The future of trafficked children: here’s how to help make it a bright one

An estimated 12,000 Nepalese children are trafficked into India every year. In fact, Nepal is generally considered to have one of the highest rates of child trafficking in the world.

Beyond the Orphanage supports a number of children in Nepal, and many of these children were once victims of child trafficking. Local staff tell us that these children continue to experience trauma every day as a result of what they went through. They can’t return home, because they have no known relatives.

In Nepal, trafficked girls may be sold into prostitution or domestic slavery, and boys are often taken into forced labour. Here at BTO, we also focus particularly on protecting children who are trafficked into orphanages.

Here at Beyond the Orphanage, we’re aware of the practice of children being trafficked into orphanages as the ‘Orphan Business’. This is on the rise around the world.

“In some cases children are deliberately separated from their families and placed in orphanages so they can be used to attract adoptive families, fee-paying volunteers and donors,” Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Nepal representative, said in a statement. “Traffickers may convince parents to give their children up for what they are made to believe will be a better life. The child traffickers promise education, meals and a better future. But the reality is that many of those children could end up being horrendously exploited and abused.”

Countless studies show that consequences for children who experience the trauma of trafficking are extremely serious. These include the development of severe psychological problems or even physical problems, that range from substance abuse, to personality problems, depression, and suicide.

You can see that the case for the importance of providing trauma counselling to child trafficking victims is a no-brainer.

It’s vital that children who’ve experienced trafficking are encouraged to face their traumatic experience through long-term specialist psychological care. Our local social workers simply can’t provide this. Unfortunately, there’s no specialist care, for victims of child trafficking, available in the communities in Nepal where we work.

Rescued victims of CHILD trafficking need long-term specialist trauma counselling. This is a service that’s currently unavailable in their area.

That’s why we’re reaching out to you to raise just $6,000. This will be enough funds to provide our children with their right to a happy and healthy future.

Please don’t forget the world’s most vulnerable children this Christmas, when the spirit of giving is uppermost in our minds. Donate today, so we can raise $6,000 before Christmas. Your gift to these children this festive season may, literally, be the gift of life.