Avalanche of Girls Into The Sex Industry of Nepal

Nepal has lost approximately 200,000 girls in recent years to the sex industry, who have been sold around the world. Every year, according to UN and local NGOs, 12,000 to 15,000 girls and women are trafficked for sexual exploitation.

For the last 20 years I have been investigating the human trafficking of young girls and women for sexual exploitation in different countries as well as their own localities. The central concern regarding Nepal is the quantity of girls as young as 8-10 years old who are trafficked every year. Nepal, a tiny country, is one of the most significant source countries in the world for child prostitution, and also a transit and destination country. Nepali women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in Nepal, particularly into the adult entertainment industry and massage parlours, as well as to India, the Middle East, China and other countries, according to 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report on Nepal by the US Department of State.

Extreme poverty in Nepal, and other causes of deprivation, not only push people to fall into traffickers’ traps, but also create an incentive for some to become involved in the trafficking business.

The "An Avalanche of Girls Into The Sex Industry of Nepal” photo essay started in September 2014 in Kathmandu and in the towns around the capital. It is about girls and women victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, but also goes beyond that central story. It shows the consequences for those prosecuted for involvement in the sex trade. The children in shelters, the men in prison due to participation in the human trafficking process, and sex industry entertainment, observed from the prospective of a potential client. 

Today, after the earthquake, at least 950,000 children in Nepal are living in improvised tents, in the streets, or are just out of school and are risk for trafficking for sexual exploitation at every given moment. Traffickers can make around 570 US dollars per girl supplied. Research shows that about 38% of the Nepali population is living on under US$1 per day.