Poverty makes people a target for human trafficking

Warning: this article contains mentions of sexual and gender-based violence that some readers may find upsetting.

Alisha* had been living and working for her sister in Kathmandu, Nepal when she was targeted by her sister’s work colleague. She was told she could earn more money, as well as food and a place to live, doing the same kind of housework she was currently doing for her sister.

The offer was appealing, but the promises were empty. Alisha was sold into slavery.

‘I did not understand what was happening and asked the brothel owner to call my friend so I could go home,’ shares Alisha. ‘The brothel owner told me that I had been sold and was not allowed to leave until I had paid back her debt, which was the amount the brothel owner had paid for me.

‘I was not even aware that India existed until I was told that I was there.’

Survival

Every morning, starting at 7.00am, Alisha and the other girls had to line up on the street outside the brothel to wait for their customers. They were forced to wear make-up and dress in a way that was appealing to their male clients.

Many, like Alisha, were just children.

Within two months she was sold to another brothel, twenty minutes away, where she suffered even more abuse.

Punishments like this were common. They were often refused food, locked in the toilets, hit by the brothel owner, as well as many other forms of torture and punishment.

On an average day, the women and girls would have anywhere from 35-40 customers between the morning and the afternoon, and another two to three customers during the night.

Rescued – but not free

Police raids at the brothels were frequent. But the owners would just hide the girls. Then, finally – after three and a half years of working there – Alisha was rescued.

It happened during a mass raid on the brothels in the area carried out by the police, where 500 other women and girls were rescued. Many of them were from Nepal – like Alisha – or from Bangladesh. But, because they had no formal identification, they were unable to travel home.

With nowhere to go, the girls were forced to stay in a prison in India for the next seven months. Many of the girls either died in the jail, or tried to escape.

During this time seven Nepali organisations had been advocating on behalf of these women and girls to allow them to be able to return home. It proved successful, and the surviving 128 women and girls were brought back home to Nepal.

Different

Alisha was reunited with her family. But word got out in the community that she had been trafficked, and also that she was living with HIV. She had contracted this at the brothel.

‘While my family welcomed me home, my community discriminated against me,’ says Alisha. She was not allowed to go to the temple, and no one would eat the food she would make.

‘I went to play on the swing but afterwards, no one else would touch the swing as the community believed if they touch the swing the HIV will be transmitted to them,’ she shared.

‘Our community then pressured my family that they either had to disown me, or leave the village with me. I made the choice to leave the village myself so that my family would no longer suffer the discrimination along with me.’

Starting again

Life continued to be a struggle for Alisha. She tried running her own business – a tea shop – in a new village, but soon gave up. Men would continue to harass her while she was working because she was single.

Alisha decided to get married to avoid the abuse. She was just 16.

When Alisha was six months pregnant, her husband went abroad to work. She never saw him again. When he left, she was kicked out of his family’s home. Alisha was forced to move again to find a new place to live.

 Then, when her daughter was nine months old, Alisha made the decision to move back to Kathmandu – where there was more work – so she could support her daughter.

‘I finally met a friend’

In Kathmandu, Alisha met Shanti, who became her mentor and like a sister to her. ‘She took me to an organisation… which became my turning point in life,’ explains Alisha.

The organisation – the Shanti Foundation – is supported by Tearfund’s local partner in Nepal. It is doing incredible work with survivors of trafficking. Staff and mentors from the foundation work with survivors to help them build up their skills and confidence, as well as advocating for their rights, and helping them to integrate back into society.

‘I started to develop myself; I saw a hope for my daughter,’ says Alisha. ‘Shanti Foundation has always taught me that women like us also can make a difference.’

A few years later, Alisha joined the foundation as a board member.

Strengthening communities

In Nepal, four of our local partners are doing amazing work on the frontlines to prevent trafficking, and to advocate for survivors. Tearfund and our partners are also working within communities to build awareness of the crime. This includes working with local faith leaders so they can use their platform to promote and share crucial messaging.

Many women and girls often feel unsafe in their own home because they suffer violence at the hands of their family. They also fear forced marriage. It is not uncommon for them to flee home, which then makes them easy targets for traffickers.

This is why Tearfund and our partners are inviting men, women and young people to join new community groups. These will be safe spaces to gather and talk about issues that are affecting them. It also is a chance to challenge some of the harmful social norms and behaviours around gender, which can lead to violence.

One of the ways it will do this is by using Tearfund’s Transforming Masculinities programme. This seeks to improve conversations and behaviours around gender equality by addressing these harmful norms. This will help to promote positive relationships among participants in their places of worship and communities, enabling more people to live lives free from abuse and violence.

Free for good

It is almost impossible to know the true extent of how many people are trafficked because of the hidden nature of the crime. Recent studies estimate that there are around 40.3 million victims worldwide – millions of women, men and children exploited for profit and for personal gain.

Human trafficking robs people – like Alisha – of their freedom and their dignity. To end human trafficking, we must tackle a root cause of the crime: poverty.

Traffickers take advantage of people's circumstances and often their desperation. When you have a family to feed and no way to earn an income, offers of employment and new opportunities are hugely inviting.

This is at the heart of Tearfund’s work – we’re helping people to lift themselves out of poverty. Through our partners and our programmes, we run training courses, so that people can learn new skills and ways to earn an income. This enables them to free themselves of poverty for good.

When people can earn an income independently and provide for their families, it makes them less of a target for traffickers. It also means children no longer need to work so the family can survive.

Today (30 July) is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Will you join us in praying for an end to human trafficking and the cycles of poverty that perpetuate this awful crime?

PLEASE PRAY

• Cry out to God on behalf of the millions of people who have been trafficked and who are now trapped in modern day slavery. Pray for God’s comfort and his protection. And pray that they will be safely rescued.
• Lift up people – like Alisha – who are survivors of human trafficking. Pray they will get the healthcare and support they need to begin rebuilding their lives.
• Thank God for the work Tearfund and our partners are doing in Nepal and around the world to address the root causes of human trafficking. Pray for the success of this work. And pray for an end to human trafficking.

*Name changed to protect identity