Paper short abstract:

Drawing on intersectional framework, the paper explores the problems associated to child trafficking in Nepal considering the interaction between varied forms of oppression triggered by various social categories.

Paper long abstract:

In the dominant trafficking narratives, children are viewed as 'victims' and vulnerable on the basis of their age. The Trafficking Protocol envisages children (i.e., person under 18) as a special case, and therefore views all children one unified category (belonging within a range of zero to eighteen). Such views which are built on the age of children tend to marginalise other social categories such as gender, ethnicity, class and caste intersect, all of which play a role in the process of victimisation. The diversity of childhood and the agency of the trafficked children and young people in different contexts are therefore beyond the purview of the existing Trafficking Protocol and the conventional understanding of these issue deviate from the realities of victims' needs (both social and economic).

Using intersectional analysis, the paper explores the problems associated to child trafficking in Nepal considering the interaction between varied forms of oppression triggered by various social categories. The data are drawn from 58 interviewees representing donor agencies, government officers, I/NGOs and anti-trafficking network in Nepal. The paper argues that anti-trafficking interventions should not be disengaged from the societal context where various normative and structural factors - culture, tradition, family, economic situation, and limited availability of opportunities for children - tend to reproduce rather than resolving child trafficking in Nepal. It concludes by considering a more holistic and intersectional approach in anti-trafficking interventions as an alternative to the existing rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration (3 Rs) framework in Nepal.