Nepal is one of the world’s poorest countries. Many children here are forced to work in carpet factories, farming or as household servants. Girls are faced by an additional threat, to be cheated and sold as slaves to brothels in India. Every year thousands of girls are sold, the youngest only eight years old. The girls are locked up for several years in brothels. Often they are not released until they’ve become too ill to work. Many girls have by then been infected with Aids.

Worse for girls

"Many blame poverty, but the most important thing is that girls are treated worse than boys in Nepal", says Anuradha Koirala. She founded Maiti in 1993, which since then has been able to save thousands of girls from having their lives destroyed in brothels. "Daughters are supposed to be married off and move to their husbands' homes, so why should we educate them? That’s how many parents think. The boys are supposed to look after their families and are therefore seen as more valuable. And when a daughter marries, the family has to pay a dowry, in money or a cow, to the bridegroom’s family. Girl-traffickers exploit the poor villagers' situation. They say they have a good job for the daughter in town. Sometimes the man asks to marry the daughter.

Prevent and rescue

At Maiti’s different centres in the countryside thousands of girls have learned all about the trade in girls. They have also been able to learn to read and write, sew clothing and make jewellery. If they can support themselves the risk is less that their parents will send them away to work. The girls at the centres travel to villages and sing and put on plays about the slave trade with girls. And when they return home to their villages they pass on their knowledge to their girlfriends.

Maiti provides protection and care at its centre in the capital Katmandu. There is also a children’s home and a school, Teresa Academy. Maiti saves thousands of girls every year at the border. It cooperates with the police at 9 of the 27 border posts in India. Maiti trains girls, who have previously been sold, to become border guards. They know how the trafficking works and what to look out for. At one of the border posts Maiti has opened a hospital for women and children infected with HIV and Aids. Many young women who have come home from brothels have been infected with this deadly disease.

"My dream is to establish a village for children with Aids. There is no one who takes care of them in Nepal", says Anuradha Koirala. "And I would like to see the girls who were sold, laugh and become children again!"