Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is one of the greatest injustices on our planet today, and is second only to the drug trade as the largest criminal activity in the world.  Human Trafficking is the illegal trade of humans into slavery for sexual exploitation or forced labor.  According to the US State Department, an "estimated 600,000 to 820,000 men, women, and children [are] trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 80% are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors.”  Nearly 2 million children around the globe are currently in forced sexual exploitation.

“Sex-trafficking”, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, commonly involves the deception, kidnapping, rape, and sexual enslavement of girls and women.   Read more in this great injustice in the Sex-Trafficking in Nepal section.

Our Approach

Tiny Hands began its anti-trafficking work in 2006 after learning that an estimated 10-15,000 Nepali girls are deceived and illegally trafficked across the border where they are sold to the sex industry where they are used as sex slaves. 

Our approach to fighting trafficking in Nepal begans at the border crossings where we identify and stop trafficking victims and, when possible, their traffickers before they reach India.  In addition to Border Monitoring, our work is expanding to include:

• Education and awareness
  THI seeks to educate both local communities and at-risk women and children about trafficking
  
  
• Aftercare
  THI works to ensure that victims of trafficking stopped at the border are given the emotional and spiritual support they need during times of transition.
  
  
• Prosecution
  With support of local authorities, THI seeks justice by holding traffickers accountable through prosecution.
  
  
• Investigation
  THI is developing strategies to collect information on the trafficking of women and children in Nepal in order to more effectively fight sex-trafficking on a structural level.