Priti* (16) is the youngest daughter in her family. She lives with her father and elder sisters. When she was very young, her mother mysteriously went missing, and until now, they have not known what happened to her. Life goes on for their household despite this more-than-decade-old heartbreak. To survive, her father works as a laborer where he farms on a sharecropping basis.
While it is a dignified job, it is also not permanent. Farming seasons end, and so does his. When he can, he works in construction to put food on the table. Priti helps by doing household chores. Since they are poor, Priti thinks that education is only a priority for those who are privileged. Being motherless also challenged Priti’s girlhood. She has no female guidance, making her navigate a life on her own. Sometimes, her father would take her with him to the fields because staying home alone might endanger her—afraid of what happened to her mother could also happen to her.
With her tender age, scarcities, and lack of guidance, she finds ways to navigate her day-to-day life—so she resorted to the easiest distraction in the modern world: social media.
Priti didn’t have a phone, but she would occasionally use her father’s. She would create a Facebook account, and since then, it has been her goal to have a phone of her own. In the app, she befriended a boy and started chatting with him. Fascinated by the app, she did not know what the risks were, so she told him everything about her. He promised to buy her a phone if he let her take her on a date to Darjeeling. She said yes and did not inform her father of this.
Instead of Darjeeling, she was taken to Kakarbhitta, Jhapa. He had also bought her a phone at Hetauda. At the border, the man gave her a fake citizenship card to present when questioned.
The police were suspicious of her actions and questioned her. It didn’t take a while before Priti told the truth. Immediately, we intervened and worked with the police to investigate the man who was trying to lure her. Later, we confirmed that the man was truly ill-intentioned, and Priti was on the verge of human trafficking.
Knowing her background and lack of guidance at home, we identified her as someone who is at high risk of human trafficking. We took her to our Women’s Safe Haven in Pokhara, where she is receiving counseling. After that, she will be taking hospitality training because she expressed her plans to pursue a career in that field.
As young as she is, Priti just needs an environment that will help advocate for her environment and safety. Although her father loves her very much, she is still a girl in need of understanding herself and how the real world works for girls like her. Her stay in our Haven will give her this and hopefully help her blossom into a wise and capable woman.
*Name is changed for privacy.
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