ANTI-TRAFFICKING PROGRAMS
MOTHERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING (MAT)
Mothers Against Trafficking is a groundbreaking grassroots program that gives women practical training that they can use to stand against human trafficking in their villages. An extensive, three-month training 
program, Mothers Against Trafficking empowers women by encouraging mothers to form support groups and become advocates for their daughters in their communities.
ANTI-TRAFFICKING TRAINING PROGRAM
Our comprehensive, three-day Anti-Trafficking Training Program trains women, girls, and local church leaders to fight trafficking and educate others in their communities about the trafficking issue.
TRAFFICKING AWARENESS PROGRAM
Our Trafficking Awareness Program was initially facilitated exclusively by New Light Nepal employees. While staff members still run the program sometimes, it is increasingly facilitated by graduates of our Mothers Against Trafficking and Anti-Trafficking Training programs. In this one-day program, New Light Nepal staff and/or graduates visit villages and speak with people informally about human trafficking. Our conversations often focus on how parents can stand up for their children, and we emphasize the vital role of parents in ending trafficking. This simple but powerful program extends the reach of our training programs to create an anti-trafficking network with an extremely high success rate.
EDUCATION
Poverty and lack of opportunity leave children vulnerable to slavery in all its forms. Estimates place the number of child laborers in Nepal at more than 300,000. And every year, more than 16,000 girls are trafficked by land across the Indian border alone; this estimate does not include the girls who are trafficked through airports or forced into sex work in Nepal. Girls who manage to stay in their village are often forced into child marriage; more than 1.1 million Nepali girls between the ages of 10 and 14, and over 70,000 girls who are even younger, are already married. More than half of these child brides – and more that 80% of those younger than 10 – are in the southern area of Terai, one of New Light Nepal’s focus areas.
CHILD SPONSORSHIPS
Our annual Child Sponsorships allow very poor children to continue their education. Many parents send their children with traffickers simply because they have no other options. Supporting and educating these children keeps families together and children out of the hands of traffickers.
VILLAGE SCHOOLS
We also plant Village Schools in villages where children are most at risk. Many of these children do not go to school because they are “untouchable.” Teachers believe that teaching these children is a sin and humiliate them in front of the class to force them out. Our schools provide education for children without prejudice, decreasing the number of children sent off with traffickers.
LONG DISTANCE OUTREACH
RADIO JINGLES
Since New Light Nepal cannot visit every village in Nepal, we also work to find creative ways to warn people about trafficking. Our Radio Jingles bring the trafficking issue to the attention of 1.5 million people. This is a fast and easy way to raise awareness across Nepal, especially in remote villages that we are unable to visit.
BILLBOARDS
Billboards are another great way to spread information about human trafficking. In different areas of Nepal, we put up billboards with anti-trafficking messages that are seen every day and reach entire communities.