Grace As Justice Vol. 1, Issue 6

GRACE AS JUSTICE In spir e | Edu cat e | Em pow er gr aceasju st ice.com Volu m e 1 Issu e 6 Sept em ber 2016

Lit t le

Fr eedom

Tin y Han ds

Pr in ces

Fir m

Nepal

EDITORIAL Only a few months ago, I took a trip back to the United States to visit my parents. The flight was perfect in many ways, although I hate flying and found it as arduous as usual. After hours of trying to find ways of passing the time, I finally entered the country to a warm and even smiling immigration (!) official. The security in the airports appeared remarkably tight as one person after the other verified this and checked that. It made me stop and wonder just how difficult it must be to traffic human beings into the United States.

In spite of aircraft personnel training, massive and random security measures, and frequent checks, thousands of people still pour in at the hands of traffickers every year.

As I perused the pages of the GAJ?s latest edition, I couldn?t help but notice the porous borders between India and Nepal.

These areas have thousands of people crossing, and corrupt officials as a security.

Were there no NGO?s also protecting the borders, I wonder if the trafficking statistics would continue to rise. This isn?t to say that all the officials are corrupt and that they don?t care about their own people or anyone else. However, finding out who is corrupt and who isn?t is always the hardest part of the job.

Thinking about each country that has trafficking and sexual slavery ? which is to say all countries ? I was struck with the realization that every country?s government must have something to gain from this exchange. After all, if an uneducated animal

knows where to go to rape a child, is the government so uninformed that it doesn?t know?

So where is the hope in all this? For me the hope is the ?little person? like you and me.

As a Christian, I believe Jesus is the answer to complete restoration. It isn?t the government, the laws or anything else. If people join together to stop this, even those who are corrupt will have to sit up and take notice. Those who are honest will come to the forefront of the fight, while those who are corrupt will be embarrassed into doing what is right, or will be afraid of being caught.

The ?little people? of this world have been made to think we cannot do anything and that we should sit back and let the government take charge. That has gotten us to this current place. Let?s ban together and fight back against corruption, violence and trafficking. If we all do what is in our hands, we can and we will end human trafficking and slavery.

Con t en t s Edit or ial

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Th e Psych ology of Slaver y, by M ala M alst ead

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Polit ical Per spect ives, by An t h on y How let t

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Lit t le Pr in ces, by Rach ael William s-M ejr i

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Wh at Happen s in Ban gladesh , Does Not St ay in Ban gladesh : Key Lesson s f or Ret ailer s, by Dian e M ao

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Nepal Or ph an's Hom e, by M ich ael Hess

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Nepal in Cr isis, by M at t h iew Fr iedm an

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An In t er view w it h Sh an n on Keit h

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Cu t t in g t h e Root of Tr af f ick in g, by Bh u van Devk ot a

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Agen cy Spot ligh t : New Ligh t In dia

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Tin y Han ds, by Jessica Ch en

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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SLAVERY M ala M alst ead ?'Of course, there are times when there is pleasure,' said Rani Bai. 'Who does not like to make love? A handsome young man, one who is gentle...'

She paused for a moment, looking out over the lake, smiling to herself. Then her face clouded over. 'But mostly it is horrible. The farmers here are not like the boys of Bombay.'

'And eight of them every day,' said her friend Kaveri. Sometimes ten. Unknown people.

What kind of life is that?'

'We have a song,' said Rani. '? Everyone sleeps with us, but no one marries us. Many embrace us, but no one protects.?'

'Every day my children ask, ?Who is my father?? They do not like having a mother who is in this business.

The daughters of Yellamma, by William Darymple

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Our work is rescuing girls, minors, out of sexual slavery in the brothels of India. Most girls (thankfully) take the freedom we offer and run with it, never turning back. But there are some who do not.

two-burner gas stove on the floor. The rich smell of chicken curry filled the air. Poona's husband was there. He was also her pimp.

Her little baby reached his arms for me and I gave him a cuddle. We shared a meal while they proudly showed me photos in their photo album. I was honored that she would cook for me, and share her space and her family. I also felt incredibly sad. We all sat on the single bed that filled the entire room. A few hours later Poona would be receiving customers on the same bed.

I have glimpsed the lives they have left and it?s truly difficult to grasp why they might return. A few years ago I met up with Mira, a girl we had rescued in 2000. She was just 15 years old at the time. Already her few years in the brothel had bequeathed her the HIV infection and more cigarette burns and scars from beatings than a body should ever bear.

Her brothel keepers were eunuchs,1 and these in particular seemed to have the worst traits of both sexes. Their ferocity was animal like in its strength and those who crossed them lived to regret it. Mira had tried to run away several times. Each time she was caught, burned, beaten and kept in an underground hole for days without food and with little water.

I reminded Poona that she had alternatives.

She could make jewelry with Ruhamah Designs. I might be able to find her a different job, if she didn't want that. When her son was old enough we would help her with education; we would help her with her health care. There were so many things she could do with her life. She shook her head. ?This is my life. This is what I was created for. This is my karma.?

Years after rescue and her three years in our aftercare home in Ooty, Mira met me in Mumbai. While she was firmly and fully committed to an alternative lifestyle, she was deeply concerned about her friends who had returned to prostitution. She wanted me to see if I could talk to her friend and convince her that there was another way. She took me to her friend's house, deep in the brothels of Kamathipura, one of the famous red-light districts in Mumbai. Ducking under a low doorway, Mira led me through a corridor so narrow my shoulders grazed each wall as I walked. Moving sideways to avoid the pimps, children and women who thronged the passageways, we threaded our way to Poona's room. In the hallway just outside the room we found Poona squatting in front of a

Mira led me back outside again. She had chosen a different course, and had lived each day of her freedom to the fullest for the last eleven years. Tough and savvy, she smiled when I asked her about her boyfriend. ?Oh its good to have a boyfriend. He wants to marry me, but I say no.? When I asked her why, she shrugged. ?I can never have anyone own me again. It is better to be alone.?

Freedom to her means total control over her life. She works as an entry-level secretary, and she rents her own one room apartment.

Fiercely independent, she also consciously values her health. She understands all the implications of her disease. ?I only eat vegetables, rice and lentils, no oil, nothing fried.?

