Nepal Trafficking in Girls With Special Reference to Prostitution: A ...

A Rapid Assessment
V: Explaining Trafficking
Trafficking can only be explained by considering
poverty in the context of social, cultural,
demographic and political factors at
individual, family, community and
national level.
The root cause of trafficking in Nepal differs
from one locality to another, one sub-culture
to another, one family to another and one
individual to another.
5.1 Child Vulnerability
We have previously defined child vulnerability
by the following number of factors (not prioritized)
at the immediate family level: fragile family situation
(alcoholism, unemployment, sexual abuse, domestic
violence), poverty and very low income, children not
enrolled in school, sisters already trafficked, illness
among parents. At the local community level one or
more of the following factors may increase the vulnerability
of the child being trafficked: wrong perceptions
about the destinations perpetually reproduced
through trafficking networks, anecdotal evidence of
school teachers, politicians being involved in trafficking,
abusive school teachers, neighbours’ children
already trafficked, no employment opportunity for
adolescents, vicinity to roads leading to urban areas
or to trade routes to India.
Most key informants noted that trafficking is
related to child vulnerability, exacerbated by deprivation
from education.
In Nepal, education up to the secondary level is
free but not compulsory 1 . However, free education
appears to be a half-truth as households have to incur
half of the total public cost of education 2 . Besides,
the opportunity cost of going to school in relation to
work is too high for households that are so poor that
their livelihood must be supported by child labour.
Furthermore, parents do not see the long-term benefits
of education when the content is incompatible
with their family needs.
In our study, 38 out of 100 trafficked/sexuallyexploited
girls were illiterate. Although it is expected
that better education will enhance the chances for ac-
cess to more and more reliable information for vulnerable
girls and their families, the data also reveal
that literacy alone may not translate into a decrease in
trafficking as more than 50 % of the trafficked girls
have had a few years of education.
The growing effect of consumerism on
children’s lives, exposure to modern culture, the desire
to earn easy money, and peer pressure also make
children more vulnerable.
Some respondents were found to be engaged in
prostitution or were trafficked because they themselves
desired to have good clothes, make-up kits and/
or easy money. Many were found to have been willing
to leave their hometowns, not necessarily to brothels,
but to the city area, a movement that made them
more vulnerable to being approached by strangers.
Four respondents, who were working as waitresses,
were lured into sexual exploitation by a trafficker saying
that they would get Rs. 30,000 if they would
smuggle diamonds for two days.
5.2 Family Vulnerability
Family vulnerability leads to child vulnerability.
Access to education, health and nutrition largely
depends on the family’s social and economic situation.
In particular, mothers who are educated have been
found to be nursing their children better in many countries.
Family vulnerability increases when family
members, particularly girls, are denied education, and
also in cases of deaths, sickness and domestic violence
in the family.
5.2.1 Education of Parents and Gender
Discrimination
An overwhelming majority of parents of trafficked
girls are illiterate, especially the mothers. The
lowest indicator of this is found in Sundhupalchowk,
where only eight in 100 female adults are literate, and
39 of 100 adult men are literate. In Nuwakot, which is
located adjacent to Sundhupalchowk, only 10.8 % of
adult females are literate. This is considerably under
the national average of 21.3 % Table 5.1.
1 Households have to bear the cost for school-dress, books and stationery, admission
and examination fees.
2 Households which send children to public schools, on the average, spend Rs. 838
on each child at the primary level and they spend Rs. 2,168 for a child at secondary
level (Nepal South Asia Centre, 1998: 91). This is much higher expenditure in poor
households with large family size.
3 3