Sex Slaves in Nepal

Illuminating the World of Modern-day Slavery
Speech by Lisa Kristine
Speech Review by Kitty XUE
Writing Ⅲ

Lisa Kristen’s speech astonished the audience by simply presenting lives of slaves all over the world, and it is undoubtedly a successful one: her voice low and grave, full of sympathy and grief; her photos soundless yet visually and emotionally powerful. Perhaps because Kristen has seen all these slaves with her own eyes, she talks in a way that makes people feel that these stories are no longer lives of mere strangers in some remote country, but lives of someone that the audience know of—lives of ordinary people, who should have had a peaceful life. Her speech leaves people ashamed of their ignorance about the seriousness of the existing slavery in the modern world.
Among various groups of slaves witnessed by Lisa Kristen were sex slaves in Nepal.
The story of a sex slave in Nepal usually starts with poverty. In a country where half of the population is unemployed, young girls and their family members are easily lured by the job promises made by the so-called “job hunters”. Poor young girls follow the “job hunters” in the hope of getting a well-paid job, and a decent life in big cities like Kathmandu.
Very often, however, they end up in a filthy hell known as “the cabin restaurant”. There, they are trafficked as sex slaves. Curtains are drawn to provide privacy for each room in the restaurant, or to be more precise, to provide privacy for the customers’ sexual harassments. The girls are expected to serve food and drinks to these rooms, but more importantly, to satisfy the male customers’ demands so that the sale can boost. Eventually, the girls will have to, willing or not, start prostitute themselves to entertain the money payers (Mavrich, “City in Focus: Kathmandu, Nepal”). Girls that refuse to comply are often physically intimidated by the cabin owner; some are said to have been hit by wires, rods and hot spoons (Ruffins, “Rescuing Girls from Slavery”); others are threatened with defamation, blackmailing and police harassment (Regmi, “Plight of Cabin Keepers”). Some girls who had been rescued revealed that they had to “serve” twenty to twenty-five men a day (Trenwith, “The appalling side of Nepal sparks a woman 's crusade”).
People are certainly moved and re-educated when they hear about the life stories of the slaves, for it hurts to see and hear about those coarse hands, dust-covered faces and vacant looks. But what about afterwards? Will people still care, or will they go back to their comfortable home and gradually forget about the shock they once experienced during the speech because they have their own family and jobs to worry about? Or to think even further, when few people will be affected by slavery, should this be a world concern?
The answer would be yes. This has nothing to do with personal interests, or the defense of modernism, not even the development of the society. It’s all about humanity—the reason why people call themselves human beings. When colonialism was replaced by democracy, we call it progress, for the meaning of freedom, equality and humanity was realized and therefore fulfilled. Now the same realization is needed to fulfill them, so that the human race progresses rather than goes backwards. Few people are powerful enough to change slavery directly. However, as long as the seriousness of modern slavery is kept in mind and spread the information, just as Lisa Kristine did with her camera and microphone, attention will be aroused, the “evil side” will be pressured, and those with the power to change the situation directly will be pushed.

Works Cited
Mavrich, Bret. “City in Focus: Kathmandu, Nepal.” Exodus Cry.com. Exodus Cry,
2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2012 <http://exoduscry.com/prayer/city-in-focus/kathmandu-nepal/>

Regmi, Shibesh Chandra. “Plight of Cabin Keepers.” ActionAid Nepal (2004). Childtrafficking.com Digital Library, Dec. 2004. Web. 18 Oct. 2012 < http://www.childtrafficking.com/Docs/action_aid_2004_plight_of_cabin_keepers_15.pdf>

Ruffins, Ebonne. “Rescuing Girls from Slavery.” CNN Heroes. CNN, 30 April. 2010.
Web. 14 Oct. 2012
<http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/29/cnnheroes.koirala.nepal/index.html>

Trenwith, Courtney. “The appalling side of Nepal sparks a woman 's crusade.”
WAtoday. Fairfax Media, 23 May. 2011. Web. 14 Oct. 2012
<http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/the-appalling-side-of-nepal-sparks-a-womans-crusade-20110523-1ezgj.html>

Cited: Mavrich, Bret. “City in Focus: Kathmandu, Nepal.” Exodus Cry.com. Exodus Cry, 2012 Web. 14 Oct. 2012 &lt;http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/29/cnnheroes.koirala.nepal/index.html&gt;