Nepal Police have rescued a total of 7,029 women and children from various border points in Nepal in the past five years according to RSS source.
The number of rescued were from Jhapa, Ilam, Morang, Udaypur, Sankhuwasabha, Parsa, Sarlahi, Mohattari, Siraha, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Sindhuli, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvasti, Gulmi, Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Jumla, Kailali and Kanchanpur while being taken to India and China for trafficking.
They all were the potential victims of trafficking. Among the rescued, 3,896 are under 18 years of age and 3,133 are women.
According to Nepal Police spokesperson and senior superintendent of police Uttam Raj Subedi, Nepali women and girls are vulnerable to trafficking due to an open border system with India. The Nepal Police is working with the deputation of special human resources to identify children and women at risk of trafficking and rescue them by establishing a separate center for the same.
Likewise, the rehabilitation centers meant for the survivors of human trafficking are in operational in Jhapa, Kathmandu, Sindhupalchowk, Parsa, Chitwan, Kailali and Banke districts.
In view Januka Dhakal, vice chair of Samaj Utthan Mahila Manch, an organization which has been long working for the prevention of trafficking of girls and women, lack of public awareness and poverty are among the major factors pushing women and girls towards the risk of trafficking.
Women and girls facing such situations are the targets of perpetrators and middlepersons as they, with false promises for finding lucrative jobs, persuade potential victims to follow them. In some cases, perpetrators arranged fake marriages for trafficking as it is relatively easier way to make the crimes by cheating the victims, families, police and society.
Girls and women are trafficked mainly for prostitution, sex slavery, forced labour and organs extractions. Besides, the victims are forced to work as domestic help, at dance bars and restaurants and other entertainment sector.
According to Dhakal, human trafficking racketeers make the crimes under the political influence as well.
Nepal’s anti-trafficking law has the provisions of a 20-year jail sentence and a fine upto Rs 200 thousand against a convict in the human trafficking case. Bearing in mind continuous threat of trafficking against girls and women in Nepal, the Nepal Police is planning to establish a separate Human Trafficking Bureau.