With increasing development and a surplus of agricultural labourers, the traditional practice of economic sustenance has been losing its appeal in Yunnan province. Rural inhabitants are easily inclined to migrate in hopes of earning larger incomes and improving their meagre standards of living. The motivating migration factors are even greater for ethnic minority girls in remote, impoverished areas who have limited access to education and are attracted to a city life that, compared to picking tea leaves, appears easier and more glamorous.

But for years, many girls have been picked up by traffickers because they aren’t aware of the risks associated with migration and lack support structures throughout the migration process. (Some trafficked girls never meant to migrate and were abducted from their community or sold by a family member; but they are a minority of cases.)