N E PA L
QUARTERLY REPORT | JANUARY - MARCH 2021
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COUNTRY OVERVIEW Although the impact of our transit monitoring work post-COVID-19 has been slow, it has been steadily increasing with each month. Our teams in Nepal are adapting quickly, and this January marked the beginning of a great year for our antitrafficking work, as the teams had eight arrests stemming from interceptions and the follow-up conducted by our investigations team! LO V E J U S T I C E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
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DEAR FRIENDS, During the past quarter we began to see many countries start to reopen. We ended the quarter with our highest monthly intercept total to date in March with 504! That month, we also assisted with 18 arrests and had a record 77 people who professed to accept the gospel message, including intercepts in each of our new fields: Mozambique and Lesotho. Globally, our anti-trafficking numbers for the past six months are:
We are also in the process of restructuring and have implemented a Vice President of Anti-Trafficking (leading all of our anti-trafficking work) with the support of a new tier of regional stewards that will be empowered to each oversee a region in our anti-trafficking work. This new structure will allow us to ramp up our plans for expansion. I want to thank you for supporting our work in Nepal. It is hard to put into words how thankful I am for your faithfulness and generosity!
John Molineux President & Founder LoveJustice.ngo
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The past year has been challenging for our transit monitoring staff as we’ve made necessary adjustments due to the pandemic. Wherever possible, we’ve attempted to get essential service clearance for our monitors. This was successful in a number of countries due to the good working relationship our teams have with authorities and the recognition that people would be more desperate during this period and, therefore, more prone to deception by traffickers. During the pandemic, as long as our monitors were able to monitor in strategic locations they were able to effect interceptions. Criminals have a very low regard for the law and continue to try to move people despite lockdowns and so in some countries the monitors were seen as additional protection for the community by the authorities. The monitors were given the necessary masks and sanitizing agents to enable them to question potential victims but still remain safe from COVID-19. We continue to develop and evaluate new tools to help us more effectively choose where our teams should be monitoring and then run short and cost-effective pilots to ascertain whether these areas are indeed fruitful in terms of impact. This is especially relevant in our present period of the pandemic as those affected by the slowdown in economies are looking for employment further from their areas of origin and, in many cases, in other countries. Love Justice International believes that as the world emerges from COVID-19, the increased demand for work will result in a higher than usual movement of people into areas with the promise for employment. This allows criminals the opportunity to exploit those who are vulnerable and desperate. Our model of transit monitoring is a tangible way to prevent the most vulnerable and desperate from entering a life of exploitation while also collecting data, which allows authorities to be more proactive and assists in investigations of potential traffickers. Thank you for your ongoing support of our work! While the scope of global slavery can be overwhelming, your generosity enables our monitors to stand in the gap between freedom and slavery. Ryan Sobey Vice President of Anti-Trafficking
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O U R I M PAC T I N Q 2 : Location
Interceptions
Arrests
Staff Employed
Nepal
253
22
96
LJI Wide
1,123
54
241
See additional Nepal data on page 12. All Nepal-based support and administration have been fully underwritten by long-time partner, CAPTIVATING who, like us, are passionate about ending trafficking in the world. Thanks to their partnership, supporters of Love Justice Nepal will see a higher percentage of their funds being directly applied to our interception work.
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COMPELLING STORIES MINOR VICTIM OF PROSTITUTION I N T E R C E P T E D AT B O R D E R ; S U S P E C T ARRESTED!
MONITORS INTERCEPT VICTIM OF S E X U A L A S S A U LT; S U S P E C T A R R E S T E D !
On January 13, 2021, our staff intercepted Anu*, a 14-year-old girl who was being taken across the border by a man. When our monitors stopped them and started questioning them separately, they identified multiple contradictions in their stories. Upon further questioning, they uncovered that the suspect had been sexually abusing Anu and using threats and coercion to keep her silent.
Ever since her parents divorced five years ago, Roshika* has been living with her mother. Recently, a woman named Rasila* said she could arrange a job for Roshika in India, working as a domestic helper for her brotherin-law, Aspara*. Roshika and her mother were living in poverty, struggling to survive, so Roshika gratefully accepted the generous offer. Her mom arranged all of the travel expenses and then sent Roshika to Aspara’s home.
