7,029 girls, women rescued from traffickers’ clutches in five years

Kathmandu, November 17

A total of 7,029 women and children were rescued from border points in Nepal by Nepal Police in the past five years.

They were rescued from Jhapa, Ilam, Morang, Udaypur, Sankhuwasabha, Parsa, Sarlahi, Mohottari, Siraha, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Sindhuli, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Gulmi, Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Jumla, Kailali and Kanchanpur while being trafficked India and China. Of those rescued, 3,896 were under  the age of 18 years.

According to Nepal Police Spokesperson and Senior Superintendent of Police Uttam Raj Subedi, Nepali women and girls are vulnerable to trafficking due to the porous border with India.

Nepal Police teams have been deployed in border areas to prevent trafficking of children, girls and women. Likewise, Nepal Police has set up rehabilitation centres  meant for survivors of human trafficking in Jhapa, Kathmandu, Sindhupalchowk, Parsa, Chitwan, Kailali and Banke districts.

Januka Dhakal, vice-chair of Samaj Utthan Mahila Manch, an organisation which has been working to prevent trafficking of girls and women, said lack of awareness and poverty made women and girls more vulnerable to trafficking. The traffickers target such women and girls with the promise of lucrative jobs in foreign countries. Most of such women end up in brothels in India.

Girls and women are trafficked mainly for prostitution, sex slavery and forced labour.

Nepal’s anti-trafficking law stipulates 20-year jail sentence and a fine up to Rs 200,000 for anyone found guilty of human trafficking.

Bearing in mind continuous threat of trafficking in Nepal, Nepal Police is planning to establish a separate Human Trafficking Bureau.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has approved a proposal submitted by Inspector General of Police Sarbendra Khanal seeking establishment of Human Trafficking Bureau and Cyber Bureau. The Ministry of Finance has allocated budget for setting up the two bureaus. Nepal Police hopes that it will be lot easier to prevent trafficking of girls and women after the bureaus are set up.

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from The Himalayan Times https://ift.tt/2qSms27