Ichowk, Sindhupalchok transforms from trafficking hub

(Rupak Puri)

 Previously notorious as a village with most women trafficking cases, Ichowk of Sindhupalchok district is now transforming, with the villagers being much more aware of women trafficking and other illegal activities, and taking initiatives against them.

Various awareness activities have been launched on the initiatives of local governmental and non-governmental organisations and at the individual level. This has helped local people become aware and transform the village.

It was not so long ago that the village was notoriously known as a hub for women trafficking. Women and girls were trafficked to Indian cities- most of them would land in brothels under various pretexts. Local traffickers would reach out and lure the poor locals to their doorsteps, promising them money in return for sending their daughters with them.

They would promise that their daughters would get a good jobs elsewhere and send them money regularly. They would also hand them some money in advance. The village is predominantly settled by Lama and Gurung communities. Most of them were poor, and they were desperate to make ends meet. Some of them were desperate to have corrugated zinc roofing. Therefore, they could be easily influenced and lured into believing the traffickers, said a local, Pasang Lama.

Parents were completely unaware of the whereabouts of their daughters, while daughters had to spend a hell life in brothels in Indian cities. Some of them never returned while others made it to the village being infected with HIV. The village made headlines for being a hub for women trafficking, and many organisations took advantage in the name of controlling women trafficking in the village. The situation got to the point that the village lacked girls. This situation could not stop until Lama took the initiative all by himself. He launched an awareness campaign to stop women's trafficking.

Lama, then 15, wanted to marry the daughter of his maternal uncle (their marriage was fixed when she was in the womb as per the Lama ritual). However, he could not tie the nuptial knot after she eloped with another boy. After his father died later, the responsibility of raising his mother and two brothers fell on him. He could not get married for long without girls in the village, as most of the girls in the village were trafficked to Indian cities. "All girls of the village were trafficked to India. Grown youths hardly found their brides," he said.

Like Lama, many youths faced difficulties to get married without eligible girls. Later, he got married to a girl from his neighbourhood while he was working as a carpenter. But his awareness campaign continued. "I was always thinking about how to stop women trafficking from the village," he said. Around six months after consulting with his friends, he, together with 11 other youths, opened a club named 'Samaj Utthan Youth Club to stop women trafficking. In the beginning, the club had to face difficulties, as local people did not believe them accusing them of making the club a way of collecting money from donors and NGOs for their gains. They even blamed them for envying them for becoming wealthy by sending their daughters to foreign lands for job opportunities. "Far away from directly asking girls not to go to Indian cities under job pretexts, we even organised meetings at night to avoid the interference by local people," recalled Lama, now 26. Gradually, they convinced the villagers to get their campaign moving unhindered.

"In the initial days of the opening of the club, we faced rebuke from many. Now, they have understood." According to him, they have not taken a single rupee from any person to run the club. "Rather we are operating the club by borrowing money."

Influenced, women in the village have joined the campaign as they have been reaching out and making the villagers aware of women trafficking and other illegal activities.

"Now, the village has got a new identity. All villagers including women have become aware. Parents have become more responsible," he said. Now women from the village have instead gone to Gulf countries for job opportunities.

According to available data, until some years ago, 50 women from the village on average went to foreign countries for jobs annually. However, the number has decreased to around 23. The women pursuing job opportunities in foreign lands are primarily from Tamang and Bahun communities. The local women trafficking control and family planning association has launched various awareness programmes against women trafficking. Dirgharaj Upadhyay, the association chairperson, said the number of women heading to foreign countries for jobs has decreased. Around 250 trafficked women from various villages of Sindhupalchok district have been rehabilitated so far, he said.

The rehabilitated women have joined the campaign to create awareness against women trafficking. Maya Tamang of Talamarang and Gopini Mijar of Bhotechaur have been rehabilitated in the village. They have been creating awareness against women trafficking. “We have been in this move to make women aware so they do not meet with the situation we once faced,” said Tamang. Many girls in the village have been actively involved in women trafficking by forming various awareness groups, said Upadhyay.

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