Some parents only let their sons go to school. They see no reason to invest in their daughters. “They will get married anyway”. And when girls are married their parents have to pay an expensive dowry to the man’s family. This can include money, a cow or furniture.

After the marriage the girl belongs to the husband’s family and in many cases she never sees her family again. For a poor family it can be tempting to say yes if someone comes and wants to pay money for one of the daughters. It often happens that a man comes to the family’s house and says that he has a good job in town to offer their daughter. It can be in a carpet factory or as a servant in a family.

Sometimes the man will ask to take the daughter as his wife. Neither the parents nor the girls suspect what can be involved. The parents send their daughters away thinking they will have a better life than they have at home. The human traffickers exploit the villagers’ poverty and ignorance about the outside world. Therefore, Maiti works to spread information on the traffic with young girls from villages in the poorest areas of Nepal.

Maiti has a centre where girls can come to live for six months. Girls learn all about the trafficking with young girls so that they don’t let themselves be fooled if a strange man comes to their village. They also learn to read and write, sew clothing and make jewellery. If the girls can support themselves there is less risk that their parents will send them away to some other place.

Since Maiti began its work in the area the number of girls sold to human traffickers has decreased. The girls at the Centre travel out to the villages and sing and put on plays about the traffic with young girls.