Sold is a film adaptation of the book with the same name, as strong as it’s description on the official page, Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel reads like a prayer/song/poem and renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.
The film goes beyond the borders of imagination and collides with a reality that is considered by some to be way too far away from us to feel real but it is. A story and life of a young girl called Lakshmi, who is trafficked from her village in Nepal to a brothel in India.
This adaptation is set in Nepal, a country stroke by poverty and illiteracy especially in rural areas where the traffickers go to find girls, misleading their parents into thinking they will be brought to the cities to work a decent job and be good taken care of.
According to an UNICEF report in 2014, about 13,000 women and children in Nepal were victims of human trafficking and the 2013 edition of the Global Slavery Index ranked Nepal, in relation to modern practice of slavery, in the fifth place out of 162 countries
After the earthquake that stroke Nepal in April 2015, the numbers have increased. With a 7.8 magnitude, it killed thousands of people and destroyed over half a million homes, leaving in a more vulnerable situation thousands of children part of families who lost everything.
“Loss of livelihoods and worsening living conditions may allow traffickers to convince parents to give their children up for what they are made to believe will be a better life,” Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Nepal representative, said in a statement.
The traffickers promise the parents the children will be well taken care of, that they will be fed, get an education and the opportunity increases the possibilities of a better future and a higher income to the household.
In order to help several foundations and institutions have started programs to attack child trafficking, an example is Free for Life, who’s main mission is to partner with several organizations to help trafficking survivors and people at high risk of being victims of human trafficking.
They have scholarships that allow women and girls to get an education and training, in several skills and professions including tailoring, making jewelry, agriculture and food processing. They also provide shelter to help the victims reintegrate to society, do border patrol and community building. There are several ways to support this cause, by donating and even volunteering.
Another foundation is Childreach International, with the initiative Taught Not Trafficked, as it says on their website “Evidence that if children stay in school until they are at least 16, they are significantly less likely to be trafficked or exploited. That is why we are working in Nepal to ensure that children can be Taught, Not Trafficked”
With this mindset they support in several ways, including training the teachers to be able to give proper and quality education, rebuilding schools destroyed by the earthquakes, engaging kids in sports, health, and hygiene and influencing the government of Nepal to reinforce measures against child trafficking. To help this cause, you can donate or take action at your work, school or community.
