NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Sold to brothels: Whanganui mother and daughter battle horrors of sex trafficking in Nepal

Jacob McSweeny
By Jacob McSweeny
Assistant news director·Whanganui Chronicle·
12 Oct, 2018 07:45 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Jen and Penny de Jongh with some of the kids at the Lighthouse Foundation Nepal.

Jen and Penny de Jongh with some of the kids at the Lighthouse Foundation Nepal.

Girls from Nepal are sold, sometimes before they're born, to a life of prostitution in India for as little as US$3 dollars.

That was one of the grim realities Penny and Jen de Jongh faced when they traveled to Kathmandu in September to volunteer for the Lighthouse Foundation Nepal there.

The mother and daughter duo spent two weeks helping the foundation's ministry look after 504 children.

Lighthouse Foundation Nepal goes into villages and rescues girls before they are sold to brothels in India - as young as 9 years old.

"That was the only way that families could come up with to raise money," Penny de Jongh said.

"Even just for a couple dollars, it was as low as $3," said Jen de Jongh.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Then once they would go to India, that was it. They wouldn't be able to send any money back to them.

"They were stoked when they got daughters because it meant that they had a little bit of income. Before they had even given birth, they said 'if this is a girl, [she is] going to be sold."

But the foundation has managed to rescue some girls from that fate and they were living in five big hostels, which is where the de Jonghs helped out.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They [the foundation] go into the village before they are a sellable age and ask the families - 'would you like your girls to come to Kathmandu and have an education?' They go back and visit their families every year but essentially their new family is in Kathmandu," said Penny de Jongh.

"They go to a school, are fed well and they have love, care and a future. They get taught that education is key. After school they can look for what they would like to do for a job."

The pair would help dish up meals of dahl, vege stew and rice at 7am and 6pm daily while also sweeping floors, mopping, cleaning shoes and washing clothes.

They also raised $7500 here, which they took with them to buy new clothes for the children. They were able to buy each girl a full outfit, including new shoes, for as little as NZ$10.

Discover more

New Zealand

CEO and mates hit marathon high in Nepal

29 Jun 11:00 PM

Some of the girls had been rescued after spending time in the Indian brothels and suffered from considerable trauma.

Penny de Jongh, who is trained as a nurse, was able to provide some care.

"One of them was having terrible nightmares because she'd just come out of the brothel," Jen de Jongh said.

"She was having flashbacks.

.
.

"[They had] a lot of the kind of gynaecological problems after the brothels," Penny said.

"Some of the days would just be sitting with them ... kind of just holding them and giving them love. Feeding them soup."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Penny de Jongh said it would take between six months to a year of psychological and physical recovery to get to a point where the girls could relax.

For many of the girls there, just hearing about Jen de Jongh's life and work as a cancer researcher at Gillies McIndoe Research Institute was an inspiration to hear and understand a girl could "change the world".

They say they could only get away for two weeks as Penny de Jongh had to come back for work but would like to return to help the foundation once again.

.
.
Penny and Jen de Jongh visited Kathmandu in September.
Penny and Jen de Jongh visited Kathmandu in September.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Very technical': Moto trials in the mud a blast of fun

07 Jul 01:52 AM
New ZealandUpdated

'Dearly loved' 21yo killed in Stewart Island hunting incident remembered

07 Jul 01:41 AM
New Zealand

The Country: 2025 Young Farmer of the Year, Hugh Jackson

07 Jul 01:39 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Very technical': Moto trials in the mud a blast of fun

'Very technical': Moto trials in the mud a blast of fun

07 Jul 01:52 AM

Top moto trial riders competed in mud and rain across 24 stages over two days near Napier.

'Dearly loved' 21yo killed in Stewart Island hunting incident remembered

'Dearly loved' 21yo killed in Stewart Island hunting incident remembered

07 Jul 01:41 AM
The Country: 2025 Young Farmer of the Year, Hugh Jackson

The Country: 2025 Young Farmer of the Year, Hugh Jackson

07 Jul 01:39 AM
Crown says Auckland murder victim removed knife from body, stabbed attacker before dying

Crown says Auckland murder victim removed knife from body, stabbed attacker before dying

07 Jul 01:23 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP