Reshma's Story

Reshma was a small girl, mostly because her family was so poor that there was never enough food to feed everyone.Growing up in south-east Nepal was a hard life. Reshma woke up every day two hours before dawn broke and began her work for the day. First she went out to feed the chickens, then she began making the bread for the day and cooking the dahl baht that was the family's food staple. Next her chores included sweeping the house, washing the dishes and the clothes, and after that was done she had to take her two younger brothers and go out to the roadside to chip rocks for the quarry. All day in the hot sun she laboured with her little brothers to try and provide enough money so the family could eat the next day.

Her father was upset lately because Reshma was turning twelve and he didn't have any dowry set aside to entice a man to marry her. He lamented that he alone would have to be the one to feed Reshma until she died.One day a handsome man came into the village and approached her father. They had a very long discussion whereby the man offered her father 2,000 rupees (approx. $30 CAD) to be able to take Reshma across the border to work in a carpet factory. The man explained to her father that this was just an advance because in the carpet factory Reshma would be able to make that amount and much more to send home. Her father was overjoyed! Perhaps Reshma would be able to earn enough for her own dowry and then could come home to get married. And so Reshma was taken to India. Once across the border the man's attitude changed so drastically that Reshma was shocked! Instead of taking Reshma to a carpet factory he took her to the red light district and dropped her off at a brothel. The brothel owner told Reshma that her only purpose from this day forward would be to have sex with as many men as the madam sent to her. Reshma did not even know what having sex meant. The brothel owner sent up two of her best guards to initiate Reshma and when she fought back she was beaten severely and then raped by both men. Over the next few days the nightmare continued: beatings, rape and starvation. Finally Reshma agreed to cooperate and gave in to her fate.

For two years Reshma was trapped in the brothel, unable to leave even for an hour. She was required to have sex with whoever the brothel owner sent up, and this was usually between ten and twenty men per day. She had no days off, no matter the reason. The brothel owner often told her that she was in her prime years (being only twelve when sold) and that she had better perform well or she'd be killed. One day a local justice organization raided the brothel and provided a way for Reshma to return to Nepal. But Reshma knew she could not go back to her family - they would never accept her because of what she had done. And if she didn't live with her family she could not support herself so she thought she should just return to the brothel.

Reshma's Recovery Process

Instead of having to return to the brothel, the justice organization contacted the SA program leaders in Nepal who immediately took Reshma into their emergency home. Over the next two weeks Reshma was provided with introductory counseling sessions and her health issues began to get addressed. She had severe internal and reproductive damage that would take many surgeries to repair. But Reshma didn't care, she was free at last! She began to worry about how she would support herself, but she soon found out that the program had a long-term recovery home where she could work at making handicrafts for half of the day, and then go to the day program for the other part of the day to get education and deal with her trauma.

Today, Reshma is a shy but happy young girl. She still lives in the long-term recovery home and has learned the skill of making unique knitwear to support herself. She has learned to read and write and has hope for the future. Reshma's greatest desire soon became to ensure other young girls could escape the same fate she had, and so she eagerly participated in the SA organization's community awareness initiatives, and even volunteered her time at border monitoring stations. In addition, she realized that the SA program provided income generation programs and non-formal education programs to girls and women in high-risk communities so that they would not end up in the same situation that she had. She really felt that this model was making a big difference to the girls and women of Nepal and states regularly how thankful she is to have been given a chance at life.

[Please note that these recovery stories were made generic to protect the identity of young women involved in SA recovery programs. However, they are accurate representatives of typical stories of abuse, trafficking, exploitation and the recovery process.]