DEC 18 - The world of ‘massage parlours’ is one shrouded in suspicion. These dark and dank spaces smell of sin. One anticipates stories of suffering, already exposed by the media, but seldom does one encounter a brave survivor. People here are masked in their roles as servers. Behind this guise lies a history of suffering barely within our power to conceive.
Eighteen-year-old Nima (name changed) has battled this world, and survived it. She is hesitant to give details, but recalls the day when she came to the Capital from her home in Sindhupalchok. A woman she used to call her aunt brought her here, selling typical dreams of making a better living. Nima’s aunt fed her, bought her fancy city clothes and helped her adjust to her new surroundings. She obviously loved it in the beginning.
Most stories of exploitation have a deeper history of suffering, and Nima’s is a chest full: at the tender age of eight, Nima was recruited as a guerrilla in the People’s Liberation Army. Her strong desire to avenge the deaths of her father and brother—both of whom were recruited by force and killed as pawns by the Nepal Army—won her over.
By the time she was 10, her small hands were given a gun. She wandered through the jungles with Maoist combatants searching for something unknown, but with a vision of revenge. But it slowly dawned upon her that her efforts were going nowhere. The insurgency ended in 2006 with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and Nima returned home.
Back home, she found her mother absconded, and her younger sisters abandoned. “I was ready to die as I had nothing to live for. But, then I thought of my two younger sisters and wanted to live for them,” says Nima, who swung from being a guerrilla to a mother in such a short time. She then came to the Capital in search of work to sustain her sisters and herself.
“After staying for some days at Aunty’s home, she suggested that I work in the massage parlour, where I could earn by performing some chores.”
And like all deceptive beginnings, her initial days at the parlour started with kind treatment. “The owner of the parlour only made me clean the floor and was so nice to me, but my fellow workers kept warning about dangerous consequences. I thought they were jealous of the owner’s favouritism towards me, and so I ignored their words.”
One day, her owner gave her a packet and asked her to massage a guy in the room.
“I had no choice but to obey. I thought the packet contained body oil for the massage, but when the client locked the room, I discovered it was a condom.”
Nima was raped by the client. She stayed in the room for an hour in a bleeding state, wondering how she could face her aunt. She howled out loud with pain, but the place was silent. Later, she mustered what courage she could and went home to her aunt. The aunt showed no surprise and told Nima matter-of-factly that she had to work at the parlour to make her living.
“My mind was completely numb—I couldn’t think of any alternatives, and so I went back to the parlour and became a sex worker.”
At the parlour, she was forced to work at odd hours and even when she was unwell.
“I was not permitted to go for a health check-up; also, I was underpaid and forced to do some tasks despite my will. I would drink, smoke and inhale narcotics to forget and suppress my pain.”
In October 2009, Nima came in contact with a field worker from Rakshya Nepal (RN)—an NGO for social networking, care and support for female sex workers and their children.
“It was difficult for Nima to overcome the trauma,” says Menuka Thapa, chairperson of RN. “But after regular counselling from the organisation, she slowly recovered her confidence.”
Nima is now studying in grade seven in her village. She also runs a tailor shop supported by RN at her house, and is successfully taking care of her younger sisters—her youngest sister has been provided with schooling facilities as well.
“The suffering I have faced in my life was all due to ignorance. In the future, I want to be a teacher and educate the girls of my village so they will not be exploited as I have been,” says Nima.
Like Nima, there are a total of 70,000 internally displaced people from the decade-long armed conflict. Fifty percent are reported to be women and girls who come to the Capital in search of better lives.
Nima’s tumultuous life has found some peace. One wonders what wounds remain unhealed, but hopes for the best. Like Nima, there are 115 other girls who have been rehabilitated by Rakshya Nepal since its inception in 2004. But thousands remain unheard and unknown, possibly, inside the dimly-lit rooms of the brothels that pose as massage parlours.
Posted on: 2010-12-18 09:46
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