This project will build a 55-bed dormitory for a Secondary School in the remote access Nepali Himalayas, providing equal access to education and accommodation for girls who live over a 3-hour trek from the school and are at-risk for child sex trafficking. A dormitory has been identified by communities in this District as a very clear way to ensure girls can attend school and supports the Nepal Government National Plan to eliminate child trafficking, outlined by the United Nations IOM division
Up to 10,000 Nepali women and girls are trafficked to India each year for prostitution. 70% of victims are illiterate and living in poverty. The 3-hour trek to school through the Himalayas makes it impossible to attend class and thus, become educated. Where economic alternatives and access to education do not exist, women and girls are more vulnerable to being tricked and coerced into sexual servitude. Traffickers use the promise of an education or job to lure victims away.
A school dormitory will provide accommodation during the weekdays so that the girls can attend class. Educated children and their families are much more aware, alert and mature, and they can comprehend the risks of child trafficking quite well. Educated communities are capable of understanding and effectively responding to the various ways traffickers source children.
This project will provide free accommodation for 55 students each year, allowing them to attend school and receive an education. Because the school is so far from where the girls live, 40% of them end of dropping out of school by 5th grade. We anticipate that 100% of the girls living at the dormitory will complete graduation. We also anticipate that we will see a decrease in child sex trafficking within the village by 90% of educated girls.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
