Qualitative Analysis of 400 Life Stories from Children and Young People Working in the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Nepal

CLARISSA (Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South‑Eastern Asia) is a large-scale research programme on the worst forms of child labour. It aims to identify, evidence, and promote effective multi‑stakeholder action to tackle the drivers of the worst forms of child labour in selected supply chains in Nepal and Bangladesh. This paper captures the perspectives of 400 children and young people working in the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) – mostly in the adult entertainment sector in Kathmandu, Nepal – to aid understanding about WFCL and how it can be brought to an end. Underpinning this paper is a thematic qualitative analysis of 400 life stories collected in locations where there is a high prevalence of work in the adult entertainment sector. This paper includes rich detail from those life stories and uncovers the micro-level detail and nuance within themes. The objective of this qualitative analysis was to build a stronger knowledge base on pathways into child labour and children’s lived experiences of child labour. This analysis should be considered as a companion analysis to the participatory collective analysis carried out by children themselves: Life Stories From Kathmandu’s Adult Entertainment Sector: Told and Analysed by Children and Young People.