In western Nepal, a thirteen-year-old girl by the name of Junu Shrestha gathers fodder for the cattle belonging to her landlady. She is just one out of the 20, 000 girls in the area of Nepal working as a “kamalari”, a servant. At tender ages, these girls are given to landowners all around Nepal in exchange for money, and unfortunately are sent spiraling into slavery. (Haviland)
Junu cleans, sweeps, washes clothing, fetches water, collects fodder and feeds it to the cattle. Though this is a difficult change from being near her friends and going to school, her former life was not desirable either. She was an orphan living with her alcoholic uncle. With no reluctance, he sent Junu to work after being promised 4, 000 rupees a year (Nepal’s currency), equivalent to $60 US. Junu does not receive any payment, and until her uncle stops receiving money, she has no choice but to stay and work. Though this is a horrible fate for many innocent girls, the landlady doesn’t see any problem with it. (Haviland)
The targets for being kamalaris are usually girls from poor families from the Tharu ethnic group, who were laborers themselves. The offering of their daughters is nothing negative for many of these families. It is seen as a “money-earner” (Haviland) and a very positive way to get land to cultivate from the landlords. Yet, there are many things wrong with this system. The largest problem is the lack of education. These girls are being pulled out of their normal everyday lives and are missing out of many opportunities they would have if they could continue their schooling. Without education, this “kamalari system” will continue and many girls will not have the freedom they deserve. (Haviland)
Essentially, kamalaris are being declined education and are suffering from sexual abuse, rape, malnutrition, and torture. A Nepalese charity, Friends of Needy Children (FNC), has been trying to change the fate of these girls. On January 6th, approximately 400 Nepalese women who were former kamalaris protested and staged plays trying to send a message against child labor. A banner carried by girls bearing traditional black and white dresses read: “We want rehabilitation, free education and training”. More girls and women chanted: “Give us compensation for sexual and labour exploitation!” (Krittivas Mukherjee and Sugita Katyal). One play showed a drunken father sending his daughter to a landlord against the wishes of his wife. The landlords beat the poor girl. After the play was over, people mounted the stage and tried to convince the father to use his money for his daughter’s schooling and not for alcohol. (Haviland)
Many kamalaris go missing after being sold to landlords. As a result, the United Nations Human Rights Agency has had a growing concern for these slave girls, and has tried to convince Nepal’s government to start a search for them. The government says that it had terminated this procedure about eight years ago, and much has been done to save girls who have been faced with this horrible fate. Yet, the practice of becoming a kamalari lies mostly at the hands of the landlords. Charities have rescued roughly 5, 000 young girls, but still thousands remain illegally in the trade. (Ex-Nepal `Slave Girls` Demand Rehabilitation)
A 19-year-old indentured laborer named Urmila Choudhury, who worked for more than 12 years, proclaims that she wants to become a journalist. She plans to write about people who should be getting an education but are not, due to reasons such as child labor. (Krittivas Mukherjee and Sugita Katyal) Siba Chaudhary, a former kamalari and the actress who played the young girl in the play, recalls almost being sexually abused, being beaten and only being fed leftovers. Her goal is to become a lawyer in order to take action and stop the kamalari system. People in Nepal are beginning to realize that young girls deserve a right to education and do not deserve a life of work, but there is still much to do. (Slave Girls Missing in Nepal)
