Cabin Restaurants

Some of you have heard about the research project I have been doing. This has been among the ‘Cabin Restaurants’ along one stretch of road here in Kathmandu. Cabin restaurants are restaurant/bars where each booth is partitioned off, so it is difficult to see in. The restaurants offer food, drink and along with it, the company of a woman. These restaurants are very common in Kathmandu, though they are officially illegal. My research has been to find out about the girls who work in these restaurants and what circumstances led them to this line of work. Almost all of these girls come to Kathmandu from their villages. Most are between the ages of 19-25, but I met some as young as 16 and as old as 39. These women are uneducated. About 60% are divorced. Their husbands having married another woman kicked them out and forced them to fend for themselves. The girls come to Kathmandu to find respectable work. Maybe they think they can find labor jobs, house cleaning or factory work. Once in Kathmandu the reality of their situation is realized. Already labeled a “divorced and uneducated village woman” (pretty much the four worst things you can be) it is very difficult to find work. In fact, it is next to impossible. The girls eventually find their way to cabin restaurants. They are given a salary of about 2,500 Rupees a month ($40.00) which is about half of what is needed to survive. They are usually given food by either the restaurant or the customers who come in. In this way they are close to being able to keep their heads above water. The customers who visit the restaurants are all very different. Some are young, 15 year olds others are very old. If it is their first visit, they will sit down and one of the girls will sit with him. He will usually order food (and drinks and cigarettes) for two. During his visit, he is allowed to fool around with the girl. If he likes her, he will some times tip her, and when he comes back as a regular she will always sit with him. The girls will work about 12 hours a day, seven days a week. They get no days off and if they are sick or have to be gone for any reason, she is usually docked pay. About half of the girls are prostitutes, sleeping with these guests either at the tables, or after hours. The stigma of these woman is that she is a pollutant. If her family finds out what she is doing, she will be excommunicated. If she were to find other work, or get married, and her husband or employer found out, she would be kicked out, immediately. It is thought that once a cabin girl she is bad for life. If she works in a hotel, she would try to pick up on the men, try to make them be unfaithful. This is a terrible cycle. Some of these girls have children. How can she afford education for these kids? How can she find a new job when everyone looks down on her. How can she get an education when she is at work from nine to nine. Would you pray for these women, and others who work in Dance Restaurants and Massage Parlors. Pray that God would show himself to her in a new way, as a lover who is kind and isn’t there to take from her, but to add to her life. Pray for more organizations who rehabilitate and rescue sexually exploited women to begin work in Nepal. Pray for stricter laws and those that enforce this illegal business. Thanks friends!