August 2001

Trafficking and Human Rights in Nepal: Community Perceptions and Policy and Program Responses

Learning from HIV/AIDS Policies and Programs in Nepal

Both HIV/AIDS and trafficking control programs work with vulnerable and disempowered populations, involve stigma and discrimination against affected and infected persons, and require similar rights-based responses. There is considerable overlap in targeting beneficiaries of trafficking and HIV/AIDS programs since a proportion of sex workers, migrants, and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) have been trafficked and trafficked persons are at increased risk for HIV.

HIV/AIDS control policy in Nepal is rights-based and focuses on empowerment. Many features of current and proposed anti-trafficking laws, policies, and approaches are in direct conflict with the national HIV/AIDS strategic plan. Lessons can be learned from HIV/AIDS control programs that directly apply to the control of trafficking. The National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan devotes an entire section to the “Legal, Ethical, and Human Rights Aspects of the HIV Epidemic” and aspires to the creation of an “enabling environment.” Although mobile populations and sex workers are known to be at increased risk for HIV infection, HIV control efforts have not called for the restriction of migration and prostitution in contrast to anti-trafficking policy. Instead, the focus has been on information, education, and empowerment of those populations to prevent transmission. Efforts have also focused on reducing stigma and discrimination toward those already infected and affected, as well as on their empowerment through PLHA networks. The focus on monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment applied to HIV/AIDS interventions should also be applied to anti-trafficking activities.

Both trafficking and HIV/AIDS programs can benefit from increased collaboration and consistent approaches. An emphasis on human rights may serve as a starting point for a common platform.

The study's investigators are actively disseminating and discussing the findings with policymakers, NGOs, and activists involved in anti-trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and broader development issues. This includes a September 2001 consultative meeting in Kathmandu sponsored by several international agencies to clarify conceptual frameworks used to define trafficking and identify rights-based responses. The meeting will also identify methods and indicators to measure the performance and impact of programs.