Nepal's Entertainment Industry

In Nepal women continue to pay the price for the country’s decade old insurgency that ended in 2006

by Suti Saharia

Human rights and anti–trafficking activists in Nepal say that thousands of women who work in massage parlours, dance bars, cabin and duet restaurants are at a high risk of exploitation and violence. They say such unregulated places routinely employ minor girls, act as a conduit for forced sex work and trafficking.

Seema, 20, was six –years old, when she was abducted by Maoists rebels from her village in Sindhupalchok, 66 kms north-east of Kathmandu, during the ten-year armed conflict with government forces that ended in 2006.

Her father, who was in Maoist army, was killed by the government forces. “I was in the entertainment wing (advocacy) which was made up of children. Its purpose was to influence people with the Maoist ideology. I was the dancer. I used to carry guns and ammunition. I was made to kill a lot of people. Every time they came across someone, they would say he is your father’s killer so shoot him,” says Seema.

After the war ended, she returned home but wasn’t accepted by the society. “I was ostracised. There were families in the village that had a member either police or the army and were killed. They blamed me for that.”

At 15- years she got married, but the 2015 earthquake that hit Nepal killed her husband and destroyed her house. She came to Kathmandu with her six-month old baby to start a new life. Unable to find a proper job, she joined a massage parlor. She says “I don’t like this job. If I could stay in the village that would have been better. In the massage parlor, we are forced to sleep with people. I hate this job. I want to do a job of dignity.”

There are no official figures available on the number of women working in what is largely regarded as informal entertainment industry in Nepal; a 2009 study by Terre des homes (TDH) estimated it to be 11,000 to 13000 girls and women in Kathmandu valley alone – the actual figure is believed to much higher across Nepal.

Activists say that child marriages, domestic violence and abandonment by alcoholic husbands and fathers are other common factors that drive women to join this sector. They also emphasise that post April 2015 earthquake, that killed 8000 people, there has been a disturbing trend of thousands of young women from the devastated regions being tricked by human traffickers to join this sector with the lure of quick money and foreign jobs.

Raksha Nepal is one of the leading NGOs that has been working to provide support to sexually exploited girls and women working in the entertainment sector. Its founder, Menuka Thapa herself worked as a singer in a cabin restaurant as a teenager. She says: “I saw the girls being mistreated and exploited badly. They were also forced to perform sexual activities by the customers and the owners of the restaurants. The girls wouldn’t get paid for days but could not raise their voice for the fear of losing their job. I was determined to fight against such atrocities.”

Responding to the huge surge of women working in this sector, and reports of severe exploitation and trafficking, the Supreme Court of Nepal in 2008 issued a directive to the government to setup guidelines to protect women and girls in the entertainment sector from economic and sexual exploitation. The Ministry of Women formed a Monitoring Action Committee to tackle the situation. The committee’s chief said recommendations for implementing the Supreme Court’s directive has been sent to the Home Ministry for final approval.

“The large number of women engaged in this industry are contributing to national economy and tourism yet there is a lack of social acceptance and a huge stigma attached with their professions. They are very vulnerable as they don’t have any social security. There is a critical violation of their human rights”, says Anisha Lintel of Women’s Forum for Women in Nepal.

To advocate for the rights of women working in this sector, Women Workers’ Protection Union was formed in 2015 with the help of DKA Austria in Thamel, Kathmandu’s vibrant commercial neigbourhood popular with tourists. The union now boost 9000 members. The union leader Sabina Tamang says, “our biggest problems are frequent raids, abuse and unlawful detention by the police. We want this to stop. Our key demands are formal recognition of our work, minimum wage and better work conditions.”

Sarbendra Khanal, senior superintendent of Police, Metropolitan Crime Division, refutes the allegations of police atrocities. He says “We take cases of gender violence, rape or sexual exploitation very seriously. We give it a top priority and don’t leave a stone unturned while investigating such cases. We have no problems with registered massage parlours or dance bars but as a law enforcement agency it is the duty of the police to check any illegal activities which are seen as anti-social. We need to stop people that carry 10-12 girls in van in the middle of the night.”

Mohna Ansari, commissioner, Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission describes the problem as “alarming” and says to help women affected by internal conflict Nepal has set up a National Action Plan to implement UN Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820, and further formed good institutions and polices like the Prime Minister’s National Plan for Action against Gender Based Violence, 2010.

“The concern is that these mechanisms haven’t been able to respond adequately to the problems of women and girls in a systematic manner. There is no political will and the ongoing political instability means all the gains made in the past are lost – gender and human rights issues are never accorded priority. These issues are a challenge for the whole Nepalese society”, she says.

Four months ago, Seema Tamang met a health outreach worker, who took her to the NGO Raksha Nepal. She is now taking tailoring courses funded by UNODC. “If I had even basic education my life would have been better. If there was no war, probably I would be studying in a university. I hope that one day I can start my own business or a tailoring shop. I want to get out of my present occupation and want to provide a good life to my child,” says Seema.