Submitted by crinadmin on
HRW'S SUMMARY OF THE PUBLICATION
Hundreds of thousands of women and children are employed in
Indian brothels-many of them lured or kidnapped from Nepal and
sold into conditions of virtual slavery. The victims of this
international trafficking network routinely suffer serious physical
abuse, including rape, beatings, arbitrary imprisonment and
exposure to AIDS. Held in debt bondage for years at a time,
these women and girls work under constant surveillance. Escape
is virtually impossible. Both the Indian and Nepali governments
are complicit in the abuses suffered by trafficking victims. These
abuses are not only violations of internationally recognized
human rights but are specifically prohibited under the domestic
laws of both countries. The willingness of Indian and Nepali
government officials to tolerate, and, in some cases, participate in
the burgeoning flesh trade exacerbates abuse. Even when
traffickers have been identified, there have been few arrests and
fewer prosecutions. Rape for Profit focuses on the trafficking of
girls and women from Nepal to brothels in Bombay, where they
compose up to half of the city's estimated 100,000 brothel
workers.