Seira Tamang

At a time when reports, news coverages and books on the trafficking of women and girls seem to abound in Nepal , Asmita, the Women's Publishing House and Media Resource Organization, has completed a study compiling and analyzing just this information. "Efforts to Prevent Trafficking in Women and Girls: A Pre-Study for Media Activism" has the following objectives: to review existing literature, media coverage, plans, policies and legal provisions related to trafficking, and to make subsequent recommendations for media activism in this field.

The second chapter written by Bidhan Acharya, reviews available international, regional and national literature. Acharya basically summarizes arguments put forward concerning such topics as prevalence and magnitude, socio-economic factors, rehabilitation and so on.

Chapter three consists of an analysis of print media publications (taken to be newspapers, and magazines with mass circulation as well as some specialized journals) on trafficking in Nepal by Saroj Pant. Based on a total of 1,591 articles (1,235 in Nepali and 356 in English), this chapter is by far the most critical and well written. As Pant states, "[t]he ëcreated reality' about trafficking produced by the media is presented in this chapter and whether that is near to "reality" or not is also examined through comparative study."

A review of the electronic media production on trafficking in Nepal by Anju Chhetri and Manju Thapa comprises chapter four. Included in this section were NTV presentations, Nepali and foreign movies, telefilms, and radio and television fare. The final chapter on law, plan, policy and programmes is also written by Manju Thapa and Anju Chhetri. As well as international treaties, the 1997 National Policy on Trafficking, the National Action Plan for Women Development 1997, the Trafficking in Humans (Control) Act 1986 and parts of the Civil Act 1963 are all discussed. National, regional and international NGO alliances are also covered, as is the Ninth SAARC summit.

Overall conclusions reached include the need for: new laws on trafficking; more informative documentaries and news analysis programmes; enforcing codes of conduct on journalists; cross-checking sources and data; more government and NGO cooperation in working with the media and more victimizer (as opposed to victim) -focused studies.

While this Asmita report shows the unevenness in quality that is evident in any volume of differently authored chapters, it is quite comprehensive and thorough. In view of the very scattered nature of studies on trafficking, this report has done an excellent job in compiling disparate sources of information into a very accessible format. It is clear that a lot of hard work has been put into this endeavor. To be particularly applauded is the fact that they have sought sources beyond what is usually available and covered in Nepal.

More importantly perhaps, is the manner in which they have critiqued existing written literature and other fare on trafficking, revealing them to be far from satisfactory. Methodology used has been found wanting. The fact that reliable quantitative reports on trafficking are severely lacking is made abundantly clear. Incisive comments reveal the manner in which people writing on trafficking have stated certain claims without any evidence. Commonly held beliefs are also inspected for their validity and found to based on shaky ground. For example the question is raised, if there is such a purported demand for "mongoloid faces" why is there not an acute problem of trafficking in such Indian states as Sikkim and Manipur where such "mongoloid" people reside? Furthermore, on what basis is such a demand thought to be presumed - given that a survey of clients' sexual preferences does not seem to have been done.

While such commendable analyses and critiques are numerous, there are also some weaknesses to the Asmita study. To begin with, nowhere in the report is there a clear and explicit definition of "trafficking" and "prostitution". While the two are interconnected and it may be that "[a]n insignificant proportion of [trafficked] girls might [sic] have been used for the purpose other than prostitution", conceptual clarity must be maintained. The latter is especially in important given that one of the recommendations made is for the de-criminalization of prostitution.

The confusion that results from this lack of conceptual clarity is clearly illustrated in the report itself. For instance, it is argued at one point that if a notion of higher incomes earned by prostitutes in brothels is put forward, enticement factors may be such that trafficking would be harder to prevent. Similarly, in the context of discussing anti-slavery laws in Nepal it is written "..however, it is really difficult to prevent it when an adult woman is decided (sic) to involve in prostitution...awareness strategies and even legal provisions would not work until the women themselves are not motivated to get rid of this malpractice". This blurs not only the coercion factor behind trafficking, but also the multiple power relations which permeate society.

