August 2001

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

Study Recommendations

Promoting human rights and safe migration underlies the policy, program, and research recommendations that emerged from this study. This kind of focus may help overcome some of the ideological differences that currently divide the field in Nepal.

Policy

• Adopt the trafficking definition of the United States Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to protect the rights of all trafficked persons, including those who are trafficked for purposes other than prostitution.
   
• Develop laws and policies to protect the legal and constitutional rights of stigmatized communities, including those who are HIV-positive or engaged in sex work. Oppose laws that criminalize prostitution.
   
• Promote consistency between HIV/AIDS and trafficking control policies and approaches. Use as a model the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS in Nepal, which incorporates human rights principles.
   
• Put in place clear guidelines for voluntary HIV testing and counseling of the returned trafficked girls and women and for the ongoing care, support, and reintegration of HIV-positive returnees.

Programming

• Coordinate advocacy and program efforts so that messages and strategies are consistent.
   
• Craft prevention messages that include concrete relevant advice on how to migrate safely.
   
• Establish support systems to enable safe migrations and to help women once they reach their destination.
   
• Assess border-based prevention strategies to determine their effectiveness and to ensure that women's right to mobility is not being breached.
   
• Encourage and expand interventions that work from the bottom up, involve communities, build capacity, and provide support, rather than top-down welfare-oriented interventions.
   
• Provide technical and financial support to develop techniques for family assessment, counseling, intervention, and follow-up of rescued girls.
   
• Develop appropriate plans for girls who cannot return home, particularly in the area of sustainable livelihoods.
   
• Support NGOs providing legal aid services to survivors and working to prosecute anti-trafficking cases.
   
• Document cases for use in advocacy work with the judiciary.

Research

• Undertake formative research to inform intervention strategies.
   
• Develop impact indicators and support NGOs in carrying out appropriate monitoring and evaluation.