Trafficking victims often are taken to locations within Nepal, often from rural areas to the urban centers. Mainly young girls and women are trafficked for sexual exploitation in places such as cabin/dance restaurants, massage parlors, and other places within tourism sector.[4] However, these spaces also host many women who entered sex work voluntarily, and those who might have entered voluntarily but were later not allowed to leave and end up in slave-like conditions.[7] Within Nepal, labor trafficking is also common: victims often end up in carpet and garment factories, embroidering sweatshops, brick-kilns, and others.[1]
Cross-border to India[edit]
The trafficking of girls from Nepal into India for forced prostitution is perhaps one of the busiest slave trafficking routes anywhere in the world, with estimated 5,000-10,000 Nepali women and girls trafficked to India each year.[6][8] An estimated 100,000-200,000 Nepali trafficked persons are in India.[9] Nepali girls are especially desirable as prostitutes in India because they are considered more attractive due to their lighter skin color, and because Nepali virgins are believed to be able to cure AIDS.[10] Victims are also trafficked for labor in circuses, agriculture, and other manufacturing sectors.[1] The 1850 kilometers of open, porous border between Nepal and India make trafficking simple and difficult to catch.[7] In addition, there is no immigration control for Nepalese migrating to India or Indians coming in Nepal under the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty between India and Nepal.[4][9] In addition to being a destination, India is also a transit country for Nepalese and Bangladeshi women trafficked to Pakistan, Western Asia, and the Middle East and for women trafficked from the Russian Federation to Thailand
