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.

Saturday 22 September 2012

Saturday,Comings and Goings

Thursday, I met Robert and his granddaughter  at the airport after a long wait, they finally emerged.  Yesterday, we had a day to ourselves to do some tourist things.  Three team members took the day to see some of the historic sights, and others went into Thamel to buy gifts for the family and then we all met up at the beautiful Garden of Dreams for the evening meal.  As we waited in the lovely gardens, the little squirrels  darted about on the grass looking for food crumbs and chasing each other through the plants.  The meal was really beautiful.  Today, Saturday, was church day and afterwards Agnes and I took our little sponsor girls out to lunch then bought a lot of board games and things for the hostel kids to play with.  On arrival home, we heard that we had a runaway monkey in the flat.  A door on the verandah had been left open and a monkey with a white face and spikey red hair dashed through into the kitchen, presumably looking for food.  He was promptly chased out, so he dashed around to the kitchen window and peered in.  I was sorry to have missed the incident.  Katie goes home tomorrow, after taking in excess of 10,000 photos.  Grahame arrived home today after 4 days in Penang, in Malaysia.  He was at an Asia Pacific Association of Christian Schools International Round Table, with representatives from Canada, USA, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal and Australia and New Zealand., and Malaysia.  We have an invitation to go to Canada to talk about the work here, with a number of others very interested to have some involvement.  This coming week some time,  a busload of little girls are arriving from the west. I hope I am here to see them come. Three will be the little sisters of Binu, the 13year old who Katie sponsored from the village the first week we were here.

Robyn
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