Global Health Untold Stories
Press Release on April 21st, 2016
We would like to congratulate WI-HER Program Associate, Rachel Janik, who received an honorable mention from the Global Health Untold Stories 2016 contest, co-sponsored by Global Health NOW, NPR’s Goats and Soda blog, and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.
Rachel’s untold story, which focused on the three-fold increase of trafficking of Nepali women and children post the 2015 earthquake, was one of 10 honorable mentions selected, out of more than 180 submissions.
You can read Rachel’s submission below, and look for updates in the next couple months for a commentary on the topic in Global Health NOW.
An estimated 15,000 Nepali women and children are trafficked every year, smuggled across the border as modern day slaves. Yet we rarely hear about those who are abducted, enticed and tricked into the promise of a better life, and are instead sold into a life of abuse, fear, and sex slavery. Nepal made constant international news headlines after the 2015 earthquake, bombarding the world with images of devastation and destruction. While the headlines and pictures of rubble faded, Nepal has had a three-fold increase in trafficking since the earthquake, which has amplified the vulnerability of certain groups such as orphans and the poor. Traffickers focus on and exploit this vulnerability, particularly of districts hit hard by the earthquake, giving false assurance of work and salaries to people who have lost everything. The devastating physical, mental, and emotional impacts of trafficking are pressing concerns for the entire global health community.