Also problematic, and this is especially true of chapter 2, is the manner in which it is not at all clear as to when mere summaries of different written material is being made, and when the author's own view is being projected. This makes for very confusing reading.

While the prevalence of such general and unexplained statements such as "[t]he expansion of capitalism in India and its influence in Nepal's villages is ... responsible for the trafficking of Nepali women and girls" is annoying, further comment on the nature of confusing statements or questionable sentences appear inappropriate in the larger context of the issue of language. This Asmita report was prepared in English. Why not in Nepali, a language in which the authors could clearly have expressed their ideas so much more articulately and unambiguously is a question that needs to posed - both to Asmita and to the donor agencies. However, this is not to excuse Asmita for spelling errors (easily removed by spell-check) and the non-inclusion in the bibliography of some material directly quoted in the study (for example, Fredrick, 1995 and McGrick 1996).

On a more general level, along with which treaties were signed when, reviews of analyses of global trends would have been helpful. For example, a recent issue of the Economist magazine (February 14th-20th, 1998) revealed how with globalization, not only have international tourism and business travel made prostitution "spectacularly" rewarding in many poor countries, it has also resulted in increased commoditization and competition wherein at the lower end of the industry, "prices are ratcheted downwards and only the cheapest supplier survives." The article further states "[t]here is still plenty of money to be made in this line of business. But in the longer term the future of cut-price prostitution looks bleak. Bruised, terrorised prostitutes in ugly surroundings attract only the least choosy, and worst-paying, customers". In terms of the future demand for and welfare of trafficked Nepali females and indeed a partial response to Pant's question as to if there is such a high demand for Nepali women, why is their selling price not higher than that of Indian or Bangladeshi women, such analyses are important.

Much could also be gained from more critical readings of international works. For example, while Robert Friedman's article in "The Nation" on sexual slavery in India is referred to, no mention is made of the consequent debate that raged in that magazine concerning his stereotypical and voyeuristic depiction of prostitutes - especially Nepali. If the media is to be critiqued for perpetuating certain gendered, simplistic and stereotyped portraits, then a thorough analysis of the politics of representation must be made at all levels.

Additionally, a new angle could have been cast onto the issue of "state inertia" concerning trafficking, with historian Prem Uprety's article in the June 1997 issue of the Tribhuvan University Journal - Research Division. He makes clear that trafficking had once been of concern at the highest levels, becoming "the theme of endless correspondence between the Maharaja of Nepal, the Government of India and the Nepali Vakil in Lhasa." This is important in terms of media advocacy in so far as a key question becomes, "why is this no longer so?"

Furthermore, a discussion (as opposed to just mentioning) the new bill for the abolition of trafficking in humans being prepared by ILLRR, would have been helpful for sketching up the sorts of issues that might arise in opposition to that bill, and hence in preparing some sort of "defensive advocacy" plan accordingly. Indeed, the appropriateness of that bill itself could have been debated, in so far as it intends to change laws which have hitherto been silent on the question of prostitution (i.e., it is not legally criminal at the present moment), to making it outrightly illegal.

Finally, it is not clear why only the role of female journalists is highlighted as being able to play an important role in media activism related to trafficking. At a time when female journalists are trying to break out of the stereotype of "just covering womens' issues" and the need for "gender awareness" and "the importance of including men" (as opposed to male -bashing) runs rife, this does not seem very appropriate.

Overall, while Asmita has made clear the poverty of current media interventions in trafficking, media advocacy based on fuzzy concepts and confusing reports are fundamentally self-debilitating. This added to the inherent difficulties in the practical implementation of "media advocacy" (as highlighted by Pratyoush Onta in recent articles in the Kathmandu Post) suggests that additional "pre-studies" are needed. More conceptually,analytically and methodologically rigorous homework and research must be done before "media activism in trafficking" can become more than just another nara.

(Seira Tamang is a student of Political Science)