International Development - CRY FREEDOM: New Beginnings

Anne Gregora (Programme Adviser for Anti-Human Trafficking) shares how The Salvation Army is starting to tackle trafficking in Nepal.

We know that all around the world traffickers prey on those who are vulnerable and exploit them for profit. We know that The Salvation Army is here to stand up for those people who have been silenced and abused by traffickers. What we don’t always know is the best way to do this in each different country and context.

That’s why The Salvation Army has been working to research the exact problem of human trafficking in Nepal and to uncover the best way to tackle it head on. Earlier this year, I travelled to Kathmandu to work alongside the local Salvation Army officers to review this research and develop ideas to protect vulnerable young women from being tricked and trafficked.

Whilst there I met Greeta, one of many young women who is vulnerable to the threat of traffickers. Like many young people in Nepal, Greeta is desperate for a job. She is a single mother and lives in a small, cramped, one-bed house with her son, mother and two brothers. Greeta was planning to accept a job offer to work in India as a waitress. The agent had told her he would organise her travel documents and arrange everything. She told her local Salvation Army officers of her plans. They were suspicious of these arrangements, so they called the number Greeta had for the agent. The agent was surprised and angered to hear from them and refused to talk with them. Due to their knowledge of trafficking they managed to convince her not to go this time, but if it wasn’t for them Greeta could very well have been trafficked. However, she is still anxious for work in order to improve her family’s living conditions.

The Salvation Army is setting up a café and beauty parlour in Kathmandu to help Greeta and others like her to gain the skills and experience they need to get a decent job and be protected from the lure of traffickers. Greeta will be one of the first apprentice beauticians hired when the business opens in 2015.

It costs just £42 per month to train a beautician. GIVE NOW to help us support vulnerable women like Greeta from the dangers of trafficking.

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