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her disease. ?I only eat vegetables, rice and lentils, no oil, nothing fried.?

travelled their road of freedom in the hot and dusty reality of a seemly endless wilderness, they must have lost sight of the Promised Land. If you don't believe there is something better ahead, it?s easy to look back.

I struggled to process my time with Poona.

It?s so hard for me to understand that a girl who had already experienced freedom could choose to go back to prostitution, willingly. Or was it willingly? Her husband clearly was a threatening coercive force and made a lot of money off her every night. But still, she had friends; she could walk away; others would protect her; she had a choice. Why didn't she make the right choice?

Is it possible that freedom can be harder and more difficult than slavery? The slave is a recipient. The slave is a victim. The slave is passive. She has no choice. Freedom demands choice, active participation and the hard work of self- motivation. Freedom requires the will to change. The choices to do right and continue free and uncompromised, unfettered by the people that would bind you, and the evil that would engulf you.

Those choices are often lonely, barren, tasteless and arduous.

Clearly the brothel life is ?horrible,? as the Devadasi2 in Darymple's story says so aptly.

It?s a life of disrespect, abuse, disease and it is a wretched legacy to leave to their children.

So what are the ties that bind? The chains are spiritual, psychological, cultural, economic, religious and have roots so deep I cannot untangle them. I only know I have sat in the brothels with girls who had tasted freedom and then turned their backs and walked again into bondage.

Learning a new trade; living a disciplined life following a clear schedule; obeying supervisors and living kindly with co-workers; turning away from empty promises and the lure of gifts; living without a man; learning to forgive; trusting new people; breaking with

the old and fully embracing the new; that is what it means to walk out of slavery. It takes tremendous courage to change. It takes believing you were made for something else.

I am reminded of a people group who were saved from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago. Although their lives were unbearable in Egypt, once they were free, they still longed for the garlic and onions they tasted in the land of slavery. When they

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people; breaking with the old and fully embracing the new; that is what it means to walk out of slavery. It takes tremendous courage to change. It takes believing you were made for something else.

Freedom Firm seeks to eliminate child prostitution in India by providing rescue, restoration, and justice for victims of sex trafficking. We accomplish this by identifying victims and perpetrators of sex trafficking, mobilizing law enforcement agencies to rescue victims and arrest perpetrators, assisting the legal system during prosecution, and enabling rescued girls to engage in effective rehabilitation. Freedom Firm social workers seek to ensure that once rescued, girls remain safe and free from the risk of re-trafficking. They do this by providing counseling; home investigations to ensure safe reintegration; follow up visits; education and healthcare support; skill training and employment opportunities with micro-enterprise Ruhamah Designs; and an annual summer camp. Freedom Firm lawyers actively pursue the conviction of those responsible for oppressing minor girls and assist public prosecutors at each stage of the criminal trial. Rescued girls are empowered to testify against their abusers and help bring them to justice. Every trial and conviction creates a deterrent and raises the cost of sex trafficking in India.

Mala Malstead, and her husband Greg, together with two of their four children live in Ooty, India. In 2006, Mala and Greg founded Freedom Firm, an organization that rescues minors in prostitution, prosecutes the perpetrators and provides rehabilitation to the surviors. Over the last 10 years Mala has created and directed Roja, an aftercare residential program for four years, Ruhamah Designs, a business that employs survivors of trafficking, Leg Up, a theraputic riding program, and Freedom Camps, wilderness challenge experiences for survivors. She currently write a blog and various articles for Freedom Firm. Her greatest desire in life is to discover what it takes for survivors of trafficking to lead healthy lives.

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POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES The World?s Refugee Crisis Anthony Howlett

With more than one million refugees at the eastern gates to the west, political leaders throughout Europe and North America must decide how to balance meeting the needs of these displaced persons in light of limited resources following the worst financial recession since the great depression and a rash of terrorism causing reluctance to trust Muslim immigrants.

Officer for Amnesty International Mexico, refugee status is a target for trafficking. ?The overwhelming majority of trafficking victims are migrants in search of an economically better, but also safer future,? said Lara, citing ?The Migration-Trafficking Nexus,? a booklet by Anti-Slavery International.

This view that refugees are most likely to get trafficked is one that is also supported by the United Nations. ?It is also important to note that refugees and internally displaced persons fleeing from persecution could be easy targets for traffickers. This is because the displacement and related vulnerability

In the United States the presidential election in November looms on the horizon, and after the Paris bombings, each candidate's position on refugees, particularly refugees from Muslim countries has become a hot button issue. According to Lara Talsma, Advocacy

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put refugees and internally displaced persons at a greater risk of exploitation and abuse. To access countries of asylum in an environment of tightening visa regimes and border controls, some refugees may resort to desperate and even illegal measures in their search for a safe country and of livelihoods and can fall prey to trafficking,? said Kaori Saito, Policy Officer, Division of Human Resource Management United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Geneva.

secure housing, financial resources, close relatives and family connections. Refugees and displaced persons have none of these things, making them prime targets for the highly profitable slavery industry.

Anecdotally, someone from an impoverished or war torn country, such as Syria, flees their country to try and find someplace safe with opportunity to make a living. Smugglers then take advantage by offering to transport them for steep fees.

Along the way, smugglers can sell the more vulnerable people, such as young women and children to sex traffickers. For the rest that do arrive at their destination, they often find the situation to be nearly as dire as the one they left. Without housing, food, law enforcement, and no means of gaining any kind of legal status in another country, they live homeless, vulnerable to being robbed and assaulted. Organized crime groups, who gravitate to areas where opportunity is high and risk is low, descend on these areas and further exploit the desperation of refugees, supposedly offering high paying jobs or fast track to legal citizenship only to sell them into the slave trade.

For Americans, understanding the plight of refugees, can weigh heavily on which political candidate for president, they choose.

How profitable trafficking in persons is remains hard to estimate as the total scope of the business is still unknown. The estimates however show the industry to be quite lucrative. The United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime estimates the industry to take in roughly 32 billion dollars per year.

Following the recent bombings in Paris, late last year, Hillary Clinton, made a series of statements supporting both the increase in scrutiny of refugees and an increase in the number of refugees she thinks the country should take in.

