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A heartbreaking look at girls sold for sex ...By Rebecca Ostriker | December 5, 2004 |
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Marie
Claire Magazine 7/03
• RESCUED FROM HELL
They're homeless.
They're dying of AIDS.
But the sex slaves rescued from
India's brothels are also angry.
And they'll fight the
sex trafficking of other innocents
until the day they die.
and already the heat is searing, overwhelming. A solid line of pickup
trucks
and cars stretches miles to the government checkpoint, kicking up a choking
mix of diesel
fumes and dust. In these dire conditions, two terminally ill young women, Gita Tamang and Nisha
Chettri, move from car to truck to bicycle rickshaw, inspecting them for 12 hours a day, seven days
a week. They stop anyone traveling with any young women who aren't clearly family. What are Gita
and Nisha on the lookout for? Unsuspecting Nepalese girls in the hands of sex traffickers, who will
sell the girls into the notorious brothels of Bombay. With the help of the border police, who supply
the muscle, Gita and Nisha separate girls traveling alone or with a single man and interview them
individually to find out if their stories match. (Traffickers-most of them male-often cross the border
ahead of or behind their victims, joining up with the girls once they've passed the authorities.)
fumes and dust. In these dire conditions, two terminally ill young women, Gita Tamang and Nisha
Chettri, move from car to truck to bicycle rickshaw, inspecting them for 12 hours a day, seven days
a week. They stop anyone traveling with any young women who aren't clearly family. What are Gita
and Nisha on the lookout for? Unsuspecting Nepalese girls in the hands of sex traffickers, who will
sell the girls into the notorious brothels of Bombay. With the help of the border police, who supply
the muscle, Gita and Nisha separate girls traveling alone or with a single man and interview them
individually to find out if their stories match. (Traffickers-most of them male-often cross the border
ahead of or behind their victims, joining up with the girls once they've passed the authorities.)
"You
can smell the deceit," Nisha says fiercely. "When we see a
young girl wearing new clothes - which village girls never have - or
shoes she's not used to walking in because she's been barefoot her whole life
until now, or if she seems confused, we stop her." If Gita and Nisha's suspicions
are confirmed, the young girls are then taken to a transit center for further ques-
tioning, and border police are called upon to arrest the sex traffickers.
Together, Gita and Nisha stop as many as four girls a day from being sold into
the sex industry. The reason for their determination is also the reason for their
success: They themselves spent years being brutalized in India's brothels.
The U.S. State Department estimates that more than 2 million women - many
of them abducted from neighboring Nepal and Bangladesh-work as prostitutes
in India against their will.
young girl wearing new clothes - which village girls never have - or
shoes she's not used to walking in because she's been barefoot her whole life
until now, or if she seems confused, we stop her." If Gita and Nisha's suspicions
are confirmed, the young girls are then taken to a transit center for further ques-
tioning, and border police are called upon to arrest the sex traffickers.
Together, Gita and Nisha stop as many as four girls a day from being sold into
the sex industry. The reason for their determination is also the reason for their
success: They themselves spent years being brutalized in India's brothels.
The U.S. State Department estimates that more than 2 million women - many
of them abducted from neighboring Nepal and Bangladesh-work as prostitutes
in India against their will.
This woman (holding her son) was trafficked into
sexual slavery by her husband. She now has AIDS.
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