KATHMANDU: The United Nations General Assembly in 2013 had adopted a resolution to designate July 30 as the World Day Against Human Trafficking.
As a UN member state, the Nepal government has enacted and brought into implementation Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control), Act 2007 and Regulations 2008.
Likewise, in 2002, the then Legislature-Parliament of Nepal had endorsed the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention on Preventing and Combating the Trafficking in Women ratified by the 11th SAARC Summit. Nepal has been observing the World Day against Human Trafficking for the last 12 years.
An annual report of the UN has shown that 79 percent of human trafficking has been carried out for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
A study carried out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) states that over 4 million people including men, women, and children are trafficked in a year globally. According to human rights organizations, as many as 230,000 women and girls are trafficked for flesh trade annually.
Human traffickers have been targeting uneducated and innocent women and girls from South Asian countries. On average, 15,000 people are trafficked in a year. Traffickers lure innocent and uneducated women to foreign countries promising them with lucrative jobs. According to a National Human Rights Commission report, 7,000 women and children are trafficked annually.
Maiti Nepal, a non-profit organization in Nepal dedicated to helping the victims of sex trafficking, has said that over 5,000 women are trafficked to foreign countries via India. Over 40,000 women have fallen prey to human traffickers in the last 10 years.
The government has been taking action against those involved in human trafficking, said Rajendra Kumar Paudel, spokesperson of the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen.
Experts have pointed out poverty as the main cause of heinous crimes like human trafficking in Nepal. Thousands of innocent women and girls are being trafficked abroad for flesh trade in a year, with the lure of high-paying jobs.
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