Nepal Monitor: The National Online Journal

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its Global Report on Trafficking in Persons Saturday, Feb 14. According to UNODC, the report offers “an unprecedented view of the available information on the state of the world’s response to human trafficking, including near-comprehensive data on national legislative and enforcement activity.” It some 155 countries and territories. The following text on South West Asia covers Nepal:

Institutional framework
The Human Trafficking Control Act was established in Nepal in 1986. The Parliament of Nepal passed a new law, the Human Trafficking (Control) Act, in 2007. This 2007 Act is deemed to be more comprehensive and incorporates provisions for the protection and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking. In addition to the Human Trafficking (Control) Act, other laws can be used to punish various forms of trafficking exploitation, like forced labour, slavery and bonded labour. The National Plan of Action (NPA) against Trafficking in Children and Women for Sexual and Labour Exploitation was developed in 1998 and approved in 1999. The NPA was reviewed in 2001 for the addition of new issues and cross-cutting themes.

Criminal justice response
Specific law enforcement agencies against trafficking in women and children are part of the Women and Children Service Centre (WCSC), the Immigration Office, Interpol and the courts of Nepal. The WCSC, located in police headquarters in Kathmandu, also is responsible for collating information relating to crimes against women and children, including trafficking. As of February 2008, the WCSC had 128 staff at headquarters and 25 centres around the country.

Services provided to victims
State authorities and NGOs provide legal protection, medical and psychosocial support, and housing and shelter for victims of trafficking in persons.

Additional information
The government runs shelter homes in coordination with some of the larger NGOs. There are a number of informal mechanisms by which various agencies collaborate. There were 29 convictions of cases of trafficking in persons in appellate courts in 2002-2003, four in 2003-2004, 11 in 2004-2005 and ninein 2005-2006. Convictions of cases of trafficking in persons in the Supreme Court numbered 11 in 2002-2003, 17 in 2003-2004, 16 in 2004- 2005 and four in 2005-2006.

There are no consolidated numbers on the nationalities of trafficking victims, but according to the National Rapporteur on Trafficking, available information indicates that almost all the victims were from Nepal. In addition, trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation was the most frequent form of exploitation recorded during the reporting period, followed by forced labour. Other forms of exploitation detected included slavery, sexual slavery and forced labour for the circus.

Facts and Figures
According to Women and Children Service Centre (WCSC) and the Police Headquarters, the following were the cases of trafficking in persons recorded by the police in Nepal (July 2002-July 2007): 55 in 2002-03, 56 in 2003-04, 72 in 2004-05, 97 in 2005-06, and 112 in 2006-07.

According to Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Women and Children, convictions of trafficking in persons in Nepal (July 2002-July 2006): 32 in 2002-03, 57 in 2003-04, 60 in 2004-05, and 36 in 2005-06.

Records from Women and Children Service Centre (WCSC) and the Police Headquarters also indicate that victims of trafficking in persons identified by State authorities in Nepal, by gender and age (July 2004 –July 2007) included these figures: 218 women, 6 girls and 16 boys in 2004-05, 118 women, 84 girls and 16 girls in 2005-06, and 182 women, 50 girls and 82 boys in 2006-07.

Links
To read the Executive Summary, click here.
To read the full report, click here.
To read the summary on South West Asia, click here.

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