Women survivors of human trafficking conducting research on themselves

Anil Parajuli / Hetauda, July 8: Women survivors of human trafficking have started to conduct research on themselves.

As a part of research, they have used photo voice as a tool to express their suffering in course of being trafficked.

Many women survivors expressed their tragic experiences at the two-day workshop related to participatory research involving women survivors of human trafficking that started here in Hetauda.

“By means of photo voice, we reflect our experiences in course of being trafficked and then as we express it, we feel relieved of the sorrows and sufferings. We feel like weeping time and again remembering our past and wish no one should have such kind of situation,” shared a woman survivor.

She said that she also faced lack of support from her family and society after she was rescued, which doubled her plights.

Women survivors of Hetauda and Manahari complained that there were obstacles in selling goods produced by women survivors with HIV and that it was very problematic to reintegrate in the society. They said they were treated as someone of second class even at the hospital for they were infected with HIV.

Dr. Rita Dhungel, assistant professor at the Fraser Valley University, Canada, who is one of the lead researchers, said that most people were trafficked due to their poverty, and that the research will come up with inputs for policy recommendation to the government on proper policy for women survivors of human trafficking.

She said that women in the age group of 7-35 were found suffering from human trafficking. She expressed worry that cases human trafficking were still found in Nuwakot, Sindhupalchowk and Makawanpur districts.

According to Bagmati Province Police office, Hetauda, there 32 cases of human trafficking in the last 3 years from 10 districts, except for Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, of the province.