Mr. Trump, in contrast to Clinton, indicates he wouldn?t take the risk of letting Syrians into the country but that he favored building safe zones to house refugees.

Neither Candidate has given details on how they would put their ideas into action and there is always of course the issue of credibility with both of the assumptive nominees.

Critical to either strategy will be dealing with the many and various legal barriers, finding room in a hotly contested budget to fund either safe zones or refugees and also the many logistical barriers to dealing with the sheer volume of refugees already displaced, which UNHCR has at roughly 19.5 million.

There are, of course many other variables in the process, which can lead to being trafficked. They key concept is vulnerability.

The persons most trafficked are those that don?t have the security of law enforcement,

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BOOK REVIEW

"When there is opportunity, you must be ready to break a diamond."

by Rach ael William s-M ejr i

Nepali Proverb Many books are inspiring, and yet few truly inspire me as a person. Such is the case of Little Princes by Conor Grennan. Conor ?s story starts off with an intriguing prologue that situates the reader with him in a dangerous state of being. Yet it is only a glimpse as he quickly moves into the first chapter and depicts himself as a seemingly selfish and perhaps superficial young man. After working in Europe for several years, restlessness pushed him to abandon his job in search of something more exciting. This resulted in a trip around the world with a stint in a Nepali orphanage that would make him look very good to the ladies. What ensued would change his world forever.

The three months he would spend in war-torn Nepal is sure to captivate the reader. He describes the country, people and customs in an unassuming and detailed way ? often making his audience laugh out loud.

Although he spends time hiking and viewing the country both before and during his volunteering, he focuses primarily on his experience with the children. His awkward mannerisms at first cause some difficulty, and he truly learns the meaning of ?stamina,?

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but his perseverance leaves him with lingering feelings that put him on a course very different than he expected.

Conor does indeed go on his trip around the world after his work in the orphanage. Yet he limits these remarkable experiences to just a few pages. The reader understands he has left his heart in Nepal. Nearly one year after he left this tiny country, he returns to the same orphanage to the delight of its young occupants. During his next three months, he discovers children outside the orphanage with whom he develops a close relationship, and to whom he promises emancipation.

When he arrives back in the States a second time, preparing to get a ?real? job and situate himself into North American life, that promise falls through. He feels he has only one recourse; one that will reshape the rest of his life.

Throughout his time in Nepal, Conor takes his readers throughout the country and into the hearts of its inhabitants. The reader falls in love with the children and clearly sees the challenges that face the Nepali people. A better description of this fascinating country

is difficult to come by as Conor moves through busy Kathmandu and out into the treacherous mountains which have made this country famous. Conor is full of life and is perhaps one of the most transparent writers I have read. He writes the good and the bad and doesn?t mind delving into who he was and now is. He has an excellent sense of humor that will keep you chuckling throughout the entire text, making even the blandest experience humorous. From the lighthearted beginning to the intense trekking, and a perhaps surprising end, Little Princes will be sure to captivate both your mind and heart.

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Wh at Happen s in Ban gladesh Does Not St ay In Ban gladesh : Key Lesson s f or Ret ailer s The tragic collapse of the garment factory building in Bangladesh has left the world in shock. What was most disturbing was that the day before the collapse, cracks were detected in the foundation, but the manager ordered employees to come to work the next day.

After three weeks of digging bodies out of the rubble, the death toll stands at 1,127. If this incident does not awaken the consciences of consumers about global labor standards, what will?

The pressure on producers to make greater profits tends to drive production to places with lower wages and more hazardous working conditions. And governments in need of export revenue tend to look the other way when it comes to enforcing regulation. There were two major factory fires in Bangladesh this past November. In one of them 117 people died. That factory had been warned twice on fire safety regulations. According to Mehedi Ansary, a professor of civil engineering with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, about 60% of the factory buildings in Bangladesh are at risk

of collapse. The wage rates for garment factory workers in Bangladesh are the lowest in the world? between 10 and 30 cents an hour. Unfortunately, the global retailers have always taken a reactionary rather than a proactive approach to factory fires and collapses. In the fallout of the tragedy, retailers are scrambling in fear, to shift their production to other low-cost countries, like India and Nicaragua. In Call and Response, a 2008 documentary about human trafficking, the actress Ashley Judd said, ?I don?t want to wear someone else?s sorrow.? For obvious good reasons, more and more consumers are starting to think about where their products are made and under what working conditions. Congressman George Miller of California has said that shoppers are: ?telling us in every way that they don?t believe the low prices of the garments they buy should be subsidized by young women dying on the job.? Conscious, ethical consumerism is trending upwards. In the wake of the tragedy, retailers have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives

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of those who are furthest removed from the glitz and glamour of the stores that carry the very products they make. As the co-founder of a non-profit organization (www.buyherbagnotherbody.com) that creates ethical sourcing opportunities, I have spent time in developing countries where women and children are prone to exploitation, whether it's being sold for sex or being forced to work without pay, the reality is they are stripped away of their dignity, self worth and full potential. However, with the right investment - targeted vocational training, life skill development and mentorship, they thrive.

Take Renu for example, in only three months after basic training, she began sending her daughters to school because she saw the impact training had on her livelihood. This is a region in India where girls are not permitted to go to school and forced to marry as young as age 12 years. Other women followed her lead and began asking for support in sending their girls to school. I do not need to reiterate the importance of education and this community will be in a better place 10 years from now because their girls are educated.

Comparatively, it takes little input for corporations to make an immense social impact in the lives women and children living in the poorest and remotest part of the world.

Here are three practical steps retailers can take to marry corporate social responsibility with business strategy; after all, they should be symbiotic.

1. Eliminate the mentality that ?what happens overseas stays overseas.? It is not realistic. In today?s society information is transmitted around the world at the speed of light.

Consumers will find out and you will lose them, as well as your brand equity.

2. Source ethically from more fair trade certified organizations and companies. Some retailers are even talking about developing ethical manufacturing facilities. Depending on the complexity of your product, you might not be able to find a supplier immediately but with the right partnership, you will be able to meet all of your sourcing needs and not be ashamed when consumers ask about the conditions in which your products are made. Even Walmart is taking active measures with their Empowering Women Together campaign and commitment to source $20 billion from minority women owned businesses and vulnerable groups of women.

