Maiti means “mother’s home”. It is a safe haven for those girls and women who have been rescued from brothels or taken from traffickers during the daily patrols at crossing points along the India-Nepal border.

Most of them are traumatised and will receive psychological and medical treatment. Some girls are able to return to their families while others become socially stigmatised due to their work as prostitutes, particularly if they are infected by HIV/AIDS.

These girls will stay at Maiti Nepal, go to school and later work there. Maiti’s ultimate goal is to help the girls and women become economically independent and reintegrate them into society.