Seated in a cramped room in Kathmandu, 33-year-old Rekha* recounted her life of struggle as the sole provider of herself and her three children.
Rekha grew up in Bhojpur of Koshi province, in a household struggling to make ends meet. She married a government employee at 14 but separated a few years later due to his multiple affairs. With no support from her husband in providing for their three children and her own parents incapable of helping her financially, she migrated to Kathmandu with her children in search of employment.
She shared her struggle to secure basic necessities in Kathmandu, recalling how her landlord seized a gas cylinder, a sack of rice, and other essentials when she was a few days late on rent. One of her children had to drop out of school as Rekha was unable to fund her child’s education.
Then, 11 years ago, Rekha became a sex worker.
Now, “I support my children and myself through this work; all my daily needs are fulfilled by this,” she said. “Before opting for this work, I was economically desperate and saw no alternatives; there were no helping hands.”
Rekha is one of thousands of female sex workers in Nepal. These women are at the center of the complex reality of prostitution in Nepal as the country debates the decriminalization of sex work and rehabilitation advocacy.
Current Scale of Sex Work in Nepal
While estimating the exact number of female sex workers in Nepal is not possible due to the hidden nature of sex work in Nepal, several reports provide a tentative figure.
A research study published by the Frontier estimated that there were between 24,649 and 28,359 female sex workers in Nepal as of 2015, with an estimate of 10,457 and 11,653 in Kathmandu valley alone. The HIV and AIDS data hub for the Asia Pacific, also published in 2015, estimated there were up to 25,000 sex workers in the country. A more recent report published in 2020, however, estimated a significantly higher number, between 43,829 and 54,207.
As suggested by these figures, the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a major driver of poverty in Nepal, with the side-effect of pushing many Nepali women and girls into sex work out of financial need. Among these women are some who had previously left sex work and started alternative livelihoods.
Often recruited as waitresses, singers, dancers, and masseuses, many women in Nepal who migrate to Kathmandu in search of economic sustenance eventually end up providing sexual favors in exchange for money. Today, Thamel, a district in Kathmandu known for its vibrant nightlife, is considered a hub of sex work.
According to a 2015 study that explored various types of sex work in Nepal, covert sex work was found to be commonly practiced. Such work has become easier with the popularization of technologies like cell phones, which have decreased the need for facilitation carried out by brokers and pimps.
Is Sex Work Legal in Nepal?
The legality of sex work in Nepal is a complex question. Currently, Nepal’s legal approach to sex work is best described as indirect criminalization. This means Nepal does not have any specific law that directly criminalizes sex work; however, several laws target associated activities and the individuals who engage in them.
Clients purchasing sexual services and individuals who manage sex workers by arranging clients and taking a portion of their earnings (sometimes through coercion and manipulation) are criminalized under the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2007 (HTTCA). The HTTCA includes engaging in or arranging for someone to enter into prostitution within its definition of human trafficking, although this remains inconsistent with the Palermo Protocol under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which Nepal ratified in 2011.
Likewise, Nepal’s new Criminal Code Act of 2017 criminalizes soliciting for prostitution, which makes seeking clients for sex work both publicly and privately illegal. The act also penalizes providing facilities for sex work and advertising for it under sections concerning crimes against public good.
Many sex workers have also reported arbitrary detention by law enforcement authorities, illustrating the unclear nature of Nepal’s legal framework regarding sex work.
The Bid for Decriminalization of Sex Work in Nepal
Activists, national networks, INGOs and NGOs, academics, and international donors and supporters are making efforts to decriminalize sex work in Nepal, advocating for the recognition of sex work as a legitimate profession.
They argue that doing so will protect sex workers from exploitation, abuse, and discrimination stemming from the stigmatization of sex work in Nepali society. Sociologists and public health professionals have also argued that decriminalizing sex work will result in a reduction of violence against sex workers and improved healthcare accessibility.
The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS supports decriminalization of sex work in Nepal to achieve effective HIV prevention and treatment as part of its mission to end AIDS globally. Likewise, Amnesty International also supports the decriminalization of sex work in Nepal as integral to promoting human rights and protecting sex workers. Grassroots organizations and networks like Jagriti Mahila Mahasangh and the Sex Workers’ Alliance Nepal (SWAN) are also actively advocating for the same.
45-year-old Meena* thinks that decriminalizing sex work in Nepal will achieve positive benefits for sex workers like her: “We are looked down upon by society and even by our own families… Nepal’s law provides no support for sex workers. The places we work, our clients, and everything associated with sex work, are criminalized. Decriminalization will create safer working environments for us.”
Yet, most advocates pushing for decriminalization of sex work in Nepal do not support its full legalization. “Establishing red-light areas in Nepal would be impractical, given the small size of our country and the societal stigma attached to this profession in Nepali society,” said Jaya,* a former female sex worker. “Since most female sex workers operate in privacy and their own family members and neighbors are unaware of their work, full legalization will expose these women and strip them of their privacy.”
