The Hidden Link Between Poverty and Human Trafficking in Nepal

May 29, 2025 | News

In the hills and valleys of Nepal, where the snow-capped Himalayas frame the horizon, a quieter crisis is unfolding — one that’s stealing childhoods and futures in silence.

Human trafficking is not just a criminal act. It’s a consequence. A consequence of poverty, of marginalisation, of the heartbreaking choices families are forced to make when there are no safe options.

According to recent data, an estimated 1.9 million people in Nepal are vulnerable to human trafficking, with 7,000 to 12,000 children trafficked every year, most of them girls (Nepal Khabar, 2024). Many are lured with false promises of jobs, education, or marriage. Others are simply taken from their villages.

But the traffickers are not the starting point. The real beginning is far more systemic, and often starts with multidimensional poverty.

When we think of poverty, we often think primarily of financial poverty, but poverty isn’t just about a lack of money. It’s a complex web of challenges that affect nearly every part of a person’s life. 

Multidimensional poverty looks beyond income to understand the full reality of hardship, including limited access to education, clean water, healthcare, nutrition, electricity, safe housing, and personal security. It also includes systemic barriers such as discrimination, isolation, and environmental risks.

When we only measure poverty by income, we miss the deeper struggles that keep people trapped in cycles of disadvantage. Multidimensional poverty gives us a broader, more accurate view of what families are really facing, and what it takes to create lasting change.

Because financial resources alone are not the only risk factors that make women and children vulnerable to being trafficked and forced into exploitation. Without equal access to education, health support and basic infrastructure, the hardships of financial poverty are drastically compounded. 

In Pokhara many families survive on less than $2 a day, and even for those who live above the financial poverty line, caste and gender discrimination can often block access to educational opportunities. The combination of low literacy rates, economic hardship, and deeply rooted gender inequality makes children, especially girls, extremely vulnerable to exploitation in Nepal. 

When a trafficker arrives with promises of employment in India or a marriage to a seemingly wealthy man, it can sound like salvation, not just for the potential victim, but for their families who are often struggling to support them.

Traffickers prey on vulnerability, and education is an antidote to vulnerability.

A child who is educated is:

• Less likely to believe false promises.
• More likely to know their rights and recognise risky situations.
• More equipped to build a future through safe employment and independence.

But education isn’t just about schooling. 

For human trafficking survivors who were unable to access school education, vocational training and small business education can offer life changing opportunities for self-sufficiency and self-determination.

By ensuring survivors have the opportunity to earn livable wages and pursue self-sufficiency in safe employment, the risk of re-exploitation and being re-trafficked is greatly reduced. 

Whether it’s through school or vocational training, an individual’s capacity to earn livable wages safely, and have self-determination over their future breaks the cycle of poverty that keeps families and generations trapped and vulnerable to trafficking, and instead builds pathways to freedom and opportunity.

Prevention is possible, and it’s already happening.

While many organisations focus on rescuing survivors (and this is crucial), education is absolutely fundamental to breaking the cycle before it begins. Our Field Partner 3 Angels Nepal is focused on a thorough and integrated approach to education, because they have seen first hand the generational change and systemic shifts that can occur when the poverty cycle is broken.

Within their impressive scope of work, 3 Angels Nepal provide a range of educational initiatives including:

• A mixed-model primary and secondary school: to provide free education to vulnerable children and child survivors, alongside fee-paying students from the community. The school actively breaks down barriers within the caste system, and fights ingrained stigma and attitudes towards survivors.
• Vocational training for human trafficking survivors: rescued women from the Women’s Safe Haven learn vocational skills through the 3 Angels Nepal bakery, beauty salon, tailoring school and printing press. These skills help survivors develop self-sufficiency and reduce risk of re-exploitation.
• Community Radio Station: to deliver radio education programs teaching people about trafficking, how it happens and how to stay safe. As radio is the most powerful and effective tool for communication in Nepal, this initiative plays a critical role in educating rural and at-risk communities.
• Hamro Abhiyan: a powerful, youth-led education and awareness program developed by 3 Angels Nepal to prevent human trafficking. Using drama, storytelling, and community engagement, it equips at-risk individuals — especially those aged 13 to 35 — with the knowledge and tools to recognise and avoid trafficking. The program reaches schools, police, army units, and local communities

By delivering critical education initiatives 3 Angels Nepal are cutting off trafficking at the root. 

Their work is designed to directly address many layers of multidimensional poverty — not just income, but the lack of education, opportunity, and safety that make children vulnerable to trafficking. 

By investing in education, vocational training, and community awareness, they’re breaking systemic barriers that keep communities trapped in cycles of exploitation. This is not just about delivering freedom for a few, it’s about protecting human rights for generations.