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THE IMPACTS OF THE SEX INDUSTRY PART 5.
Nepal’s entertainment industry and sex industry go hand in
hand. While income from the entertainment and tourism
industries could benefit many people – waitresses, taxi drivers,
lodge owners, police and primarily owners – the impacts of
the sex industry are a concern.
TRAFFICKING AND PARTICIPATION IN THE
ENTERTAINMENT AND SEX INDUSTRIES
A decade ago, Nepal did not have a serious concern about
internal trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Today,
it does. By international definition, the majority of those
conducting sex work in the local sex industry are trafficking
victims. However, it should be remembered that all those
working in the entertainment industry are not sex workers,
and are not considered trafficking victims unless a trafficking
act took place for the purpose of exploitation.
Nearly half entered the sex industry as children, and all children
who are brought into commercial sexual exploitation are
usually considered trafficking victims, whether they entered
willingly or not. Among those persons who entered as adults,
many came into the entertainment industry hoping for a bright
future in the city and did not understand that they would be
conducting sex work. Thus, those who end up in sex work
are victims of fraud, deception, enticement or allurement –
and are defined as trafficking victims under Nepali and
international law. Research indicates that very few women are
brought into the local sex industry by force or abduction. 62
At the same time, a significant but unknown number of adult
women enter the entertainment sector and engage in sex
work willingly and knowingly, and are not victims of trafficking.
Notably, as many as one third of girls and women enter of
their own accord. 63 Many of these have previously worked in
other jobs in the Kathmandu Valley, such as carpet factories,
and many are married women with children, who have been
abandoned by their husbands.
Studies conducted on entertainment workers indicate that
more than one half enter the entertainment industry through
the influence of friends (which may include “boyfriends”). 64
Entertainment workers themselves are the primary procurers
of other girls and women for the industry, and are paid for
bringing new girls to the owners. 65 Relatives and community
members also contribute to the trafficking and procurement
of girls and women. 66 Informal reports also indicate that
sometimes girls and women are not allowed to leave the work
until they find other girls to replace them, or are forced into
indebtedness by owners or woman ‘leaders’, and must repay
2010 Terre des hommes www.tdh.ch 45