1. Facts and Statstics on Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking 

• Offenders are increasingly seeking out new destinations for child sex tourism. • Offenders are increasingly exploiting children sexually through the Internet by luring children, exchanging information and distributing child pornography. • Children and youth in developing countries are increasingly exchanging sex for survival. • Children are increasingly being sold and trafficked across new routes, borders and between continents at the hands of organized offenders.

Source: www.ecpat.org/about_csec/index.html

• Trafficking in human beings is now the fastest-growing business of organized crime. (United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, 2002)

• Globally, the United Nations estimates that trafficking is a 5-7 billion U.S. dollar operation annually. (New U.N. Trafficking Protocol, 2002)

• An estimated one million children (mainly girls) are coerced into the commercial sex trade every year. (http://www.unicef.org/newsline/01pr97.htm)

• The largest number of victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking come from Asia, with over 225,000 victims each year from Southeast Asia and over 150,000 from South Asia. (U.S. State Department, Congressional Research Service Report 98-649 C)

• From Nepal an estimated 5,000 - 12,000 girls are tricked, trafficked and sold to brothels in India, the Middle East and South East Asia every year. (“Resisting Trafficking in Women: Auditing Testimonies and Restoration Approaches”; Kathmandu: Himalayan Human Rights Monitors, 2003.) You don’t need that much detail in your sourcing for this website, as we aren’t providing such detail in the previous sources.

• Over 20% of sexually trafficked Nepali women and children are girls under than 16 years of age. (http://www.cwin-nepal.org/press_room/factsheet/index.htm)

• The majority of girls trafficked are told that they will receive good employment and income earning opportunities. Fake marriages are the second leading means of trafficking. (“Trafficking in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment”; ILO, Geneva, November 2001)

• Over 60% of the prostituted girls/women working in Kamatipura, the biggest red light district in Mumbai of where the majority of Nepalese are trafficked, are suspected to be HIV positive.
(“Sex Slaves”; Virago Press London, 2000)

2. Life in the Brothel 

The majority of girls sold into the brothels are forced to begin prostitution within one day of their arrival.

The 'initiation' process includes; gang rape, torture, starvation, beatings, and various forms of physical and emotional abuse inflicted to break the girls’ spirit.

On average, the girls are forced to 'work' 13 hours a day, earning roughly $5 a day. They are forced to 'service' approximately 14 men a day, with a minimum of three and a maximum of 40 men. Between 90-95% of their earnings are extracted by the brothel owner.  ("Trafficking in Girls with Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment” ILO. Geneva. November 2001.)

Trapped in the brothels they have never heard the message of love, hope and healing........ In the brothels the women face physical, emotional, and mental abuse from brothel owners, pimps, and the users. Furthermore most of these women have completely lost any control of their lives and are denied any contact with the outside world. As a result, they have no access to medical services to treat diseases, births, abortions etc.; no access to nutritional food; no access to a telephone or any outside communication; and no opportunities to leave their life of prostitution or seek help. Many of these girls and women quickly become demoralized, lose hope for their future and accept their life of sexual slavery.

3. Causes of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) 

• Poverty
• Globalization
• Changes in family/community support mechanisms
• Family breakdown and abuse
• Gender bias
• Criminal networks
• Lack of law enforcement
• Tourism
• Tradition and culture
• Increasing materialism and consumerism.
• Commercialization
• HIV/AIDS
• Lack of employment or vocational opportunities
• Homelessness
• Discrimination against ethnic minorities
• Growing demand from sex tourists and pedophiles
• Increasing international promotion of the child sex industry through information technology
• Growing demand of foreign sex industries creating international trade in girls and women
• Military presence creating demand for child prostitutes
• Demand from the migrant labour force

The children/young people susceptible to commercial sexual exploitation are both girls and boys, although primarily girls, aged from 10 to 18.
Source: http://www.ecpat.org/about_csec/index.htm

4. A Look at Nepal 

Most victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking in Nepal share common social afflictions such as extreme poverty, illiteracy, and oppression. Many are devalued and mistreated in their own homes, forced to work as domestic servants and subject to relentless physical and psychological abuse.

Nepal’s national cultural, religious, political and legal frameworks further perpetuate an environment conducive to the exploitation and vulnerability of women and young girls.

Nepal vs. Canada

5. Current Emerging Global Trends: 

• Offenders are increasingly seeking out new destinations for child sex tourism. • Offenders are increasingly exploiting children sexually through the Internet by luring children, exchanging information and distributing child pornography. • Children and youth in developing countries are increasingly exchanging sex for survival. • Children are increasingly being sold and trafficked across new routes, borders and between continents at the hands of organized offenders. Source: www.ecpat.org/about_csec/index.html