During the interview, our team learned that Anu had lost her father at a young age, and her mother was living in poverty, struggling with the burden of debt. To support her family, Anu started working at a nearby hotel, where she was sexually abused by the owner. Later, she went to live in Dharan with her 17-year-old sister who was earning a living through prostitution. Anu’s sister introduced her to the suspect, Dipesh*, who took advantage of her vulnerable situation. He took Anu to a hotel where he fed her food mixed with drugs to make her drowsy, and then he took her to a room and raped her. After this initial assault, Dipesh forced Anu into prostitution, locking her inside the hotel room and sending men in to sexually abuse her in exchange for money. On January 13, 2021, Dipesh told Anu to travel with him to Jogbani so that he could buy her some new clothes. After they were intercepted by our team at the border, Dipesh was taken into police custody, and Anu was escorted to our shelter for additional counseling and care. There is a high risk that Dipesh could have been in the process of trafficking Anu because if his true intention was just to buy clothes for her, there are plenty of clothing stores in Dharan, and they didn’t need to travel almost 50 kilometers away. The police are continuing to investigate this matter, and a legal case has been filed against the suspect. In the meantime, Anu is remaining under the care of the staff in our shelter. IRF No: BRT560
Contact: Sheital
After arriving at her new place of employment, Roshika frequently contacted her mother and told her that everything was going well and she was receiving a good salary for her work. During Roshika’s time away, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and sent to a local hospital for treatment. Aspara helped Roshika return to Nepal so she could visit her mother in the hospital. As they were preparing to cross the border together, they were stopped by our staff for questioning. Based on several contradictions in their stories, they were separated for individual questioning, and the police were involved. During the interview, our staff discovered that Aspara had been sexually abusing Roshika while she was working in his home. Furthermore, he had repeatedly warned her to remain silent about the abuse, threatening to ruin her reputation and tell her parents everything that had happened. Frightened into silence, Roshika pretended like everything was fine and never told her mother what was happening. After conducting a thorough interview, our staff helped Roshika file a case against Aspara, and he was arrested later that same day. JBN,CIF 064 Rape Case
Contact: Anil
*Names changed for the privacy and security of those involved.
LLO OVVEE JJUUSSTTIICCEE IIN NTTEERRN NAATTIIO ON NAALL
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T E A M H E L P S T W O M I N O R V I C T I M S O F S E X U A L A S S A U LT FILE CASE; SUSPECT ARRESTED! On the afternoon of February 18, 2021, two minor siblings were playing behind their home when a 12-year-old boy approached them and used a shawl to bind up their hands. After that, the suspect dragged them to a place where no one could see them or hear their cries for help. He took off both of their pants and sexually assaulted them. Once the suspect left, the siblings returned to their home and told their parents what had happened to them. The parents immediately contacted our staff and requested their assistance. Our team went to the home and provided the siblings with counseling. Then they took them to the police station and helped them file a case against the suspect. They coordinated with the police, and the suspect was arrested later that same day. NPJ729 Rape Case Contact: Anil Giri
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TRANSIT MONITORING PHOTOS
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Our staff spreads awareness about human trafficking in their community. (middle and right photos)
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DATA FROM THE FIELD: THE LAST SIX MONTHS
N E PA L A L L S T
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TAT I O N DATA
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DATA FROM THE FIELD: THE LAST SIX MONTHS
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DATA FROM THE FIELD: THE LAST SIX MONTHS
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LOVE JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL
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DATA FROM THE FIELD: THE LAST SIX MONTHS
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LOVE JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL
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DATA FROM THE FIELD: THE LAST SIX MONTHS
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LOVE JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL
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Love Justice International’s mission is sharing the love of Jesus Christ by fighting the world’s greatest injustices. Most of our work focuses on two injustices: human trafficking and orphaned and abandoned children. We use transit monitoring and intelligence-led investigations to fight human trafficking, and we operate family homes and The Dream School to support vulnerable children. To learn more, visit LoveJustice.ngo. Love People. Fight for Justice. Love Justice International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax-deductible and non-refundable. Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved.
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LO V E J U ST I C E I N T E R N AT I O N A L
LO V E J U S T I C E I N T E R N AT I O N A L P.O. Box 67195 Lincoln, NE 68506 402-601-4816 info@lovejustice.ngo lovejustice.ngo
@lovejusticeintl