Do what' s in your hand. . .

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3. Partnerships are critical and it is understood that companies have to appease the shareholders. That is why you should look to partner with non-profit organizations to implement the programs and governmental agencies to foster constructive policies.

The bottom line is that from the top down, human beings have to be appreciated and not depreciated. Just read the headlines today and it makes you frightened where we are heading - a society where human beings are literally caged in the four walls of a factory. Retailers have the opportunity to break the vicious cycle of abuse and change a community. One company that understands

this concept is Eileen Fisher and it is a business model worth exploring. Her unique business model underscores the company?s commitment to women and importance of feeling good about how workers in their factories are treated - ethically and humanely.

More companies should follow Eileen?s lead.

This model works and it all started with her humble beginnings of launching the company with $350 in her pocket over 50 years ago.

Now her company reaches over $300 million in revenue, annually. Treating employees humanely should not be a unique business model but a model woven into the fabric of all companies, both large and small.

Diana Mao is the President and Co-Founder of Nomi Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to economically and socially empowering survivors of human trafficking. A research trip to Cambodia fueled Diana's passion for fighting human trafficking, when she witnessed the horrors of sex trafficking. With Nomi Network, Diana hopes to change the lives of women in India and Cambodia who are at risk for or survivors of Human Trafficking. Nomi's training program is vital to helping women become financially independent, by providing them with the necessary skills to support themselves and their families. So far, Nomi has helped hundreds of women and their families.

Diana received a bachelor ?s degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master ?s degree in Public Administration with a specialization in International Management from New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She is experienced in governmental consulting, domestic and international economic development, social entrepreneurship, micro-finance, and launching awareness raising campaigns. Diana is a recent graduate of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program, a program that enabled her to meet with former US Presidents and other leaders to learn firsthand how to create large scale, systematic change. She is also an accomplished and experienced public speaker, having spoken at the United Nations, Rotary Peace Institute, Net Impact, and other conferences.

In addition, Diana is a Co-Chair for the Nexus Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery Working Group, on the Advisory Board of the Equality Fund, and a former Program Mentor for The Bush Center Women's Initiative Fellowship. She is a blogger for the Huffington Post, Reuters, and occasionally the United States Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. Diana has visited over 30 countries and hopes to achieve her goal of visiting every country in her lifetime.

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NEPAL ORPHAN'S HOM E

by M ich ael Hess

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M ar ch 24t h 2008 What is the look of a little girl who has been sold into indentured servitude? I thought mostly about this during the long bus journey to Lamahi in Western Nepal. What would I see in their eyes; would there be life in them, trust, hope, bitterness, fear, resentment?

Selling humans, little girls in this district, boys in another, what is this all about?

When I arrived, the girls were waiting under the shade of lovely white birch trees. They put ?Tika? on my forehead, and marigold leis around my neck, some giggling, some painfully shy. I had asked that no one in Lamahi know me as anything but a volunteer.

However word leaked out that I was ?Papa? the luckiest person in the world to be able to experience firsthand the love of so many wonderful children, be responsible for their emancipation, and to represent Nepal Orphans Home. I spent 4 bliss filled days getting to know these soft spoken, sweet children who are full of grace and resilience.

Thru a local Taru community organization made up of former Kamalari girls and a few compassionate social minded local Taru men, we agreed to rescue these first 25 girls. In late 2007 two buildings that were in ruins were chosen for us to rehab. They are on the expansive grounds of the very poor local government school 9 km outside of Lamahi, in Dang district. The clearing backs up to jungle. It is a lovely and peaceful setting under a mix of white birch and oak trees, the ground a soft carpet of wild pale green turf.

These girls, sold by their families at the age of seven, in a practice that dates back generations, were rescued and brought from many places all over Nepal just days before I arrived. They were still learning about one

another and sharing their thoughts as to what now the future might hold. I noticed a lot of bonding taking place, a lot of sharing of stories drawing these loving children close together.

Through death or abandonment most of the girls have no parents anymore, and no relatives that could care for them. While other Kamalari girls have parents, if rescued the parents refuse to accept them back. Girls are worth very little to the people in this ethnic group, they represent a financial burden that never gets paid back. So they sell them, and it is over.

We will be educating and training these girls to become independent and strong. They in turn will fight for the cessation of this unquestionably horrific practice.

M ay 20t h 2016 In the past 9 years Nepal Orphans Home has been responsible for the post-rescue care of over 200 young girls known as Kamlari, indentured servants who are deprived of all their human rights and forced to work in a nightmarish, companionless environment, treated inhumanely and subject to the whims of their owners. We began our work by offering to create homes for rescued girls so that they could have a safe and loving environment to grow up in and have their childhood restored. The two buildings we rehabbed in late 2007, originally meant for 50 girls, quickly grew to 100. At this time Nepal Orphans Home was operating a free school and orphanage in Dhapasi Nepal, 12 hours

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M ay 20t h 2016 east. The only thing we could do to relieve the overcrowding was to bring those girls who wished to come, to Dhapasi and open new homes for them.

?masters,? nor angst about life. They have a Buddhist ability to let go and feel the peace, love and joy of growing up in a safe and well-nourished environment.

As of this writing NOH has 70 ex-Kamlari still in our homes, others have grown up, educated and healthy, maintaining the same disposition I found in them upon release from their slavery. These girls never looked back, and rarely talked about their experience. They preferred instead to focus on their lives now and to absorb an education and vocational training as deeply as possible in distancing themselves from their earlier lives. They have never exhibited any anger towards their

Our children do not talk so much about life; they just live it. They do not talk about giving a gift to a friend; they just do it. They don?t think about carrying the school bag of another who isn?t feeling well; they simply take it. There is no pretense, no calculation; they simply choose to engage everything straight from the heart. I have learned so much about the meaning of life and how to better live it from our children. I have learned about being patient and appreciating the moment; not to

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hold anger at those who have brought harm to us; and how to see what has happened in a way that anger is not a bi-product at all. I have learned how to laugh at myself, and how to love and feel loved. These children are little prophets one and all who make it easy to believe that one?s own life can bring remarkable change in a world that is abundantly lopsided in its equality.

