Lives on the Line: The Urgent Need for More Survivor Shelter Near Nepal and India Border
Charimaya Tamang was just 16-years-old when her life and dreams were violently disrupted, as traffickers forced her across the border from Nepal to India.
For nearly two years, she endured unimaginable abuse, suffering, and exploitation in the dark corners of a brothel. Her dreams could have died. Hope should have been impossible. But what her traffickers did not know, Charimaya had an inextinguishable spark within.
A police rescue in a red-light district secured her freedom, but it was Charimaya who took the next courageous steps to turn her pain into purpose: supporting other survivors on their healing journey in Nepal. In the face of severe social stigma, Charimaya made history by becoming the first trafficking survivor in Nepal to personally file a case that convicted her traffickers.
“Facing various criticisms and contempt, we were repatriated after which we were stigmatized, scorned, excluded and despised by society and our families,” Charimaya told Our Rescue.“Today we are in the process of establishing ourselves as the power of human trafficking survivors, this journey of ours is Shakti Samuha.”
Shakti Samuha means “power group” and represents the shared survivor journey of Charimaya and 15 fellow survivors who claimed their power to co-found the original shelter in 1996. Now, nearly 30 years after this first home was built, the need for more survivor safe havens is ever increasing.
Shakti Samuha Helps Nepali Sex Trafficking Survivors With Fresh Start
For more than six years, Our Rescue has worked with Shakti Samuha, a first-of-its-kind survivor-led organization providing shelter, education, vocational training, and legal support to survivors of human trafficking.
We also work with law enforcement to prevent and combat sex trafficking in Nepal. Our Rescue has provided funding for high-quality CCTV cameras near the open Nepal and India border to help monitor people at risk of being trafficked while crossing the border. Since the cameras were installed, law enforcement along with Shakti Samuha identified and intercepted more than 700 people at risk of trafficking.
Help Our Rescue Build a New Shelter for Shakti Samuha
The success of Our Rescue’s funded border cameras has created the urgent need for Shakti Samuha to expand shelter capacity. With help from donors like you, we can support the purchase of a new property and shelter for Shakti Samuha that will:
- Accommodate up to 34 survivors at a time in safe, secure, and private living spaces
- Supply food, clothing, and hygiene products
- Access to emergency services at a nearby medical facility and a police station
- Provide in-house counseling and emotional support services
- Hire staff trained to provide trauma-informed care
Give Survivors Hope and a Home
Our Rescue’s mission is to empower survivors’ hope and healing, starting with fundamental human rights and basic human needs: safety, security, health and home.
With your support, we’re building hope and restoring lives for survivors in Nepal. Charimaya’s indistinguishable spark–the one that kept her alive and hopeful during the dark days when she was trafficked–now shines brightly in all of the women and girls she helped save and empower. Her passion for advocacy and justice burns just as bright as when she first fought for herself, and now fights for others.
“No matter how big the obstacle is, if human rights of an individual are violated, justice must be sought and prosecution must be initiated,” says Charimaya. “After this, there is no doubt about the ability to transform a survivor into a leader.”
Charimaya is a survivor leader and warrior. As we mark women’s history month, we lift up “her” story – the story of Charimaya – and ask you to help us create a happy, more hopeful future for the countless women who will be helped by Shakti Samuha’s safe shelter project. Please consider donating today to save and support more women and girls in Nepal who are falling prey to border predators.
As we build capacity and support along foreign borders, we are also building a groundswell of survivor support here. Soon, we’ll share plans to build our first Survivor Care shelter here in the United States, because sex trafficking is happening in Nepal, here and everywhere. Together, we can build hope.
– Tammy Lee, CEO Our Rescue