Prevention of Trafficking and the Care and Support of Trafficked Persons

[Guest guest]

Prevention of Trafficking and the Care and Support of Trafficked

Persons

(Policy analysis Documentation of current intervention models

Community-based study of trafficking)

In recent years, millions of women and girls have been trafficked

across borders and within countries. The global trafficking industry

generates an estimated five to seven billion U.S. dollars each year,

more than the profits generated by the arms and narcotics trades

(Widgren 1994). Over the last decade, the growing trafficking

problem in South Asia has been recognized. Nepal and Bangladesh have

been designated as " sending " countries or countries of origin in the

regional web of trafficking. India and Pakistan are usually referred

to as countries of " transit " or " destination. " Girls and women are

trafficked within country boundaries, to other countries within the

region, and across regions and continents beyond South Asia. The

problem is particularly acute in Nepal, one of the least developed

countries of the world. This agrarian nation lacks sufficient

economic capital, infrastructure, and developed human resources.

Ninety percent of its 21 million inhabitants rely on subsistence

agriculture. Adult literacy is as low as 23 percent for females and

57 percent for males. Infant and maternal mortality rates are among

the highest in the world. Historically, economic pressures have

created a high level of migration in search of sustainable

livelihood options outside Nepal.

That migration level is escalating, particularly among men and women

of prime productive and reproductive age in certain districts

(Sanghera 2000). The effort to abolish trafficking in Nepal

intensified after a multi-party democracy was established in 19901.

At that time, trafficking of women and girls was identified as a

priority issue 2. Within five years, non-governmental organizations

(NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) began to address and

combat the problem through expanded social, cultural, and economic

programs. The international donor community, including the United

Nations, bilateral and multilateral donors, increased funding for

many social issues that had been relegated to the background,

including issues related to women, children, bonded labor and human

rights. His Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMG/N) established the

Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MOWCSW), and began

to formulate national policies and plans to integrate women and

children into the national development process.

A watershed event occurred in February 1996 when the Indian

government tried to forcibly repatriate two hundred Nepali women

from brothels in Mumbai. The government of Nepal initially refused

to repatriate these " rescued " women. The emergency was somewhat

diffused when a group of seven Kathmandu-based NGOs intervened,

organizing repatriation of the victims and their subsequent care

(ABC Nepal 1996; Pradhan 1996). This event drew considerable media

attention, especially when a number of girls were forcibly tested

for HIV - and found positive. Challenged by the immense need of

these victims, many NGOs developed anti-trafficking programs,

attracting considerable support from international donor agencies.

Awareness of the HIV pandemic added a sense of urgency, since the

social and economic processes underlying trafficking are in many

ways similar to those fueling the spread of HIV (AIDS Action 1998;

UNDP 2000).

In 1997, Nepal's Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare

formed a National Task Force on Trafficking, with support from the

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labor

Organization (ILO). Under this initiative, District Task Forces were

established in 26 districts of Nepal, and a National Policy and Plan

of Action to Combat Trafficking were formulated. In 1998, an inter-

agency United Nations Task Force on Trafficking was set up in Nepal,

under the coordination of the United Nations Development Programme.

In March 1999, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

(OHCHR) Trafficking Program identified Nepal as one of the key

countries for intervention, and organized two national workshops.

Currently, pilot projects have been initiated in cooperation with

the United Nations Task Force. The High Commissioner is also

examining the South Asian Association for Regional ation

(SAARC) Draft Convention on Trafficking from the standpoint of human

rights. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against

Women selected Nepal as a focal country for a report on trafficking

submitted to the Human Rights Commission in April 2000.

http://www.traffickingandhiv.org/Resource%20Center/af_pop_council_2001__preven.p\

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__________________

" Dr. Avnish Jolly "

e-mail: <avnishjolly@...>