As part of our ongoing initiative to care for children in need and serve our community, NOH began two years ago to offer a free education to the women of Dhapasi. We have over 200 women learning English, math, computer and Nepali daily in technical and vocational skills at our ?Chelsea Education and Community Center.? With a teaching staff of fourteen, four are our own girls and boys who

are in college. We have choices in life and each and every one of us has so much power.

If you choose to live a positive optimistic life, to help others, to love your family and friends, to think ?how can I make a difference in someone?s life everyday,? then you will make that difference. Not only will you make it in their lives, but also in the quality of your own.

It does not take a special or rich person; it just takes a caring person.

These young girls from 7 years old to maybe 14 when rescued in late 2007 have become the finest young women anyone could imagine. They are educated, empathetic and ready to change societies tolerance towards the exploitation of child workers, child marriages, and trafficking girls. And they will.

M i ch a el Joh n H ess Fou n d er a n d D i rect or N epa l O rph a n s H om e 19

NEPAL IN CRISIS

by M at t h iew Fr eidm an My first exposure to human trafficking was in Nepal in the early 1990s. At this time in my life, I was a young public health officer working for the USAID. Part of my job involved creating a range of programs that would help to improve the overall health status of the Nepalese people on a national scale.

While working on various programs, we discovered something very unusual. We began to come across a significant number of teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 17 who were found to be HIV/AIDS positive. In a traditional Hindu society like theirs, we couldn?t understand how these girls were transmitted this terrible disease. To understand the problem, we visited a number of shelters where these girls lived. What we learned shocked us. The girls repeatedly told the same story, over and over again, how someone had deceived each of them into leaving their community, only to face a life of sexual slavery in neighboring India. One of the typical stories went like this: a trafficker, often a young, handsome man around 25 years of age, would enter a village and begin flashing money around to infer that he was rich. While hanging out at tea stalls, he would talk about how he wanted to find a rural wife. He would state that he didn?t want an urban wife; they were ?too much trouble.? After locating a young girl he found to be attractive, he would befriend her and then go to the extent of actually asking for her hand in marriage.

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Seeing this as an opportunity to benefit their daughter and the entire family, the parents often agreed without hesitation. The wedding would usually take place immediately, with the entire village in attendance. After the marriage, the trafficker would say to the family that he was taking their daughter to the capital Kathmandu to live. He would go on to state that he would return in three or four months for another visit. But instead, he would take her to Mumbai, India. As an uneducated teenager who had never traveled more than 20 kilometers from home, she wouldn?t even realize that they had left Nepal.

Upon arriving at this major city, the man would immediately take his bride to the red light district. Once there, he would put her into a small room and say that he would return shortly. By this point, the wife usually began to wonder what was happening.

Seeing all of these young girls dressed in revealing clothes didn?t make any sense to her. But accepting her husband?s word, she would do as she was told.

The man would then go off to meet the madam to collect $600 US from the sale of his wife to the brothel. Depending on the age and the attractiveness of the girl, this number could be higher or lower. This money stood as profit on top of the gold he acquired from the wedding ceremony. He would also hand over a few wedding photos. Upon the completion of this transaction, he would return to Nepal to carry out this same scam again and again. Some traffickers sold over 60 young ladies a year. The madam would then enter the room and tell the girl that her husband had just sold her to the brothel and that she would now have to have sex with around ten men a day, every day.

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THE M EKONG CLUB

The Mekong Club is a coalit ion of privat e businesses which aims t o guide and support t he privat e sect or in t heir effort s t o achieve slavery-free supply chains.

The girl?s initial reaction would invariably be utter disbelief: ?My husband wouldn?t do this to me. He loves me. This is a mistake.? The madam?s stern response would quickly bring this attitude into check. After the young lady finally comprehended her fate, she would declare that she?d rather kill herself before doing those shameful things. In response to this tactic, the madam would pull out the wedding photos and start pointing at the girl?s family members: ?Is this your mother, your father, your brother? If you hurt yourself, we will hurt them. Do you understand me?? At this point, the girl began to truly understand that she had been trapped in a living hell with no hope of escape.

Once the girl had been broken, she would be forced to have sex with up to ten men a day, every day. To get through the days, many girls would turn to drugs or alcohol to dull the edge of their misery. Since they couldn?t make customers use condoms, most would end up with a vast array of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

To transform her into a prostitute, five or six professional rapists would be brought in to ?break? her. During this process, they?d beat her, swear at her, rape her and do everything they could to humiliate and shame her. The more she resisted, the more they pushed back. Within a 48-hour period, she might be raped up to 30 times. The objective of this process was to completely destroy her will so that she would lay back and accept whomever they brought to her. Nearly all the girls I interviewed suffered a variation of this horrific ?training? process.

While the scenario I describe here happened many years ago, the trade of women and girls still continues in Nepal at an alarming rate.

With the recent earthquake, which disrupted many lives and displaced many people, these numbers will certainly go up as traffickers comb the countryside looking for potential victims. For this to end, much more is needed to get people at all levels of society to say ?enough? and then back it up with some action.

Matt Friedman is an international human trafficking expert with more than 25 years of experience as an activist, program designer, evaluator, and manager. Based in Hong Kong, he is the Founder and CEO of the Mekong Club, a coalition of private businesses which aims to guide and support the private sector in their efforts to achieve slavery-free supply chains.

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I remember one girl telling me how hard it was to cope with this daily hell: ?Three o?clock in the morning was the hardest time for me. I would have been with at least eight or nine men by this time. I was expected to see one or two more. I was so tired. My body smelled of sweat and semen. All I wanted was to climb into bed and die.?

Bu si n ess Pr in ciples 23

SUDARA

an in t er view GA J: Wh at Su dar a?

is

t he

in spir at ion

beh in d

Sh an n on : Freedom! We believe that all human beings are created equally and have equal value, and potential... the only thing often lacking for too many is opportunity.

Everything we do at Sudara is geared around restoring dignity and opportunities toward sustainable job creation for women who have been victims or are at highest risk of sex trafficking.

