INTRODUCTION
Around the world, a child is being prepared for sexual exploitation every 2 minutes. Approximately 30 million children have lost their childhood through sexual exploitation during the past 30 years. In addition to the millions already held captive, 1.2 million children are trafficked every year. The average life span of a child once in the sex slave trade is just 2 years. Children are either beaten to death, contract HIV/AIDS, bacterial meningitis, or overdose on forced drugs.
Nepal in particular faces serious challenges with the rehabilitation of survivors of the sex trade. There are many centres set up to aid these young women but they lack central governance, are open to corruption, and offer very little in the way of trauma therapy. As a result of there is an extremely high rate of girls returning back to the sex trade.
Working with highly experienced and driven professionals and volunteers, we aim to change the way these young women are treated in the rehabilitation process. Providing a far more in depth approach to trauma therapy has proven to be a highly significant factor for the overall recovery and onward positive progression of these abused and vulnerable young women.
Initially our team will be working with hundreds of girls from 10 different centres across Nepal. Using a tried and tested approach developed by trauma professionals we will be offering not only direct support to the girls, but training to the centres and their staff. Over the course of 3 years we will develop a pragmatic cross-cultural protocol to be distributed and utilised by NGOs in Nepal and further throughout Asia. Ultimately we predict this 3 year program will help hundreds of thousands of young women regain their lives, dignity and futures.
THE PROGRAM OVERVIEW
In Nepal, a 2018 study conducted by the Freedom Fund, found that girls sold into sexual exploitation experience high levels of depression and anxiety while living in residential rehabilitative programming with many displaying characteristics suggestive of long-term, complex trauma.
This is consistent with those who have suffered on-going, repeated sexual abuse and highlights the importance of specialised treatment to heal socially, physically, sexually, and emotionally. Organisations need to tackle the range of service needs of survivors.
Improving the specialisation of response and cross-referral between providers, increases the coverage, quality, and effectiveness of support services.
While there are many programs for victims of sexual exploitation in Kathmandu, there are limited resources in dealing with holistic healing. Among those who successfully re-integrated into society after the shelter, emotional resilience coupled with strong coping skills reported to play a crucial role in not being re-trafficked.
Although mental health and trauma interventions are of great need in anti-trafficking shelters, research specialising in mental health protocols, mapping, and understanding phases of sexual slavery recovery have not been created. As a result, successful societal reintegration is very low. On average, it takes 2.5 times in rehabilitation for a young woman to successfully leave the sex- trade. Failing to understand the different recovery phases and the mental health needs of survivors stunts the healing process and reduces the likelihood of successful reintegration.
Nepali shelter counsellors undertake a six-month training course focusing on practical solutions through talk therapy, but lack essential training in trauma.
As a result, treatment plans are unstructured, creating multiple challenges in the recovery process. Solution-focused approaches are ineffective for the deeper attachment trauma survivors that have spent their developmental years in captivity.
A trauma-informed rehabilitation model fosters resource building and strengthens compassion, connection, and courage critical to the recovery process. The model includes discussions of the body as an approach to build resilience, self-regulation, and affect change, thus supporting the survivors in a greater capacity to thrive after slavery and abuse.
Goals
1. Understand the mental health needs to direct trauma-informed treatment to sex trafficked survivors throughout the Southeast Asia and Pacific area.
2. Development and capacity building for trauma-informed mental health professionals for NGOs working with sex trafficking survivors.
3. Extrapolate programmatic findings into data-driven research focusing on the full needs at each phase of recovery.
4. Findings will culminate in a formalised cross-cultural guide and best-practice protocols for future supportive programming in NGOs throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific to increase the success rate of re-integration.
Strategy
This project will span three years:
1st Year Activities:
Preliminary research will be conducted with staff at 10 local anti-trafficking organisations to assist in mapping phase milestones in the recovery process:
• Chhori
• Centre for Awareness Promotion (CAP) Nepal
• Asha Nepal
• Shakti Milan Sahaj
• Bishwas Nepal
• Change Nepal
• VOC Nepal
• SAATHI
• Kumudini
• OVN (Kathmandu & Pokhara)
Preliminary research will be conducted with 100 survivors residing within the aforementioned anti-trafficking organisations, gaining skills to re-integrate. This will occur through focus groups and individual sessions.
2nd Year Activities:
Direct delivery to 100 survivors of the mental health approaches found among the preliminary research for each phase of recovery. Delivery of professional development and capacity building with 40 staff members across the anti-trafficking organisations. This training will assist workers to fully understand the mental- health needs and how these challenges directly impact recovery.
3rd Year Activities:
Finalise findings from both survivors and staff into a comprehensive, cross- cultural guide and best-practice protocol for distribution among similar anti-trafficking NGOs throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Expected results
• Improved mental health and recovery rates for thousands of survivors in reintegration across Asia.
• Increased levels of confidence, well-being, self-awareness, and resilience.
• Lowered levels of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and complex post- traumatic stress symptoms and behaviour.
• Increased understanding of the needs of beneficiaries and service providers.
• Improved societal attitudes towards mental health and trauma among anti-trafficking service providers.