Kathmandu: Slavery is said to have been abolished for more than a few decades now, but people still are for sale in our country. Leave alone underpayment or, what is worse, underemployment. We are talking about the sex trade here, and this involves trafficking of women illegally, forcefully and /or without their consent and placing them in sex trade — both in or out of the country.

As for Nepal, India always has been a huge marketplace where women and even girl children are bought and sold like and sold like an everyday commodity. Though the morbid odour of prostitution is spreading in our cities as well, these days, we aim here to focus on the trafficking of Nepalis women across the southern borders to the foreign land, where there is nobody to help them, where she has no respite from her unwanted lifestyle until she grows old, or catches disease — AIDS being the most threatening and yet the most common one. The problem is an ancient one, and the solution — an unrealised dream. Everyone is putting up aome effort, though. NGOs and joint initiative programmes of the government are playing the frontline role spreading awareness, monitoring borders for trafficking attempts and giving protection and shelter when needed. Advocacy for system improvement also forms a significant part their operations. But competition for recognition and manipulation with information gives a sense of ethics eroding away bit by little bit.

Major problems are seen when we realise weak legal provision and “unsuccessful” penalties for victims and traffickers, respectively. Misinterpretation of law by our security forces is most clearly visible when police imprisons the girls forced into prostitution (here in Nepal) — treating them as criminals, and doesn’t care much about who really forced them.

The government, on the other hand, reflects its meagre efforts primarily through poor negotiations with the neighbouring country. Not much cooperation is received from the other side - but since the need is ours, it’s the responsibility of our government to set quality terms with the Indian government. Plus, if the government were to closely monitor the funds and their utilisation by the NGOs, the impact would have been a lot stronger.

People’s lack of sufficient trust in the police force leave little room for what they can do in this regard. People’s disregard for awareness of law and disrespect to the girls that have returned also somehow sum up as a barrier that is keeping us from solving this problem.

A much better understanding between the governments of Nepal and India is the essence here. Since this is cross-border problem, our social security should also extend across the border. What steps are taken and how to achieve these steps are questions beyond the scope of our research. But we sure hope this article will prove strong enough to stimulate kindle initiative to make our country a better place for our women and men.

(Chanchal Tamrakar, Nikesh Ghimire, Ritu Bajaj, Shaibali Adhikari, Shekhar Karki; Kathmandu University - School of Management, Semester I students — Fall 2004)