Samrakshak Samuha Nepal (SASANE) was established in 2008 by female survivors of human trafficking on the principle that survivors have great potential to create social change. SASANE’s mission is to end the physical and sexual exploitation of women and children, ensure their legal rights, and empower them to live free and dignified lives. We are committed to directly supporting survivors of trafficking and women still employed in the sex industry and to ensuring that they receive justice.
SASANE has adopted a rights-based approach to break cycles of exploitation and victimization and address the conditions facilitating the recent increase in human trafficking and the explosive growth of Nepal’s night entertainment sector. SASANE’s innovative strategy of social change consults with and engages trafficking survivors in anti-trafficking activities to simultaneously transform the lives of other victims and tackle systemic inequality, exploitation, and injustice.
The strategies SASANE has employed to create systemic change include:

•Improving trafficking victims’ access to justice by providing critical legal support to vulnerable women (in Kathmandu and along the Nepal-India border)
•Providing professional skill development and trainings to enable trafficking survivors to become financially stable and begin the rehabilitation and reintegration process
•Sensitizing the police and government officials to women’s issues and pushing gender sensitivity as a priority for law enforcement agents and public defendants
•Targeting key legislation through advocacy work and policy recommendations
•Identifying causes and trends in trafficking through conducting original research
•Encouraging cooperation and collaboration between anti-trafficking NGOs through active participation in, and the creation of anti-trafficking networks and joint-programs with NGOs working on specific areas including HIV/AIDS, minors, and adult education