Promoting recovery and resilience among earthquake-affected communities
Communication and social mobilisation initiatives to address human trafficking and gender-based violence
Highlights
Through the concerted efforts of the government and development partners, Nepal has made noteworthy progress over the last few decades. However, significant developmental challenges remain and it is among one of the least developed countries in Asia with high levels of poverty.
Over the last few years, many people migrated from rural to urban areas or even to foreign countries looking for better education or livelihoods and more often than not, without a proper safety net. While data on migration is available, there is a lack of recent and reliable information on the magnitude of unsafe migration and human trafficking in Nepal, especially with regards to children and young people.
According to the Nepal Police1, from mid-2015 till mid 2016, 1630 women and children were rescued by the police from human trafficking check points at border areas. In addition, according to the Central Child Welfare Board2, 2,772 children were reported missing between July 2016 and July 2017. Research suggests that annually, approximately 12,000 children are trafficked to India, mainly for the purpose of sexual exploitation3. Furthermore, an estimated 11,000 to 13,000 girls and women are working in the ‘night entertainment industry‘ in Kathmandu Valley alone, the majority of whom are children4. However, it is believed that these existing data do not represent well the magnitude of the problem and that actual numbers are likely to be much higher.
