HIRA DAHAL – author of “Phulmaya”, a new book sharing the stories of thousands of Nepali girls trafficked from the entertainment industry into sexual slavery.

Hira Dahal is one of my greatest heroes.

I first met Hira over ten years ago when I was working with the Art to Healing project in Nepal. We continued to meet over the coming six years as I went back to Kathmandu annually to help deliver training in Art Therapy for girls and women who have escaped sexual exploitation.

Image: “My inner super hero doll” made in Kathmandu, Nepal.

…

Hira herself was born in a small village in the Terei region of Nepal, and she shares how, as a girl, her birth was not welcome, and her education not a priority. When I spoke with Hira, she described how, with the help of some of her male family members who believed in her, Hira managed to eventually persuade her family to let her go to school and get an education. She didn’t start school until she was 11, yet she was such a keen student, she managed to avoid marriage at 15 and continue on to obtain her Bachelor degree.

Hira now supports girls’ education in Kathmandu

…

By the time she did marry, Hira had come to the city, studied and been a teacher, and she had come to recognise and understand the gender based violence she had been witnessing since her childhood.

She describes how it was after giving birth to two daughters herself, that Hira decided to dedicate her life to ending the exploitation of, and discrimination against, girls and women in Nepal.

Girl’s transformation training program initiative in Nepal

…

In 2002, Hira began working with Shakti Samuha, the first organisation in the world to be established by sex trafficking survivors. She led projects for Shakti Samuha for eight years, before becoming the head of the Centre for Awareness Promotion, running campaigns against human trafficking and gender based violence in Nepal.

Women rally against human trafficking, Kathmandu

…

Then, in 2013, Hira established “Chhori”, meaning “Daughter” in Nepali. Chhori is an all women organisation that continues Hira’s vision to create a society where every child is treated equally, and discrimination against girls is eliminated.

…

Nepalese women working to eliminate discrimination.

…

Now, Hira has become an author as well.

In my interview with Hira, she explains how her new book “Phalmaya” is a novel whose central character is based on the true lives of thousands of Nepali girls who have been coerced into the entertainment industry and then exploited through sex trafficking.

…

…

Hira shares that it is a combination of gender, poverty, lack of education, family attitudes towards girl children, and remote isolation that make certain Nepali girls vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

…

Hira’s work through Cchori includes support for women

to set up in business and generate their own income.

…

Girls are sent to the city to work and send money back to their families in remote villages. Without any education, the girls are lured into work in the entertainment industry. Homeless, they are offered board and lodge, accruing debts, and are unaware of the extent of the duties they are expected to perform with customers. By the time they want to leave, the girls are trapped by debt and shame.

…

Cchori provides a safe “girls friendly space” free of judgement or shame

…

Coercion and control play out in the abuse and exploitation of girls and young women, under the guise of employment within Nepal’s entertainment industry, in ways that are similar to coercion and control in both domestic violence and organisational abuse. The roles of coercion and control in human trafficking highlight the alarming and horrific ultimate consequences when power is abused at the expense of human rights.

…

Human Rights training for women staff in Kathmandu

…

When I asked Hira what she hopes for in writing “Phalmaya” and sharing this story, she said,

“I hope to help people feel empathy, and to understand and provide support”.

…

“Memory stars” in a Kathmandu workshop after Nepal’s earthquakes.

…

And that is probably why Hira is one of my heroes. What a great life mission.

Please enjoy this interview with Hira.

Learn more about Chhori’s work here: www.chhori.org

Donate to support Chhori by emailing: chhoriorg@gmail.com

…