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Terre des hommes Foundation deserves congratulations for bringing out this Handbook for decision-makers on “Trafficking and Exploitation in the Entertainment and Sex Industries in Nepal”. The Handbook provides the profile of the entertainment and sex industries and the trafficking of women and children. As it brings out the perspective of respective stakeholders, we hope the document can contribute as technical reference for decision-makers for handling the challenges on the respective issues. This Handbook forces us to look harder and closer at the existing problem of human trafficking and exploitation in our own country. It reveals that the extent of exploitation that the women and children endure in the cabin restaurants and massage parlours and even in the guest houses is serious both in terms of internal and external trafficking of women and children. Talking about the impact of the entertainment and sex industry the Handbook says that a decade ago, Nepal had not faced serious exploitation of women and children due to internal trafficking. Much concern has been raised about external trafficking of women and children to India. The times have changed. The country faces the problem of trafficking of women and children to India and beyond, together with the problem of internal trafficking. In the context of the depth of the problem, internal trafficking also needs serious efforts for making entertainment industry a dignified sector of the industry. The human rights of this vulnerable population need to be protected. The enactment of the comprehensive “Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2064” has 2010 Terre des hommes www.tdh.ch 6 Preface by the Special Rapporteur VICTIMS ARE CLOSER TO US THAN THEY APPEAR presented Nepal as a model country in South Asia; a country in which human trafficking has been acknowledged and in which there are strong legal provisions to address it. Most significantly, the inclusion of the issue of internal trafficking in this Act ensures safeguarding the rights of the trafficked survivors and the prosecution of the perpetrators. Now the time has come for us to realize this in practice. As a priority, let us make concerted efforts to ensure that the rights of the Nepali children are realized, as endowed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - the convention that we have ratified two decades ago. Thus, it is our legal and moral obligation to bring back the stolen childhood of these children, and the people who have vision and power to change the scenario is you, the decision-makers. It is right time for all decision-makers: civil society leaders, Constituent Assembly members, government officials, journalists, diplomats, opinion leaders and also parents of the children and children themselves to take the decision now, so that no children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and abuse in the name of “entertainment”. And no adult is trafficked to and exploited in the entertainment industry. Ms. Padma Mathema Special Rapporteur National Human Rights Commission
Why this Handbook now Because decisions need to be taken now. In a few years it will be too late. There will be no way back. While progress was recently made towards regulating the entertainment industry, commercial sexual exploitation is not adequately addressed. Terre des hommes Foundation (Tdh) has met very young children who are being exploited by “owners” as sex slaves in squalid conditions 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Here the term “owner” is used to describe the illegal possession of a person through debt bondage or other means, not only ownership of an establishment such as a massage parlour or a cabin restaurant (for a description of a cabin restaurant, see page 32). Because we strongly believe this kind of sexual exploitation is one of the unconditional worst forms of child labour which should be eradicated, we have seized the opportunity of the upcoming revision of the “National Plan of Action for Combatting Against Trafficking in Children and Women, revision 2001” to present this handbook. Who is a decision-maker Anyone who will have a role to play in addressing the issues of the entertainment industry, the sex industry and internal trafficking in Nepal. In particular, all those who will be consulted or take part in the revision of the National Plan of Action on anti-trafficking: civil society leaders, Constituent Assembly members, government officials, journalists, diplomats, opinion leaders. We hope that this handbook will A foreword by Terre des hommes Foundation UNCONDITIONALLY help decision-makers move forward with the hard decisions they will need to take in the future. Our strong hope is that these decisions will be child-friendly. If you’re a government civil servant, a member of civil society, and child rights activist and you feel that not enough is being done to eradicate the use of children as sexual objects then you too are a decisionmaker! We would like to hear from you at info@tdhnepal.org. Everyone counts in the fight against sexual exploitation of children. What’s new The number of establishments using and abusing