After a devastating earthquake in Nepal in 2015, hundreds of thousands of people lost life, home, property, employment, and livelihood and fell into extreme poverty. The quake's strongest impact was in rural areas making the responses extremely challenging. Together with other many hardships, cases of human trafficking, child labor, and domestic violence emerged and increased in the most earthquake-hit districts. Nepal faced one of the biggest challenges of the century.
Some professional and activist women working against modern slavery in Nepal came together and landed in a decision that together with many other recovery plans, educating at-risk populations on the possible risks of modern slavery and advocating for the rights of survivors is key. Not only that, economic sustainability is important more than ever for prevention A profit- making company named 'PURPLE GROUP' was founded in 2017, which piloted a 'bakery project' in Sindhupalchok district in 2018-19, bringing nine survivors into action with the skill and empowerment needed to sustain a life being empowered mentally, socially, and economically.
The 'bakery' model was working well. However, it could not succeed with replication as expected. The world faced an unexpected attack by the COVID-19 pandemic, and so did Nepal. Nepal's government announced a countrywide 'lockdown', borders were a shield, as a result, migrants from India and the gulf were stranded at the India-Nepal border, which included men, women, with children with no more source of income. The government failed to address the gendered need of the quarantine centers. With each passing day, cases of violence against women in many parts of the country also started to emerge. A woman was gang raped at a quarantine center, and stories of domestic violence and unfavorable living situations at mismanaged quarantine centers were plastered all over the news.
Purple, despite all risks, jumped into lending assistance to vulnerable women, children, lactating mothers, and returning migrants with a 'Purple Jhola' consisting of basic needs such as sanitary pads, baby food, mask, basic medicine, family planning contraceptives, etc. Purple gathered funds from around the world, using social media and 'go fund' accounts. It reached out to more than 10 districts and over 3000 most vulnerable populations. Together with this, Purple did policy advocacy for gender-friendly services and policies addressing COVID-19,achieving some concrete results. PURPLE GROUP also establish a foundation called 'PURPLE FOUNDATION' in 2019.
The journey was constant during the lockdown period with online webinars and discussions, and training on online safety, mental health, the risk of modern slavery, and contemporary issues. Eventually, Purple became fortunate to have a lot of partners, funders, supporters, and well-wishers joining our movement in different ways which made our journey possible to continue to date. The country was slowly getting back to shape after the devastating earthquake, COVID pandemic again deteriorate the situation. New challenges emerged with changing context. Purple is continuously trying to play a crucial role in terms of promoting social justice, and gender equality, and to fulfill its dream of 'creating a slavery-free society'.
The journey to freedom continues!