Therefore, associations are for “zero decriminalization” – removing all criminal penalties for sex workers, their clients, as well as the facilitators, to ensure no one is arrested for engaging in sex work that is consensual. But advocates do not want full legalization of sex work in Nepal since it risks exposing the identities of sex workers.
Differing Approaches: Rehabilitation vs. Recognition
The initiatives prioritizing the well-being of sex workers in Nepal take two major approaches: rehabilitation or recognition. Various initiatives in Nepal prioritize removing sex workers from prostitution and giving them opportunities to generate income from alternative sources. Such projects are motivated by the moral belief that sex work is inherently an exploitative profession.
Chori, a non-profit organization, operates a multiservice social center in the Thamel district of Kathmandu named Pariwartan (meaning “change” in English). The center is open to all women but targeted toward women in sex work. At Pariwartan women receive psychosocial support, health and legal services, and guidance from social workers. This type of rehabilitative work seeks to guide sex workers toward a reorientation of their economic prospects.
Maiti Nepal specializes in the rescue of women, especially minors, from sex work. It provides them with education and job training as a step toward reintegration.
In contrast, some NGOs and networks in Nepal, like SWAN, favor a recognition-based approach. These groups work toward achieving recognition of sex work as legal labor. Such efforts are backed by studies that suggest recognition of sex work will lead to less violence against sex workers and better outcomes in public health. Recognition efforts also train sex workers for advocacy regarding their rights and improving their working conditions.
Trafficking and Coercive Sex Work: An Ongoing Crime Against Women in Nepal
Adding to the complexity of sex work in Nepal is the fact that it often intersects with human trafficking, where women and minors are forced into non-consensual sex work. Social inequality, gender-based violence, and poverty act make adolescent girls and young Nepali women especially vulnerable to being the victims of sex trafficking.
According to Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission’s trafficking in persons report, 78 percent of all identified victims of human trafficking in 2017 and 2018 were women, many of whom were minors. Similarly, The Women and Children’s Service Directorate of the Nepal Police reported 94 percent of all trafficking cases between 2013 and 2015 involved women, while nearly half of them were minors when they were trafficked.
The National Human Rights Commission has reported that Nepali women are being trafficked for forced marriages and sexual slavery in South Korea and China every year. Within Nepal, trafficked women are compelled to work in the garment and service sector and as prostitutes.
Poor and socially marginalized women and girls in Nepal commonly rely on financial loans, which likely to drive them toward unsafe migration. Frequent natural disasters also force large parts of the rural population in Nepal to immigrate for financial sustenance.
In such a scenario, the International Organization for Migration recommends having formal agreements with major destination countries like Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Japan, and India to help ensure protective measures instead of imposing restrictions on female mobility. The latter path will only lead women to follow illegal channels to immigrate.
Unregistered migrant workers and women traveling through the open border with India to reach other nations are most likely to be the victims of sex trafficking.
Gyanu Poudyal, the executive director at NAMUNA Integrated Development Council, an NGO active in combating human trafficking in Nepal through cross-border initiatives, said, “Adolescent girls and young women tend to be easily influenced. At an impressionable age, they are lured to take actions in hope for a better life. Poverty is the main cause behind Nepali women’s vulnerability to human trafficking, and the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the problem.”
“Educating young women and ensuring they are aware about the prevalence of human trafficking and its methods will significantly help Nepali women become less vulnerable to human traffickers. Besides, owning financial assets makes women less likely to be trafficked,” she added.
Nepal is used as a sending, receiving, and transit point by human traffickers worldwide. To address this, human rights advocates recommend both short-term actions like awareness raising initiatives and long-term projects that include training for law enforcement and the judiciary.
Triumph Amid Adversities
Yet despite these harsh realities, some women manage to rise above adversity. Bijaya Dhakal, a 51-year-old cancer survivor, recently published a book titled “Bijayi” (“Victorious”). In her memoir, she reflected on her experience as a young widow at just 17, navigating the challenges of raising children as a single mother while being compelled to engage in undesirable work.
“Economic desperation drives people to make choices they would not otherwise, but it is important for society to understand that these choices often come from a place of survival, not choice,” said Dhakal.
On what inspired her to write her book, Dhakal said, “Just like a corn that’s fried over and over until it blossoms, a person too becomes stronger after facing repeated challenges. Once you overcome enough hurdles, you do not fear anyone anymore. You are not hesitant to speak up or share your experiences with others. My book is a source of motivation for all women.”
Yet she also emphasizes the importance of support for women who are presently in situations she was in the past. “We should not have to survive on our own,” Dhakal said. “We can do so much more when society supports us, not when it shuns us.”
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the sources.
