Originally posted in March 2023; updated March 2025

In September 2022, Shanoli and her husband Adesh were living every parent’s worst nightmare: it had been over a week since their 18-year-old daughter Binita disappeared from their valley village in Nepal. Despite filing a missing persons report, the family was no closer to finding out what had happened to her. We can only imagine the weight of worry and fear that gripped them both.

Shanoli knew Binita had been spending time with a young man recently, but all attempts to reach him after her disappearance had failed. After eight excruciating days, one of Shanoli’s other daughters burst into the room. She’d just gotten a call from a Destiny Rescue (an organisation whose rescue work in Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines Child Rescue helps fund) border checkpoint: Binita had been found. 

The man she’d met the month prior was attempting to take her out of the country, but Destiny Rescue border agents stopped them before they could cross. The agents sensed something was off and decided to question the couple–it didn’t take long for them to find holes in their story, and the truth came out.

When agents called Binita’s family, they were relieved to hear that she’d been found and were anxious to be reunited. Binita was returned home safely. Though the trafficker was sent to the police, her family decided not to press charges to protect Binita from social stigma. Their family was whole again, but the trafficker walked free.

Had her trafficker attempted to lure her out of the country a couple of months earlier, Binita might have disappeared forever. Fortunately, agents rescued Binita at one of Destiny Rescue’s border checkpoints just a few weeks after it opened.

Rescue at the border

Along the Nepal border, fearless women endure harsh weather and scorching temperatures to search for victims of human trafficking. These trained operatives work at border checkpoints across the country to stop pedestrians, motorists and public buses leaving the country to look for traffickers trying to smuggle their victims across the border.

When they spot something suspicious, such as a nervous girl travelling with an older man, they have the authority to question the subjects. They can even call the national armed border guard if a suspect becomes belligerent. 

Since most traffickers instruct their victims to lie if stopped, Destiny Rescue agents have been trained on tactics that help them uncover the truth. Often, the lies quickly fall apart once they separate the suspect from the victim and interview each member more closely. Because of their diligence, our border checkpoints have rescued 1,380 people in 2024 alone. That’s an average of at least three people saved each day! 

The work they’ve done hasn’t gone unnoticed. 

Nepali authorities, eager to protect their citizens from trafficking, often aid Destiny Rescue agents or even utilise their operatives in their investigations. Because of their track record of success in reuniting families, many communities recognise Destiny Rescue agents and now report suspicious activity directly to them!

The need is great

Binita was one of the fortunate ones, but thousands of young women and children go missing after being coerced across the border of Nepal each year. Due to how common it is for victims to feel the shame of community stigma, 98% of survivors did not press charges against their trafficker in 2024—leaving a startling 1,243 traffickers free in the year alone. This painful reality makes it difficult for survivors to press charges and is a stark reminder of how important it is for Destiny Rescue agents to remain at the border to rescue their next victims and help educate them and their families about the importance of charging perpetrators and preventing exploitation in the future.

Join us in our endeavor to stop all human trafficking across the Nepal border. 

Names have been changed to protect identities.