minors is increasing (see graphic p.23) . The number of customers is increasing. The average age of children is decreasing. While the phenomenon of commercial sexual exploitation of children and women is not new, this is now taking place as part of a sex industry. This in itself is a new phenomenon. In spite of all these developments, there hasn’t been a proper national debate on the nascent sex industry. There should be one. Nepali people have elected representatives but they have not yet had the opportunity to discuss whether or not Nepal wants a sex industry, and whether this industry should involve commercial exploitation of children. Influential business actors are in favour of a sex industry; others are in favour of an entertainment industry only. What does the majority want 2010 Terre des hommes www.tdh.ch 7
Page 2 and 3: Publications of Terre des hommes en
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTS ACRONYMS 5 PREFACE BY THE
Page 8 and 9: Isn’t it too late already The Nep
Page 10 and 11: One or several acts Human trafficki
Page 12 and 13: ‘sale’ and normally do not adop
Page 14 and 15: Are boys also victims of traffickin
Page 16 and 17: A girl in a cabin restaurant in Pok
Page 18 and 19: clients - who now access sex worker
Page 20 and 21: How are victims trafficked Girls an
Page 22 and 23: © Giulio Di Sturco/VII Mentor Prog
Page 24 and 25: the Shakti Samuha 2008 study, 73% o
Page 26 and 27: The table below presents the age an
Page 28 and 29: increasingly engage in personal soc
Page 30 and 31: ©Giulio Di Sturco/VII Mentor Progr
Page 32 and 33: The maze of alleys south of Sundhar
Page 34 and 35: usually take place in dohoris, alth
Page 36 and 37: Guest houses Guest houses, or ‘lo
Page 38 and 39: Unsupported by husbands Absentee hu
Page 40 and 41: PROCURING SEX IN THE ENTERTAINMENT
Page 42 and 43: Nepal’s entertainment and sex ind
Page 44 and 45: More than two-thirds of restaurant
Page 46 and 47: ‘My own close relatives brought m
Page 48 and 49: The table below presents the psycho
Page 50 and 51: girls’ and women’s bodies invit
Page 52 and 53: The threat of arrest gives the poli
Page 54 and 55: A better salary, but not enough One
Page 56 and 57:
either from ‘advances’ given to
Page 58 and 59:
In regard to the entertainment indu
Page 60 and 61:
© Giulio Di Sturco/VII Mentor Prog
Page 62 and 63:
is a fantasy. In Thailand and India
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sex worker, few are willing to risk
Page 66 and 67:
Will a ‘red light area’ fix the
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A Protection and Social Welfare Sys
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THE STAKEHOLDERS GOVERNMENT Ministr
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to minimize trafficking of women, d
Page 74 and 75:
Ministry of Labour and Transport Ma
Page 76 and 77:
agencies and international organisa
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PROGRESS SINCE 2000 Although the en
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2005 National HIV/AIDS Strategy (20
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of the writ petition filed by Pro-p
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BEYOND REGULATIONS The primary resp
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Work Accomplished by the Office of
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either be repealed or revised for c
Page 90 and 91:
mentions single women: ‘The state
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Regulation) Act 2053 to work in res
Page 94 and 95:
Policy: The practice of placing “
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forms of gender discrimination, pre
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WHAT SHOULD BE THE PRIORITY The sit
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Page 102 and 103:
· Optional Protocol of the Convent
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LEGISLATION An Act to Amend Some Ne
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RESOURCES Organisations or entities
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Samrakshak Samuha Nepal. Puja Dhima
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26538, Thapathali, Kathmandu. Tel:
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ANTI-TRAFFICKING NETWORKS Alliance
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PERSONS INTERVIEWED ANNEX IV. Aarat
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BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEX V. ActionAid Nep
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National Centre for AIDS and STD Co
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ENDNOTES ANNEX VI. 1 IRIN Web Speci
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23 Generally, it is found that the
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Women Workers in Woolen Carpet Indu
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68 The percentage of females under
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100 ActionAid 2004 study. 101 Actio
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130 142 Interviews conducted for th
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