Social Media Sparks A Rise In Human Trafficking

Activists warned last week that most women in Nepal are still denied basic rights.

Vicky Spratt reports from the country where social media prevalence has seen a 500% rise in people trafficking in the last five years

IT ALL BEGAN with a friend request. ‘There was a man who used to chat with my sister online,’ Chandani* explains. ‘He started messaging me, and said he could get me a well-paid job in Iraq. I never met him. One day, he sent his “brother” to my house with a visa and passport.’

Just over a year ago, Chandani, now 35, became one of the women trafficked every single hour from Nepal, one of the worst places for people-trafficking in the world.

Social media stands accused of helping people smugglers – known as ‘didis’ or ‘dalals’ in Nepali – target those they know are in desperate situations. Online grooming and the rise of mobile phones are acknowledged as a growing problem since traffickers no longer have to go to rural villages to find girls. In fact, mobile phones are now so popular in Nepal that the number of subscriptions (27.85m) outnumbers the population (26.49m).