Nepal/India and Sex-Trafficking

Around 10,000 to 15,000 young girls from Nepal are estimated to cross the border into India each year and are forced into prostitution. These girls range from seven years to twenty-four years old. Usually they come from poor families who live in villages. The families sell their daughters so they can go work in the city, or are promised into fake marriages. Once the girls cross into India and reach the Brothels, the girls learn of their fate. Most of the girls are virgins. Virgins are considered valuable because having sex with a virgin is said to cure HIV.

Girls are brutally introduced to the brothel to intimidate them into submission. Many are gang-raped, beaten, and kept in cages. These young girls are forced into having sex with up to 40 clients a day to pay off their debt. They constantly live under threat of beatings and torture. Many extract HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and then are left out on the streets. If the girls make it back to their village, they are often not allowed back because of what they have done. The girls are then back on the street and are forced back into prostitution to survive.

There have been a couple of laws passed that were supposed to help with the problem of sex-trafficking. One law was to help escaped girls find their homes and identities. Another law was supposed to help stop the travel of these girls and their “escorts” before they reach the brothels. Neither of these laws have had a noticeable effect, and many law enforcers are not even aware of the laws.

The border between India and Nepal is 1850 kilometers which makes it very difficult to control. When crossing the border into India, the Nepalese girls are not required to show passports or anything. Once they are in India, they either stay there or use forged passports to get into other countries. There was also a peace treaty signed in the 1950s that allows migration from India to Nepal and vice versa. This is another factor that makes it easy for the girls to be taken across the border. Nepalese women are found more attractive to Indians because of their lighter skin color.

Although sex-trafficking is the most recognized, girls and women from Nepal are also trafficked into other positions as well. The demand for cheap labor in India is a major reason that the women, and even men are brought here. Men are usually referred to as migrant workers even though they are paid very little. Lack of education and poverty in Nepal also play a major part in the girls being taken away from their villages. They hear that they will get to work in the city and earn lots of money, or that they will be married to a good husband. The families believe this because they are not aware of what really happens to these girls. It is thought that selling their daughters or wives will help make the whole family some money.