So, my last post was a serious one. I figure that, here is where I will be freer to write things that I won't write on FB or other networking sites, simply because it's not a good forum for it. FB, at least for me and my friends, tends to be a bit lighter.. like meeting friends for coffee and showing photos of the kids and their latest play date. Not to mention FB includes a younger (and more vulnerable) group of people. Definitely not the place to talk about the things that are unfolding in the area of human trafficking for me, here.
Did I know TIP (trafficking in persons) was a problem here in Nepal before? Of course I did. I knew that Nepal is one of the major "source" nations for trafficking children and women into countries in Asia... India, Thailand, etc.. as well as to some middle east, Arab countries. Trafficking includes forced labor, sex slavery and child soldiers -- basically any situation where the person is not free to leave or make other choices. And Nepal is one place that they are taken from. Yes, that is known about Nepal. It is something I've wanted to see change.
What is becoming clearer to me as I've returned here after 20 years, is how much the landscape of Nepal itself, has changed to include trafficking and slavery domestically. I'm learning that what was once an area for "sex workers" who, because of a lack of other options, chose to go in this direction, finding people who would pay them for sex, (basically prostitution), has now changed -- to an entire sex slavery and trafficking "industry" -- where there are people organizing it, hierarchies, collaboration, and "normal" people knowing it is happening and looking the other way. Also, the sheer volume of it -- it is ubiquitous and growing -- fast.
There are New Venues... for sexual slavery
Cabin Restaurants - small, little hole in the walls, that you would miss if you didn't know where to look. They do not have kitchens (eg, they are not "restaurants"). Customers can buy alcohol and food, but that is procured from other places with kitchens -- who collaborate with the cabin restaurant owners (part of the industry). Also, there are not real "cabins" to speak of. There are curtains, maybe plywood, separating customers from other customers. The "waitresses" are there to provide sexual favors, and they cannot leave. If customers want to go someplace else, this is also arranged.
Massage Parlors - basically for sexual massage -- primarily not for Westerners, although this may change if Nepal becomes known for this as places in Thailand have become known.
Dance Bars - these places offer entertainment as well
And then, there's the bus park brothels...
None of these are consensual. The women (primarily) and girls are not there because they choose to be.
These did not exist (except maybe the bus park brothels) in an "industry" form when we lived here long ago. We knew then, about prostitution in Nepal; but this is different. This is slavery. Forced. And it is happening in our back yard, and people who could change it are not. For whatever reason. Perhaps no one knows what to do. ke gar ne? This is a priority -- identifying what to do -- for the average person.
to be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment