Free for Life Working to End Modern-Day Slavery
by Gene Wilson
An estimated 1,000 girls a month are trafficked across the borders of Nepal into India, many through the Krishnanagar border station on the Nepal/India border. Lured with the promise of a job, they often are drugged and put on a bus, only to awaken and find they have been sold to an Indian brothel.
Free for Life International, in partnership with Peace Rehabilitation Center (PRC) in Nepal, is on the front lines of the human trafficking battle through the monitoring of the Nepalese Krishnanagar border station.
A grant from RetailROI (made possible by Agilysys, IBM, and Epicor’s sponsorship of SuperSaturday) has been instrumental in Free for Life International’s partnership with PRC, both at the Krishnanagar border station and at PRC’s main shelter home. Since opening in 2010, Free for Life’s partner border monitoring station has rescued 117 young girls from human trafficking, who then received support, shelter, services, and care through PRC’s main shelter in Nepal. In that same period, they have counseled 3,806 women and children on the dangers of trafficking and captured 9 human traffickers.
In February 2012, Free for Life International and PRC, through support from RetailROI, opened a second border monitoring station, this one on the Nepal/Tibet border. Through this station, hundreds of girls will be rescued.
By sponsoring SuperSaturday, RetailROI’s premier retail and technology research event, Agilysys, IBM, and Epicor have joined the battle against human trafficking. Proceeds from SuperSaturday sponsorships directly benefit organizations dedicated to changing the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children around the world.
Partnering with RetailROI and Free for Life International, Agilysys, IBM, and Epicor continue these organizations’ efforts to rescue victims of trafficking and eliminate modern-day slavery.
Results: A$5,000 grant was given in 2010 to help create a border monitoring station to look for victims of human trafficking between India and Nepal. In the first 18 months, over 100 girls have been rescued from a life of human trafficking.
Free For Life International is a non-profit fundraising organization committed to setting sex-trafficking victims free for life by financially supporting local organizations. Sex trafficking is a complex and powerful global enterprise fueled by millions of dollars and is the fastest growing criminal activity worldwide. It victimizes marginalized young women and imprisons them in cycles of shame, abuse, and isolation. Those rescued from sex slavery face a host of challenges as they recover their humanity—their rescue is just the beginning. Since 2005 Free For Life International partners with local organizations to provide the following services: Border Monitoring Stations, (since this border station on the Nepal?India border opened in July 2010 99 girls have been rescued.
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To find out more about Free for Life International and the PRC Project, go to: https://freeforlifeintl.org/