{"id":7871,"date":"2017-06-10T19:19:24","date_gmt":"2017-06-10T17:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=7871"},"modified":"2017-06-10T19:19:24","modified_gmt":"2017-06-10T17:19:24","slug":"will-i-ever-get-justice-nepal-accused-of-failing-trafficking-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2017\/06\/will-i-ever-get-justice-nepal-accused-of-failing-trafficking-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Will I ever get justice?’: Nepal accused of failing trafficking survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n

By\u00a0Pete Pattisson<\/a><\/h4>\n

Rights groups claim no one has received compensation since law entitling survivors of human trafficking was introduced a decade ago<\/h4>\n

Rights groups in Nepal<\/a> say they do not know of a single survivor of human trafficking who has received compensation under a law introduced a decade ago.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An act that came into force in 2007 guarantees compensation for trafficking victims<\/a>, but only after the perpetrator has been convicted, a caveat that has left survivors facing years of traumatic court proceedings and threats from their traffickers.<\/p>\n

A new report in which 125 trafficking cases were reviewed found that, while courts awarded compensation in more than half the cases, no one has so far received it.<\/p>\n

Sabin Shrestha, executive director of the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD)<\/a>, which produced the study, said: \u201cThe biggest tragedy for us is that the conviction rate is good. The perpetrators are being punished \u2026 but not a single survivor has benefited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four other experts, with decades of experience in the field, also said they were unaware of any case where a survivor had received compensation.<\/p>\n

The government initially rebutted the claims. Radhika Aryal, a senior civil servant at the women, children and social welfare ministry, said: \u201cThe government agencies provide compensation to the survivor, according to the court\u2019s verdict. We have been doing so in many cases \u2026 without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aryal later admitted, however, that she knew of only two cases of trafficking victims receiving compensation.<\/p>\n

More typical are the stories of women like Shanti, who was trafficked to India at the age of 13. Shanti (not her real name) waited nine years for her case to go through the courts, but is yet to receive any payment.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0\u201cI have faced threats from the traffickers \u2026 I couldn\u2019t spend a single day in peace as I always felt insecure before the verdict,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t develop as a person, as I had to keep visiting my past through the courts.\u201dThe law states that compensation should be paid out of the fine levied on the perpetrators, leaving survivors in limbo until the legal process is complete. If the trafficker cannot pay, the government must do so. Proving that the perpetrator does not have the funds is itself a lengthy and difficult process, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough the court verdict says I should be getting compensation, as far as I understand \u2026 I will have to prove that the culprit is not rich enough to pay compensation; only then will the government give me the amount,\u201d said Shanti.<\/p>\n

Even if Shanti eventually secures the payment, it is unlikely to reflect the ordeal she has been through. Research by the FWLD found that, in almost two-thirds of cases, courts ordered compensation of just 50,000 Nepalese rupees (\u00a3380).<\/p>\n

The funds awarded are typically only 50% of the trafficker\u2019s fine, with the remainder going to the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can the government keep half of any compensation given to survivors?\u201d said Benu Gurung, executive director of the Alliance Against Trafficking in Women and Children in Nepal. \u201cWe demand all of the fine is given to the victim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gurung added that some people find it is easier, and more lucrative, to accept hush money from the traffickers than go through the courts.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a survivor\u2019s perspective, rather than face threats from traffickers, or risk being exposed as a victim of trafficking, it is better to accept a payoff, especially when you have no confidence that you will ever receive compensation,\u201d said Gurung.<\/p>\n

Rights groups are calling for immediate interim financial support for survivors, higher rates of reparations and greater efforts to make survivors aware of their right to recompense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe survivors demand the government compensate us first and later get the money from the culprit,\u201d said Shanti. \u201cHow long will it take? Will I ever get justice?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The Guardian By\u00a0Pete Pattisson Rights groups claim no one has received compensation since law entitling survivors of human trafficking was introduced a decade ago Rights groups in Nepal say they do not know of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,90,85,43,11,49],"tags":[714,715,713],"class_list":["post-7871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-editor-selection","category-human-rights","category-human-rights-online-library","category-issues","category-womens-rights","tag-forum-for-women-law-and-development","tag-human-trafficking","tag-nepal","country-asia","Documents-statements-multimedia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7871"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8057,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7871\/revisions\/8057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}