Life Histories and Survival Strategies Amongst Sexually Trafficked Girls in Nepal Padam Simkhada Department of Public Health, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Many girls involved in sex work in Asia do so because they are compelled by economic cir- cumstances and social inequality. Some enter sex work voluntarily, others do so by force or deception, sometimes involving migration across international borders. Nepalese girls involved in sex work via trafficking are the focus of this article, which aims at increasing our under- standing of the context of sex trafficking, the methods and means of trafficking, living condi- tions in brothels and survival strategies among trafficked girls. Girls trafficked from Nepal to India are typically unmarried, illiterate and very young. Key routes to sex trafficking include employment-induced migration to urban areas, deception (through false marriage or visits) and abduction. Past initiatives towards their needs have adopted a welfare approach; such initiatives alone are inadequate as they ignore the importance of empowerment of women in the migration process and skill development in community re-integration. Anti-trafficking interventions need to be considered at (i) community level before movement begins; (ii) urban centres which are both source and transitory centres for trafficking; (iii) trafficking level when girls are highly mobile and in brothels; and (iv) return from trafficking as girls to move back into the community. Ó 2008 The Author(s). Journal compilation Ó 2008 National Children’s Bureau. Introduction The United Nations Protocol on Trafficking in Persons (UN 2000) recognises human traffick- ing as a modern form of slavery and forced labour that relies on coercion, fraud or abduc- tion. Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, is globally prevalent and a major international health and human rights concern. Globally, it is estimated that between 700 000 (US Department of State, 2001) and four million (UNFPA 2000) people are trafficked each year, the large differential in estimated numbers reflecting the difficulty in obtaining accurate data. Asia is seen as the most vulnerable region for human trafficking because of its huge population, growing urbanisation, lack of sustainable livelihoods and poverty (Asha-Nepal, 2006; Huda, 2006; Kamala Kampado and others 2005). India is a major destination country for sex-trafficked girls (Human Rights Watch 1995; US Department of State 2005) with large numbers of Nepalese, Bangladeshi and rural Indian females trafficked to Indian cities, particularly Mumbai (Bombay) (Nair, 2004). There is no accurate figure of the numbers trafficked; the International Labour Organization (ILO) esti- mates that 12 000 women and children are trafficked every year from Nepal (ILO ⁄ IPEC, 2002), whilst some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) give estimates as high as 30 000. Over 200 000 Nepali girls are working in the sex industry in India (O’Dea, 1993). CHILDREN & SOCIETY VOLUME 22, (2008) pp. 235–248 DOI:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00154.x Ó 2008 The Author(s) Journal compilation Ó 2008 National Children’s Bureau.