Only a child in the womb, her parents were already trying to decide whether or not to abort her; ridding themselves of such a burden.
Instead, her mother gave birth and her parents felt no joy, only disappointment.
What good is a baby girl to us?
Women have less education; she won’t get a good job and won’t bring in as much income for our family.
How will we be able to afford her dowry – especially if she finds a well educated man?
We can barely afford to feed ourselves.
Her future was bleak from the day she was born.
Raised and resented, this 12 year old Nepalese girl grew to trust her family and loved ones.
Her dad may have sold her for food money in Kolkata at a price of $6.
Her brother may have deceived her, drugging her and bringing her to a brothel in Mumbai.
A friend may have led her to a restaurant job which turned out to be a front for sex trafficking.
Either way, she has been betrayed.
Betrayed and trapped.
Brought to Mumbai to join the 200,000 other Nepali girls trafficked to India.
Or left in Kathmandu with the 30,000 teenaged girls who are enslaved to sex.
Told she has been sold for hundreds of dollars and must pay off the debt to whichever underworld gang, pimp or brothel manager took her in.
For the next 2-5 years she will be caged in a tiny room and “trained to please”.
Broken into the industry by rape, abuse, beatings and intimidation.
Her innocence shattered, joy stolen, brought to a point of desperation and numbness.
In a prison without walls she knows there is no way out, unless she wants to be killed.
Most of her new friends were forced into the industry between the ages of 7 and 12.
Anyone between 12 and 16 will make $20-40 per customer but,
Because she was a virgin, she was auctioned off to the highest bidder.
As she gets older she will have to defend her $4-10 per customer rate, seeing up to 25 men per day.
5 to 10 minutes of “work” leaves this girl lying motionless;
Filled with terror, hopelessness and no self-worth.
One typical Sunday, the busiest day of the week, a condom broke.
She is now HIV positive, along with 70% of the other women, and is with child.
Will she be purged because she is no longer desirable to clients?
Should she rent her own room in the brothel and begin her own, independent business?
Should she become a Gharwali and facilitate the trafficking of other girls?
Should she call the police and risk making her name known or leaving herself susceptible to extortion?
Her life suddenly became one big Catch-22.
How could she ever go home?
Her parents would no longer accept her.
No one wants to know her or be around her.
She is used, abused and diseased.
A pimp sits on the stairs guarding his brothel.
A teenage girl puts on make-up preparing herself for the night.
A young boy steals a watch; only sustaining his criminal lifestyle.
A woman stands on the street negotiating a price with a sex-tourist.
A toddler lays asleep on the bed of her mother, a bed used to service clients every hour.
Typical day.
This is the story of many Nepalese women.
This is the prison to which they are enslaved.
This is often the future of their children.
This is a nightmare.
This is her life.
Dissociated and shunned.
Lost and broken.
Is that the whole story?
How does it end?
The new story begins when Jesus takes over.
When God brings hope, freedom and healing.
When He rescues His bride.
When her heart beats again, when she learns to feel again.
When her trust in humanity is slowly restored.
When Jesus is the comfort, the protector and the healer.
