Desperate Girls

The Badi Girls

Between 7,000 and 12,000 young girls, aged 9-16, are trafficked each year from Nepal; mainly to India. According to Nepal Monitor/On line journal, 2007, there are more than 200,000 Nepali girls in Indian brothels.

The Dalits(untouchables) are the lowest level in Hindu society, and the Badi community, in Western Nepal, are the lowest of the low. As a displaced hungry people group the Badi community has made sexual subservience a way of life. Young girls from this group “serve” other groups. This has become a tradition and means of livelihood. Many girls, even when they are unwilling, are forced to serve as sex slaves. Family members knowingly sell their daughters to traffickers.

Though prostitution is illegal in Nepal, the industry reportedly has links with highly ranked officials and political leaders. Large groups of girls are taken across the border with many police and government officials being in collusion with traffickers and brothel owners.

Traffickers and related criminals are often protected by political parties, and if arrested, are freed using political power. As a result, there is an underlying distrust of police that has led people not to file cases against traffickers.

Domestic action involves activities of NGO’s and other volunteer groups. These groups are playing a major role to address girl-trafficking and sex slaves issues. Some NGO’s are playing a very important role to improve the situation. From creating social awareness to rescuing and rehabilitation, they are providing services (and relief) to those that need it the most – the likely victims as well as the rescued ones. The Lighthouse foundation is one of these.

*See Chandra Kala’s story on this blog site.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Back to Garbage River.


  

We were exhausted by the end of Monday having left Kathmandu guesthouse at 6.30 a.m., caught a plane to Nepalgunj, spend over 6 hours travelling, with all the stops in-between, plus the emotional rollercoaster of all we had heard and seen We crashed into bed and I didn’t care that our toilet floor was a swimming pool.  We were grateful for a bed and sleep. 

Today we were glad to escape the heat and head up with Winding Mountain to Chinchiu.  This is such a beautiful country.  Mountains everywhere, terraced rice fields, flocks of little goats with floppy ears.  We visited the hostel up here where we hope to start a new school next April and then headed on to Jhuprakola (garbage river) where most of our hostel girls come from. Once again we saw the same poverty and the  same houses, only on the banks of a lovely river.  Just down stream is where all the bodies are cremated and then the remains thrown in the river, Raju has renamed it Hallelujah River.  There is now a little church there with about 250 believers.   From there we have moved on to Birendernagar where we will be saying for 2 nights.
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