Trafficking of adolescent girls in Kathmandu Valley Nepal : the role of legal aid in child protection

Abstract

Child Trafficking is both a serious criminal offense and grave Human Rights violation. Despite its criminalization in Nepal for more than half a century (since 1963), child trafficking remains to be a thriving and lucrative organized crime in Nepal particularly in Kathmandu Valley which is the locus of the Adult Entertainment Sector in the country. The thesis examines and analyzes the role of Legal Aid, specifically as a response to child trafficking. It also examines how Legal Aid service providers ensure the participation and empowerment of trafficked children. Data on human trafficking was secured from the Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau and police officer, former Deputy Attorney Generals, incumbent Assistant District Attorneys, lawyers and officers from NGOs engaged in the rescue, rehabilitation, and prosecution of child trafficking cases were interviewed for this research. Child trafficking is often framed as a law enforcement and criminal justice problem, it failed to take into account the need for empowerment and participation of the child survivors in the criminal justice system. It is submitted that Legal Aid plays a vital role in child protection, specifically as a response to child trafficking. Legal Aid ensures that the child has access to justice and builds the child's capacity to participate in the criminal justice system and her own rehabilitation, thereby reducing the risk of revictimization. The thesis will contribute to the improvement of delivery of Legal Aid to trafficked children. IMPLICATION OF THE THESIS. The study contributes to the following: 1.Addressing the knowledge gap relating to the assessment of theeffectiveness of the services available to trafficked victims, specifically on the provision of legal aid. 2.The study anticipatescontributes to the advocacy for the amendment ofthe legal framework on human trafficking in general, and child trafficking in particular in Nepal. 3.The study contributes to improving the delivery of legal aid to traffickedchildren in particular. The study aims to add to the current discourse on the need to shift counter-trafficking response from a purely criminal justice or law enforcement approach to human rights- based approach, specifically, children's rights.