GA J: Wh at w er e t h e f ir st st eps you t ook t o m ak e it a r ealit y? Sh an n on : Daring to turn toward (and not away from) the very hard issue of sex trafficking. Resolving to take action and not just "admire" the problem is what makes all the difference in the world. I was inspired to help women find dignified employment through sewing beautiful pajamas and loungewear [PUNJAMMIESÂŽ] ...

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so I bought some saris on that first trip to India and started working with some girlfriends to make prototypes and did some grassroots research.

GA J: Wh at w er e som e of t h e ch allen ges you exper ien ced?

Sh an n on : Helping consumers understand that Sudara is not a "give back" model. So many are conditioned to believe that social business is all about charity and "giving one for one" or a percentage of sales... but that is not the Sudara model. Our impact metrics are so much deeper and sustainable than charity.

We are in the business of creating jobs, living wage jobs, that will allow women who at one point had to sell bodies to feed their children, the opportunity to live in freedom and make an income so that she no longer needs charity. That is dignity. A job is a game changer for the poor people in our societies

who want to work, but just need tangible opportunities. Connecting the dots for people continues to be a challenge, but once the light bulb goes on, it is amazing how people embrace what Sudara is trying to do and join the movement.

GA J: Wh at w as t h e im m ediat e im pact you saw ?

Sh an n on : People want to help end sex trafficking, but just don't know to get involved. We immediately saw that Sudara's products and its cause resonates with people. As a result of growing sales, we also saw that our model was working in that we were able to employ more women. So the impact was both on the consumer satisfaction side as well as job creation, which is the ethos and mission of Sudara. We geek out and get so excited about impact... it's our heart song at Sudara.

GA J: Has t h e lon g-t er m im pact been an y dif f er en t ?

Sh an n on : We continue to see deep impact metrics as more and more people hear about Sudara and join our tribe. We are believing and planning for even deeper impact as Sudara and other like-minded social enterprises rise to the forefront. We are beginning to see a groundswell of good that?s producing social change. Together we can do good in the world through good business.

GA J: Wh at w as t h e decision t o ch an ge pr of it t o a f or Sh an n on : Deeper scalable operations. awesome and have businesses are

logic beh in d t h e f r om a n on -f or pr of it bu sin ess? impact through Non-profits are their place, but

25

poised to scale. There are many different internal competencies and instincts in a business vs. a non-profit.

I also love the idea of regaining the soul of business in our society. I think people are sick of "corporate" business that often lacks a soul, ruling the day.

Sudara and other social enterprises are a breath of fresh air for many people who are aspirational and/or conscious consumers.

GA J: Wh at does Su dar a of f er t oday f or it s em ployees? Sh an n on : Sudara employees are those that work in the US, except for our India director, so what we offer is a super awesome place to work and a 5 star team to be a part of. Our team thrives knowing we are working together for a common good and I've been told there is a deep-rooted satisfaction because of our mission. If you are referring to the women we employ in India, our model is that we partner with local Indian organizations who are working with this specific population of women [survivors of sex slavery and those at highest risk of being trafficked]. So the women who sew Sudara's products coupled with the additional job training and placement that occurs as a result of profits generated in India, are not employees of Sudara but employees of the partners we work with in India. The more products and demand that Sudara creates, the more women who can be hired and given sustainable jobs, training and job placement.

The women involved with Sudara's partnering organizations become part of a loving community, are able to enroll their children in school, have access to medical care, saving accounts, education and so much more! We

vet our partners diligently to ensure they have a holistic approach in the programs and services they offer. It's so special to meet women and children who once had no hopetrapped in the brothels, to now living lives of freedom where they have the opportunity to dream.

GA J: Wh at t ypes of pr odu ct s ar e bein g pr odu ced?

Sh an n on : PUNJAMMIESÂŽ loungewear pants for women, men & children; graphic tops, shorts, robes, totes, wallets, travel journals and launching soon is a small line of jewelry and a sweet line of felted elephants [India inspiration] from Nepal.

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GA J: Wh at is you r vision f or t h e f u t u r e f or Su dar a?

Sh an n on : To become a household name and lifestyle brand that is all about Freedom.

When people think of Sudara I want their first thought to be "that is one of my favorite brands because they provide FREEDOM jobs and have cool products".

GA J: Can people get in volved w it h Su dar a ot h er t h an pu r ch asin g pr odu ct s? If n ot , h ow w ou ld you cou n sel som eon e w h o w an t s t o do t h eir par t in en din g slaver y?

Sh an n on : Yes absolutely! We love partnering with like-minded people who have a heart to join the movement. We have internships for high school & college students [remote for those who don't live in Bend, OR our hometown] as well as fellowships for Sh an n on Keit h is t h e f ou n der an d CEO of Su dar a, a social en t er pr ise t h at em pow er s an d em ploys su r vivor s of h u m an t r af f ick in g in In dia. Back in 2005, Keit h t r aveled t o In dia w h er e sh e w it n essed f ir st h an d m oder n day slaver y f or t h e f ir st t im e.

Af t er visit in g t h e r ed ligh t dist r ict , sh e h ear d st or ies abou t h ow you n g w om en w er e sold as sex slaves t o h elp t h eir f am ilies an d h eld again st t h eir w ell an d/ or t r apped by econ om ic pover t y. Keit h w an t ed t o st op t h e viciou s cycle by cr eat in g a solu t ion . On h er t ou r of In dia, sh e n ot iced t h e beau t if u l f abr ics u sed t o m ak e sar is an d r ealized sh e cou ld u se t h is f abr ic t o cr eat e h er ow n pr odu ct t o be sold in t h e U.S. Sh an n on r et u r n ed h om e an d soon f ou n ded Su dar a (f or m ally k n ow n as t h e In t er n at ion al Pr in cess Pr oject ). Sh e h ir ed six w om en , an d h ad t h em t r ain ed as seam st r esses so t h ey cou ld u se t h ose t alen t s t o m ak e t h ese pajam as an d cr eat in g a br an d t h at en cou r aged an d in spir ed it s em ployees. It w as t h e f ir st t im e t h ese w om en pu lled t h em selves ou t of t h e sex t r af f ick in g cycle an d in t o a lif e t h at is f r ee an d f air . Su dar a n ow em ployees over 150 w om en in m u lt iple sew in g cen t er s in In dia w h er e t h ey r eceive f air w ages, w h ich pu lls t h em ou t of t h e sex t r af f ick in g cycle f or good.

