The first-time visitors to Tibet who go there expecting a Buddhist nirvana can be in for a shock. We get to hear and read so much about the spillover effects of China’s growing economy in Tibet: the state-of-the-art airport, multi-lane roads, record FDI inflows, all part of China’s ‘development dividend’. Rather it is the more subtle titillation tactics the Chinese state ignores to keep Tibetans in good humor that most capture attention. Wherever one goes in Lhasa, Tibet’s now sprawling capital, and particularly around the historic Potala Palace, a World Heritage Site, one gets to see what can only be described as ornate glass rooms on ground floors of big commercial buildings. Inside, young women—topped up with mascara, red lipstick and see-through blouse and skirts—are busy with their embroidery (or watching TV) from their perch on long, black sofas. On inquiry, you learn that they cater to the clientele of the oldest trade known to mankind. If you have been to Lhasa of late, perhaps someone even called you out for ‘exclusive services’ in pitch-perfect Nepali in the middle of your stroll downtown. 

Most of us are well acquainted with the proverbial plight of poor and helpless Nepali women being sold into grimy brothels of Bombay. But only recently have the stories of Nepali women working under dismal conditions in Tibet, Macau and African outposts like Kenya and Tanzania have started to emerge. Again, not all of them are being forced to join the dance bars and brothels where they invariably end up. Yet even for those who get into it voluntarily, the returns are puny. A Nepali girl working in a typical Tibetan brothel can expect to earn between Rs 15,000-20,000 a month, which is considered attractive for Nepali women in this line of work. Often, to complete the entrapment, employers also confiscate the citizenships, passports and all identifying papers so that the new recruits don’t run away. 

Those who have been rescued en route can fare as bad—or worse. Fourteen-year-old Maina (name changed) who hails from a dalit family in Chitwan was disowned by her father after her mother passed away. She had nowhere to go until a neighbor promised her a proper job in Pokhara. Little did Maina know she was being taken instead to a lodge in Pokhara, where she was kept for a month and gang-raped repeatedly. The plan of her captors, it turned out, was to eventually sell her to a brothel in Tibet. It is estimated that every year around 10,000 Nepali women (mostly minors) are trafficked to India alone. A similar number are trafficked to other destinations around the world, mostly via India. 

A mass awareness campaign in districts like Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa and Dolakha with the highest rates of trafficking would most certainly help. But in a globalizing world, this kind of alarming rise in inter-state trafficking can only be checked through effective bilateral and multilateral arrangements. A binding bilateral agreement with India to curb the illegal movement of Nepali women from its major points of international departures could, for instance, significantly lower third-country trafficking. A similar deal could be had with China. But Nepal has not been able to convince its big neighbors of the gravity of the matter. Neither do India and China care much: combating trafficking of women and children seems to fall far down their priority lists. They seem only too happy to overlook the darker side of their single focus on economic growth. 

Published on: 2 June 2014 | Republica