Women and children are being trafficked across the border from Nepal into India in alarmingly growing numbers. The government of India has now raised their concern, as the purpose is trafficking for the sexual industry and forced labour. India shares a long and porous border region with Nepal and the unrestricted movement is capitalised on by the traffickers and trafficking network organizations by bringing innocent women and girls across the border. They do this by luring and deceiving the women and girls in the pretext of opportunity. Poverty and family pressure makes women and children desperate for alterative livelihood and survival options, making them extremely vulnerable when coupled with an absence of choices, misinformation, family pressure and unrealistic expectations. Lack of access to information creates such situations that result in their vulnerability towards trafficking for sex work and forced labour and HIV and AIDS.

A recent action research report, “Trafficking of Women and Children in India” (2006) undertaken by the Institute of Social Sciences, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and UNIFEM, shows that cross-border transit routes in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal are mainly used to traffic women and children from across the border.

Conservative estimates suggest that there are 100,000 to 160,000 Nepali girls living in Indian brothels and about 5,000 to 7,000 are being sold every year (Joshi 2002). Other estimates put the figure at 200,000 living in Indian brothels (ADB 2002). A study conducted by the UNDP (2002) shows that the average age of trafficked girls from Nepal to India has now dropped from 14–16 year olds during the 1980s to 10–14 year olds in 1994. A recent study by Save the Children Alliance (2005) reveals that the number of children migrating from Nepal to India appears to be increasing and this raises serious concerns about their security, future and development at the destination points.