27

professionals who are keen at lending their expertise in their perspective areas in a volunteer project capacity. Our goal is to connect people with their passion and give tangible ways for each person to put their values into ACTION. If people don't feel they are an expert with anything to offer. I would say that they most certainly do. If they have a network of people in their lives and a passion to share the cause, being a brand ambassador for Sudara is our best marketing tool.

Approaches like grassroots, or word-of-mouth about Sudara is the way we are going to spread the word and affect social change on a mass level. My mother always told me actions speak louder than words and this couldn't be truer than in the fight to end sex trafficking.

Everyone has a place at the Sudara table.

CUTTING THE ROOT OF TRAFFICKING

by Bhuvan Devkota

Nepal is blessed by the Lord Jesus with many natural resources. We are blessed with many beauties of creation granted by the Creator from Mt. Everest to the warm Himalayas. Yet Nepal is also losing its daughters and children who are plucked from remote villages and brought to many countries of the world to engage in all types of slavery. It is estimated that more than 15,000 girls are trafficked to India alone through an open border between India and Nepal. Many innocent girls and children are given false dreams and promises by traffickers for a better life. These criminals not only trick little girls and boys but also their parents. People live in extreme poverty in remote villages of Nepal. Many times people do not have other options or do not think about other options than selling their children. Traffickers take advantage of these people's hardships and foster greed.

When a well-dressed person from town comes to the remote villages of Nepal,

people think that person might be educated and bringing help to the poor and needy. This often causes parents to believe such people. When the trafficker proposes to bring their girl or child to town for better job, the parents become excited and start dreaming for enough food and clothing to help their whole family. Unfortunately, girls are treated as second class in most of the villages. Boys get better school, clothes, food and affection from their parents than girls. So, when someone pretends to express affection for the girls, villagers believe they are truly loved. This naivety leads to an ensnarement of the girl, and a subsequent hell-like life.

Many organizations are working in towns to make new laws or policies to stop trafficking. Yet girls continue to be trafficked and people turn a blind eye to the problem. Yes, making laws and policies as well as their implementation will help.

However, we believe that the trafficking will not be stopped completely, unless people's

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mind-set is changed. To stop the trafficking, we need to reach girls and children in remote villages before traffickers set a trap. We need to tell the parents that girls are, like their sons, equally created by God, and that selling a girl or boy is selling someone who is created in the Creator 's image.

We need to tell little girls that someone who wants to bring them out of their village is not the right person to follow.

To be effective in prevention, they need to know about it as soon as they start their school.

We also need to regard trafficking as not only a monetary issue, but also a spiritual one. If parents know they are created in God's image and God loves them, then they share the same value with their girls and boys. More over, if people are saved from their sins by the gospel of Jesus Christ, people will be transformed and they will defend their girls and Christ's daughters.

The best method to stop trafficking is to plant a church in the root villages of

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trafficking. We know Christ loves little children. When we plant a church in a community, Christ will be incarnated in that community and He lives His life through the community of local believers. When Christ is there, He will stop the trafficking. Another point is that the local church must rise and fight this spiritual battle. When the army of the Living Lord will arise, then the devil will not have any chance to hurt any children. The local church must plead to the Lord as well as speak to the people to make them aware .

Bhuvan Prasad Devkota is co-director of Asha Nepal and currently serving as General Secretary of New Light Nepal. He is the editor for Hamro Ashish, Echo of His Call and IFES (NBCBS) Nepal. Additionally, he is the literature manager for Nepal Every Home for Christ, and has edited and proofread the Simple Nepali Holy Bible, published by the Nepal Bible Society. He was a part of proof reading the Constitution of Nepal Christian Society, has written four books in Nepali, and has translated more than 500 additional books. He is an N.E.C. member of Scripture Union Nepal, and has spoken in more than 350 Christian seminars, programs and camps in Nepal, Malaysia and India.

Click here to learn more about New LIght Nepal.

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W H AT C A N YO U DO ?

TALK -

Talk to Talk to Talk to Talk to

your friends. your family. your place of worship. anyone who will listen. Don?t worry if people don?t want to hear.

PRAY -

No cares about this more than God does, so let's let him know we care too.

Find a friend to pray with you.

Start a prayer time with some friends that is dedicated to people who need help.

Ask your place of worship to say a special prayer for those in trafficking at each service.

Start a prayer cell group.

FAIR TRADE -

-

Start looking at where your products come from. There are a lot of companies that make chocolate and pay a fair wage. There are also some textile companies that are known for their atrocities. Do your research.

FAIR TRADE USA is a good place to see what products come with slavery, and which ones come without.

Write to companies using slavery and remind them that they should be responsible citizens.

Slave Free Chocolate is also a great place to start. (http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/)

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A G EN C Y SPO TLI G H T

N EW LIGHT IN DIA New Light is a registered public charitable trust operating from the terrace of a temple deep inside the red-light district of Kalighat, Kolkata.

It offers comprehensive community development services. The project provides the children of sex workers a safe haven, particularly in the evening hours when streets are the most dangerous and the mothers are working. Initiated by caring for 9 children in the year 2000, New Light programs today serve more than 250 children of various age groups. The services offered by New Light includes education, healthcare, nutritional support, recreational facility, HIV/AIDS care, income generation opportunities for the women and

residential care for many of the young children from the community. Legal aid and advocacy against gender-based violence are other thrust areas of New Light?s operation. Over the years, New Light has set up multiple facilities to cater to the needs of children and young adults at risk.

New Light Shelter for children from the Dalit community caters to the children of municipal crematorium and sanitation workers who have traditionally been treated as untouchables. Though these are not children of sex workers, these children live in equally precarious circumstances, exposed to violence and subjected to discrimination and social

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stigma. In New Light, the children receive support to continue formal education, remedial education, nutrition and healthcare.

The residential facility Soma Memorial Girls Home located in the southern fringe of the city protects adolescent girls at risk.

