KATHMANDU: It has finally been made public that a letter concerning ‘prostitution regulation’ had exchanged hands — from the Metropolitan Police Range (MPR) to the Nepal Police Headquarters — on July 8.

The letter, intended at regulating prostitution and based on a three-pronged-strategy — employment, addressing exploitation and enforcing penalty — had reportedly moved from the Metropolitan Police Range to the Nepal Police Headquarters.

SSP Nawaraj Silwal, who claimed to have initiated the strategy, said, “We initiated the move in July to regulate prostitution but we lack financial support to implement it.”

Talking to The Himalayan Times, SSP Silwal said, “When we carefully examined the crime trend recently, we found that at least 50 per cent females have willingly joined the flesh trade but another 50 are forced into this.”The latter category of girls joined prostitution since they are illiterate, poverty-stricken and have no knowledge about the vulnerability of catching HIV and AIDS, Silwal said.

“As there is no strong law against prostitution, girls tend to take this profession lightly irrespective of the harmful consequences to their lives,” he said.

Government law enforcement agencies said the girls who had recently gotten into this business, are hardly scared of being arrested by police. These girls even know pretty well in advance that someone will come, spend his money, bail them out and take them.

But SP Silwal argued that regulating prostitution will discourage the practice to a large extent. “They will get scared of penalties,” he said. Silwal further argues that by regulating prostitution, spreading of HIV and AIDS could be contained.

“Once regulated, these girls will have regular medical check-up by authorised doctors. Without it, they tend to hide their diseases as well,” he said.

Another key recommendation made by the letter, according to SSP Silwal was that it sought the help from the government for the employment of girls in flesh trade and those who are illiterate.

Silwal also said that cottage industry job and small trade houses were respectful professions for those girls in prostitution.

Meanwhile, a day after the net-based prostitutes declared that they were earning a handsome wage and made a rapturous revelation about themselves and their profession, the MPR, which is further investigating the flesh trade, today said most of those girls were paid a paltry wage, and the agents pocketed a chunk of clients’ money.

“We discovered that the agents pocket most of clients’ money, leaving prostitutes with a paltry sum,” said SSP Silwal.

“Their owners are exploiting them and pocketing a major portion of the money,” he said, in the course of investigation.

While the agents receive 85 per cent of the total amount offered by the clients, the girls are pocketing a mere 15 per cent, a preliminary investigation result has shown. “If it is regulated,” argues Silwal, “Then those girls will get their fair share.”

What is even more shocking is that 70 per cent of those girls involved in the flesh trade do not even know that they are becoming victims of their own agents, let alone their clients.