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South Asia
Discrimination and the exploitation of the girl children in South Asia by Bhuwan Thapaliya Seema had left the poverty of her home village to work in Kathmandu. She was barely twelve when a smooth-talking flesh trader lured her to Bombay with talk of a better job. She hoped to become a film star. Instead she was sold into a brothel. At first she resisted, screaming, crying and fighting off prospective customers, but the madam who ran the brothel would have none of it. She sent in a muscled toughie to hold the girl down while an old man raped her. The pain was so intense that Seema lost consciousness and had to be hospitalized for a week. After that it was back to the brothel where the other child prostitutes told her she could not win this battle. But Seema's spirit was not broken. Nine months later she escaped for the brothel and boarded a train, hoping to eventually get back home. A soft-spoken lady promised help. She lured the young girl to Calcutta and sold her. Seema had only escaped from one brothel into another. Now Seema appears resigned to her fate. She hits the streets of central Calcutta as soon as it gets dark and stands near a lamp-post soliciting customers. Her parents in Nepal have no idea where their daughter is. She does not have the courage to tell them, and anyway, they probably think she is dead. It is better that way. Girls in Nepal consist 51% of the total child population. Literacy rate of girls is 42% compared to 65% with the boys. In Nepal, primary school going girls is 74% compared to 86% with the boys.34% of total marriages in Nepal are held with girls below 16 years. 7% of child marriages are held with children below 10 years. Most of the household chores and child rearing activities are the responsibility of girls. Girls aged between 10-14 works double as compared to boys in the same age group. In Nepal, 26 lakhs children are working in different fields of labor. From this, 56% are reported to be girls. Girls are trafficked for different purposes including domestic work, forced beggary and marriage, carpet weaving and for sex trade. About 20% (i.e. 40,000) of the total trafficked women for sex trade are girls below 16 years. Per year around 12,000 girl children and women are trafficked. Child malnutrition in Nepal is 56.2% in which the state of girls is more vulnerable than boys. Almost 60% of survivors of child sex abuse and rape are girls below 18 years. Most of them are abused either at home, educational institution, work place or any given place. They are insecure in all these places. Women and girls are regarded as "untouchable" during menstrual period. In some parts of far western Nepal, they are not even allowed to stay inside home and forced to stay outside, mostly in the cattle house. Despite legal prohibition, sexual exploitation of girls in the form of traditional and religious customs, such as Deuki still exists is Nepal. In past eight years, 274 children have died due to internal armed conflict. Among them 81 of them are girl children. In the course of armed conflict many incidences of sexual abuse of girls has been made public. Similarly, many children including girls have been displaced to city areas and are involved in exploitative labor sectors. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights called for freedom of thought, profession, organization, religion and creed and by which each and every individual has the right to self-determination and self-respect. But the situation is the contrary in the case of trafficked prostitutes who are confined within the four walls of their places of work. These may be brothels, theatres and film halls or the private homes in which they are employed. There are various forms and colors of prostitution in South Asia, and violent persons are frequently involved in the "taming" of inexperienced prostitutes through the use of various forms of torture14 so that the women or girls will accept their "clients". South Asia is a unique geographical area from many points of view. It is one of the world's most populous regions with one quarter of the planet's population. Due to geographical proximity and relatively open borders, trafficking in women is more pronounced in South Asian countries. India stands out as being on the receiving end of the trade.Nepal and Bangladesh are the main source countries in south Asia for trafficked children. (Masako Iijima, "S. Asia urged to unite against child prostitution," Reuters, 19 June 1998). The trafficking of girls from Nepal into India for the purpose of prostitution is probably the busiest 'slave traffic' of its kind anywhere in the world. (Tim McGirk, "Nepal's Lost Daughters, 'India's soiled goods," Nepal/India: News, 27 January 1997) Every year between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red light districts in Indian cities. Many of the girls are barely 9 or 10 years old. 200,000 to over 250,000 Nepalese women and girls are already in Indian brothels. The girls are sold by poor parents, tricked into fraudulent marriages, or promised employment in towns only to find themselves in Hindustan's brothels. They're locked up for days, starved, beaten, and burned with cigarettes until they learn how to service up to 25 clients a day. Some girls go through 'training' before being initiated into prostitution, which can include constant exposure to pornographic films, tutorials in how to 'please' customers, repeated rapes. Trafficking in women and girls is easy along the 1,740 mile-long open border between India and Nepal. Trafficking in Nepalese women and girls is less risky than smuggling narcotics and electronic equipment into India. Traffickers ferry large groups of girls at a time without the hassle of paperwork or threats of police checks. The procurer-pimp-police network makes the process even smoother. Bought for as little as Rs (Nepalese) 1,000, girls have been known to fetch up to Rs 30,000 in later transactions. Police are paid by brothel owners to ignore the situation. Girls may not leave the brothels until they have repaid their debt, at which time they are sick, with HIV and/or tuberculosis, and often have children of their own. The traditional networks involved in trafficking have become more complex and organized through gangs and syndicates. These operate at three levels: the village or rural level centers of power at the national level, and the regional or international "flesh trade market”. It is important to note that the nature, scope and pattern of trafficking is changing and that this change is directly related to socio- economic conditions and religious orientations. As an example, some ethnic groups are quite open with regards sexual behavior and have no qualms in sending girls away for money. The family itself is often to be held responsible in such cases. The economic factor, while not the most important, is considered to be important in influencing trafficking. It has been pointed out by Rozario that poverty alone is not the cause of prostitution. However, when the condition is coupled with the low status women and the prevailing hierarchical caste structures the situation is aggravated. The patriarchal social systems, where women are looked upon as objects for sexual satisfaction and reproduction, are also to be taken into account. In addition, girl children are discriminated against from the earliest ages, and suffer permanent psychological harassment throughout society. Limited government finances, weak border controls, and poor security infrastructure have made Nepal a convenient logistics and transit point for trafficking activities. The country also possesses a number of relatively soft targets that make it a potentially attractive site for girl-trafficking operations. Whatever me must lift the bottom of the human condition by dedication and sacrifice to improve the quality of life for everybody. We must start down this road, and we must make our destination clear to everyone. If we make an honest and dedicated effort to solve this problem, it will be solved. Above all we must act now. The matter is urgent. . If we really wish to bring in a remarkable change in society, all forms of discrimination and exploitation against girl children must end everywhere. References: Facts about Girls in Nepal: CWIN Nepal Sex Trafficking of Women and Girls in Nepal: Helen Brown “For sale childhood,” Outlook, 1998: Soma Wadhwa Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation: Nepal Trafficking of Women in South Asia: S.M. Tumbahamphe and B. Bhattarai About the Author(s): See under Our Contributors to find out about the Author(s) of this article. |
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