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BEYOND REGULATIONS<br />
The primary response <strong>of</strong> government to the negative impacts <strong>of</strong> the entertainment and sex industries has come in<br />
the form <strong>of</strong> regulation. On December 28, 2008, the Supreme Court issued the Directives to Control Sexual Harassment<br />
towards Working Women in Work-Places such as Dance Restaurants, Dance Bars, 2065 (see above), with the<br />
requirement that all night entertainment establishments were to register with the District Administration Offices<br />
(they were previously required to register with the Department <strong>of</strong> Cottage and Small Scale Industries), within three<br />
months. As <strong>of</strong> March 28, 2009, only a few entertainment establishments had registered.<br />
The government’s attempts to regulate the industry include registration <strong>of</strong> establishments and a code <strong>of</strong> conduct<br />
to be enforced by a District Monitoring and Action Committee (see above). These actions, if implemented sufficiently,<br />
can provide some guarantees <strong>of</strong> basic rights to workers in the entertainment industry. However, while addressing<br />
harassment, neither the Directives nor the Code <strong>of</strong> Conduct address many <strong>of</strong> the deprivations <strong>of</strong> labour rights that<br />
entertainment workers face, such as payment for overtime work, medical benefits and maternity leave. Moreover,<br />
these <strong>document</strong>s do not address the protection <strong>of</strong> children. Children or ‘minors’ are not mentioned in either the<br />
Directives or the Code <strong>of</strong> Conduct.<br />
The government has yet to address the ubiquitous presence – and exploitation – <strong>of</strong> children in Nepal’s entertainment<br />
industry, and the present NPA on Trafficking is an insufficient vehicle to do so. Today, the identification, withdrawal,<br />
recovery and reintegration <strong>of</strong> children in the sex and entertainment industries are primarily conducted by NGOs.<br />
There is a need for a unified prevention and response mechanism comprised <strong>of</strong> government, NGO and civil society<br />
actors, with the authority – and the will – to end child sexual exploitation in the emerging entertainment industry<br />
<strong>of</strong> Nepal.<br />
2010 Terre des hommes www.tdh.ch 84
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