family
farmland and house to pay for the travel expenses and for the agent who had
convinced her she could earn huge amounts as a baby-sitter in Dubai.
Maskey trusted Karki who had come to visit her family in her remote Ledang
village of Morang district, nearly 600km east of the capital, and told her
about job opportunities in Saudi Arabia - where she had already sent many girls
from several villages - as well as Sharjah and Dubai. Maskey said that, unknown
to her, Karki had opened a number of brothels in rented houses in Dubai.
Karki had lied to her that she was working for a shipping company in Dubai,
where she could easily help find her a job. But Maskey said that once she
reached Karki's flat in the city, she was tied up, beaten and threatened with
death if she tried to escape.
After nearly eight months of forced prostitution, Maskey managed to escape with
the help of an Indian illegal migrant worker. She went to seek help from the
Nepalese embassy but the officials initially told her that they could not help
her.
Eventually, with the help of local police, the embassy officials helped to
return her to Nepal but failed to take any action to find the trafficker.
Vulnerable
Maskey's case is an example of how vulnerable Nepalese girls and women still
are at the hands of traffickers, said local anti-trafficking activists. They
said trafficking has changed and the victims are now no longer trafficked only
to India's cities.
"We have several cases of women who were forced into prostitution in countries
where the demand for labour is high," said activist Bindra Maharjan from the
Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), a local NGO that has been helping to
rehabilitate victims and assist in legal action against the traffickers.
She said most of these victims come from impoverished families in rural areas
where there is little employment.
According to Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), 5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese girls and
women are trafficked every year.
The level of vigilance declined during the decade-long armed conflict between
the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels when police were too involved in
controlling the insurgency, and as a result trafficking increased even more,
according to WOREC.
In addition, the displacement of families and migration to India increased the
vulnerability of the Nepalese girls and women. That situation has barely
changed even today despite the end of armed conflict, said officials of Maiti
Nepal, a prominent anti-trafficking NGO which has been helping to rescue the
trafficked victims, rehabilitating them and tracking down the traffickers.
Collaboration needed
"There is a need for collaborative effort, not just at the local level but also
at the international level," said activist Biswo Khadka, director of Maiti
Nepal. The NGO has been able to develop networks in Nepal, India and Saudi
Arabia to trace the victims and traffickers, said Khadka.
Since 1998, Maiti Nepal has rescued over 600 Nepalese girls and women from
India and the Gulf countries where they were tricked into, or trafficked for,
prostitution. In 2006 nearly 27,000 girls and women crossed the Indian border,
according to Maiti Nepal data. In the same year nearly 73 girls were rescued in
border areas and their traffickers arrested by police with the help of the
monitors.
"But it's very difficult to trace the missing girls, especially those who were
trafficked," said Khadga, who added that the rescued victims are afraid to
reveal the names of their traffickers or brothel locations for fear that the
traffickers would kill them and their families.
Activists blame the lack of strong laws against traffickers and the absence of
victim-friendly courts in Nepal for punishing the traffickers. A new
anti-trafficking bill was tabled months ago in the Nepalese parliament but
government and opposition parties have not been keen to pass the bill, they
said.
"Most of the victims of trafficking have no motivation or courage to find
justice against their perpetrators in court as the legal process is too lengthy
and not sensitive towards the victims," said Khadka. He said the victims often
spend a minimum of two to three years waiting for a court verdict, and by that
time the victim is already impoverished or migrating to another country.
Reuters/IRIN