Thirty-seven girls with age ranging between 6 and 18 years reside and are cared for by dedicated staff recruited within the community. The home offers the children a variety of support, such as counselling, therapeutic activities, dance, music, yoga and boxing lessons to help them to grow and develop into healthy young women. Outstanding performance and accolades have become normal for girls who come from extremely challenged back ground. Upon graduating from Soma Memorial Girls Home young girls move to the adult home named New Light Sonar Tori. The residents, between 18 and 23 pursue higher education, professional or vocational training programs.

Jhinuk located in Kalighat and HTS Operation Starfish located in Sonagachhi, the two pre-primary care centres run by New Light. They meet the growing demand from mothers to strengthen care for the toddlers whose needs are largely neglected. The schools follow traditional as well as the Montessori system of teaching, and accommodate around 50 toddlers and older children up to the age of five. Early life cognitive stimulation in a nurturing atmosphere is the main goal of these two centers.

Khela Ghar, a residential home run by New Light is the latest addition to the bouquet of services provided. Set up at the end of 2014 the Boys Home is run in the same manner as Soma Memorial Girls Home, offering similar facilities and opportunities to male children of women engaged in the community.

Through these shelters, New Light strives to construct an environment of security, stability, care and affection to give each child a normal, healthy childhood in spite of the daily traumas they experience.

To learn more about New Light India, click here.

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TIN Y HAN DS

by Jessica Ch en Tiny Hands International was founded in 2004 to help change the lives of orphaned children in Nepal. In 2006, after recognizing the magnitude of the sex-trafficking industry there, THI?s daughter organization Tiny Hands Nepal began actively working to intercept women and girls from being trafficked across the Nepali/Indian border.

One of these women was Amrita. Amrita grew up in poverty and left school early to support her family and her younger brother ?s education. Nepal is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world and has a staggeringly high unemployment rate estimated to be more than 40 percent. The lack of economic opportunities at home has led to high levels of migration abroad. Like other Nepali trafficking victims, Amrita was

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Trafficking is rampant at Nepal?s open border with India, where citizens of Nepal and India are free to cross without having to show identifying documents. Tiny Hands, along with other NGOs, monitors Nepal?s border with India to stop trafficking as it is occurring. When our staff see ?red flags? indicating trafficking, they question the suspected victims and traffickers and work with police to protect the victims and detain the traffickers. Because we disrupt trafficking while it is in progress, we are able to intercept individuals before they reach the destination where they are exploited or abused and to gather active intelligence to prosecute the criminals involved.

When Amrita reached the Indian border, she was intercepted by Tiny Hands?border monitoring staff. Her case raised enough red flags that our staff was convinced that there was a high risk of trafficking. She was taken to one of our safe houses to recuperate, and after discussing her experience with us, she decided to bring a criminal case against her trafficker.

Little did Amrita know that Tiny Hands was already working with police to bring this major figure in the Nepali trafficking industry to justice. Investigators on Tiny Hands? Justice Operations team had been on his trail in and around Kathmandu and Syuchatar, a village outside the capital.

However, given the tenacity of the

35

traffickers and the state of the criminal justice system in Nepal, obtaining a conviction would require tremendous perseverance and courage.

With Amrita?s testimony as a linchpin in the case against her trafficker, Tiny Hands investigators doubled their efforts to detain him, and one day spotted his car. As they ran toward him, he started to drive away, but the investigators hopped on a motorbike and chased him. They sped ahead of the car and informed the police in Syuchatar that he was headed in their direction. The Syuchatar police were able to stop his car and asked for identification. The trafficker gave a fake name, but the police matched his picture with one that Tiny Hands gave them a few months prior.

Consequently he was finally arrested. Even after arrest, many traffickers in Nepal are able to pervert the justice system through threats and bribes, which that is exactly what Amrita?s trafficker attempted to do. People from his organization found the hotel where Amrita?s family was staying and tried to bribe them with a large sum of money in exchange for dropping the case. The trafficker ?s family tried to bribe Tiny Hands staff to frame someone else for the crime. As many as 20 people from his organization appeared in court to intimidate Tiny Hands? staff, and several followed them after court to further threaten them. The trafficker also paid off government lawyers to delay the case, and his lawyers harassed the witnesses against him outside the courtroom.

Am r it a

threats, he would double that sentence.

Amrita is one of the thousands of women in Nepal whom Tiny Hands has prevented from being trafficked and one of the several dozen cases where Tiny Hands has assisted in securing convictions. Each story is one of resilience, courage, and steadfast dedication to the pursuit of justice against overwhelming odds.

Though the trafficker ?s intimidation tactics were persistent, Amrita?s resolve did not break, and she took the stand to testify against her victimizer. On December 2, 2014, Amrita?s trafficker was convicted and sentenced to five Our goal is to develop our work to reach years in prison. The judge warned him that if more people and in more areas of the world. In the past few years, we have there were any more reports of intimidation or

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expanded our monitoring strategy to include locations away from the border, such as bus depots and other transportation hubs. We are finding that buses and other forms of mass transit are increasingly being used for trafficking, and our ?transit? monitoring strategy has been effective in preventing trafficking and intercepting victims at different points along the trafficking route. With the success of transit monitoring in Nepal, we believe that it can be replicated in other countries and have recently launched a monitoring pilot in South Africa. We are eager to develop and train partners and activists around the world to use transit monitoring to secure freedom for women and children and to seek justice against their traffickers.

For more information, please visit www.tinyhands.org or email info@tinyhands.org.

Jessica Chen is the Director of the Center for World Justice, THI's initiative to promote research and strategic partnerships as it works to expand and develop new programs.

Before joining the Tiny Hands team, Jessica worked as a commercial lawyer in Los Angeles. Her passion lies in the pursuit of social justice, and her public interest work has included anti-slavery research in India, habeas corpus litigation on behalf of individuals held in indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay, and civil rights and fair housing litigation in Washington, D.C. She holds degrees from Yale Law School and Harvard College.

Photos of the Nepal/India border and one of the bus stations were taken by the Sakina Mission

For more information, please visit www.tinyhands.org or email info@tinyhands.org

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GRACE AS JUSTICE

gr aceasju st ice.com