Nepal: Sex Work and HIV/AIDS

Nepal has a total population of 30,138,172 (mid 2009).1 Prostitution is illegal in the country, though, according to the government’s data, there are around 60,000 commercial sex workers in the country. It is estimated that 24,000 to 34,000 of these are female sex workers (FSWs), 20% are commercially sexually exploited children (around 10,000‐12,000) and the rest are male sex workers (MSWs) (around 12,000‐14,000).

The economic condition of Nepal drives many girls (some as young as nine years old) to be commercially sexually exploited. Poverty, in general, is the most commonly identified “push factor” instigating trafficking. In the direct sense, the lack of economic alternatives faced by women makes young girls particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Girls in Nepal are more susceptible to poverty and have limited access to education. The result is that women often lack economic alternatives and/or a proper understanding of the risks involved in trafficking.