From the sex trade and servile marriage to forced manual labour, victims of human trafficking encompass all cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Traffickers target those most vulnerable in our society.

According to the Walk Free Foundation, there are an estimated 40.3 million people enslaved worldwide. Newcastle University is taking a hard stance in the fight against this epidemic. Freedom is a basic human right and should be protected without question or hesitation. Those who have been liberated face hardship and alienation. Newcastle University is trying to help.

In 1996, Newcastle University helped 148 Nepalese survivors of human trafficking by aiding with their recovery. After being rescued, the women’s troubles sadly didn’t end there. They were labelled as prostitutes and HIV carriers. Shunned by their families and communities because of the stigma from their ordeal, these women, having nowhere else to turn, often end up on the streets.

Dr. Meena Poudel, former Director of Oxfam in Nepal and an alumna of Newcastle University, was so inspired by the work of Professors Nina Laurie, Diane Richardson, and Dr. Janet Townsend that she decided to support these survivors.

“Our project has been a co-production from the beginning”, says Dr. Poudel. “From our first meeting with Shakti Samuha, they told us they wanted to be the authors of their own stories, and our role was to guide them through the process and show them how to carry out their own research to bring about change.”

But this particular group of women from Nepal, aged just 15 to 18 years, have fought back. Setting up the first ever non-governmental organisation to be founded by survivors of trafficking, they boldly named it Shakti Samuha which means Power Group. 

The Newcastle team worked with the survivors, helping the women build new lives and change public perceptions about survivors of trafficking. This project was also instrumental in the creation of the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2007, which was founded to help combat this cruel trade. This law is designed to protect the rights of women rescued from trafficking and to prevent them from being exploited.

Newcastle University’s major research project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, carried out in partnership with Shakti Samuha and the International Organisation for Migration Mission in Nepal, was one of the first in the world to systematically analyse women’s experiences after they have been trafficked.

Shakti Samuha is now represented on the National Committee in Controlling Human Trafficking. The group is lobbying to revise citizenship laws to allow survivors and their children recognition as a citizen with rights separate from their fathers or husbands. Currently, without the permission from a male family member basic services and schooling are withheld.