What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.

According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, “Trafficking persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights.”

Percentage of human trafficking around the world

Around 1.2 million victims of trafficking are minors: around 43% are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, while 32% are for involuntary servitude, and 25% for a mixture of both. Nepali victims are trafficked within Nepal, the Middle East, and even Europe, plus other areas such as Malaysia. They are forced to become prostitutes, domestic servants, beggars, factory workers, mine workers, circus performers, child soldiers, and others.

Where are they taken?

Trafficking victims often are taken to locations within Nepal, frequently from rural areas to urban centers. Mainly young girls and women are trafficked for sexual exploitation in places such as cabin/dance restaurants, massage parlors, and other places within the tourism sector. Victims, especially girls and women, are trafficked to Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Russia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf states.

ALAINA B. TEPLITZ Published in The Himalayan Times: July 28, 2017, “If Nepal wants to see more benefits of international cooperation, including better treatment of its citizens during repatriation, and be recognized as a country committed to rooting out trafficking, ratifying Palermo is crucial.”

Trafficking in various forms

Human trafficking takes a number of forms, including commercial sex trafficking, organ trafficking, and labor trafficking, but all types of human trafficking have elements in common. They rely on exploitation of the most vulnerable. They rely on deception. They rob human beings of their dignity. All forms of trafficking should be countered with the full spectrum of tools that work to prevent them, to protect and rehabilitate victims, and to punish offenders, especially those at the top of criminal trafficking networks.

The bad news is that many Nepalese are vulnerable to trafficking due to economic hardship. As they look for job opportunities to bring themselves and their families out of poverty, people may find themselves tricked into dangerous jobs by unscrupulous employment agencies or incurring large debts that hold them hostage to abusive employers. Challenges in achieving the intent of the low-cost migration policy and the complicity of some in the financial exploitation of prospective migrants further compounds the issue, as some Nepalese are unable to rely on formal mechanisms to keep them safe.

How to help bring a stop to Nepal’s human trafficking:

1. The first tier of efforts focuses on preventing trafficking before it happens. Education can decrease the risk of human trafficking and help people find employment, while raising awareness of the risks of trafficking among vulnerable populations. Effective education must also inform young people, school teachers, community leaders and parents about traffickers’ deceptive practices and how to detect them. Children Rescue Mission is doing this.  
2. The second tier of efforts focuses on the protection of victims, who are often ostracized from their communities and may suffer from health problems – both mental and physical – stemming from their experience. Fortunately, Nepal has NGOs that provide social services and understand the unique needs that trafficking victims face. To ensure victims can access these social services as soon as possible and provide evidence helpful to convict traffickers in court, we urge the Nepal police and prosecutors to redouble efforts to identify victims proactively and improve mechanisms for referring them to support services. Similarly, authorities at the Department of Foreign Employment should be trained to recognize signs of labor trafficking and refer cases to the police and NGOs in addition to taking internal action under the Foreign Employment Act. Though victims’ suffering can never be undone, the government can provide the resources and opportunities to re-integrate them into society.
3. The third tier of efforts focuses on prosecution of offenders, especially high-level criminals who organize trafficking networks. The threat of prison is a tremendous deterrent to labor traffickers who send Nepalese abroad on the false promise of employment, only to sell them into slavery. To help Nepal improve its prosecution efforts, the U.S. Government is training the Nepal Police and prosecutors in modern investigative techniques to convince low-level criminals to cooperate in investigations against those most responsible for trafficking networks.

Conclusion

It is commendable that Nepal government and civil society are taking steps to address trafficking. Now is the time for Nepal to tangibly demonstrate its full commitment to combating trafficking. Nepal has been moving forward toward ratifying the Palermo Protocols that supplement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. By ratifying the Protocol on Trafficking in Persons and the Protocol on the Smuggling of Migrants, Nepal would join the majority of the nations of the world – including India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives – which have committed on a national level to a comprehensive commitment to counter human trafficking.  If Nepal wants to see benefits of international cooperation, including better treatment of its citizens during repatriation, and be recognized as a country committed to rooting out trafficking, ratifying Palermo is a crucial step.

References:

• The Himalayan Times/Countering human trafficking: Importance of coordinated effort
• US State Department (2011). Trafficking in Persons Report 2011 Country Narratives — Countries N Through Z. Retrieved March 5, 2012, from http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164233.htm.
• “Trafficking in Persons Report” (https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf) (PDF)