Keep children safe from traffickers in India

Dear Global Givers,                        

Like objects, children are bought and sold, even in present day. This is the sad reality we witness in a country like India where every eight minutes a child goes missing in India. Child trafficking affects thousands of people in India every year, robbing them of their rights to grow and live in a safe and conducive environment.

The Every8Minutes campaign continues to raise awareness about the plight of children across India by garnering support with partner organisations to combat this modern day slavery.

Madhu* was trafficked at 15 years. After her mother passed away, Madhu lived with her grandmother since her stepmother did not want to look after her. Her aged grandmother worked as a daily wage labourer earning a mere £1 per day, which was not enough for both of them. Madhu then started working as a daily wage labourer where she befriended a lady who later lured her to traffickers. Madhu was threatened, sexually abused and forced to service 6-7 clients in a day. Finally, after months of mental and physical trauma, Madhu was rescued with the help of The Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA). She is currently residing at APSA’s shelter home where she is receiving counselling and informal education. APSA’s team is encouraging her to pursue her studies and also learn alternative livelihood skills which will help her to earn and live independently. Her case has been registered and she is waiting for her perpetrators to be prosecuted.

As part of Every8Minutes campaign, our partner organisation The Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) celebrated International Women’s Day in Bangalore with trafficking survivors. More than 150 people attended the event where the girls embraced their freedom by performing dance, song and street play. Survivors use dance as a therapy to overcome their trauma. Performing in public also helps them boost their confidence to reintegrate back to the society.

Our support to APSA since 2013 has enabled many child trafficking survivors to be rescued and rehabilitated. Currently, APSA provides shelter, education and skill training to 32 rescued girls aged between 15-19 years. Bangalore is becoming a hub for child trafficking. Young girls and children are often lured to the big cities with a false promise of better lives.

"Child trafficking has increased since it is taking different forms day by day. Two hundred eighty-nine cases have come to us this year for bonded labour, child labour and sexual assault", Savita, Programme Coordinator, APSA.

Of an estimated 20 million commercial sex workers in India, 16 million women and girls are victims of sex trafficking, according to non-governmental organisations working in the country. Investigations, prosecutions and convictions for human trafficking continue to remain low in India even though the government has stepped up its law enforcement efforts.

Despite the grim statistics, we remain hopeful that children can still have a chance to live a decent life, grow with dignity and be protected from traffickers. We are encouraged and humbled because supporters like you have helped fund the life change of hundreds of children affected by human trafficking and modern slavery.

For this, we thank you and urge you to continue to support the Every8Minutes campaign.

Forever in gratitude for your support,

iPartner India Team

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the girls

Dear Global Givers,                  

A very happy 2017 from all of us at iPartner India.

We are excited to begin the New Year by renewing our commitment to work hard to improve as many lives as we can in the months to come.

We are making a difference for girls like *Nazia, *Manjali and *Jaya who have been rescued from trafficking and are trying to rebuild their lives.

For Manjali, 19, now back home with her parents in a remote village at the Indo-Bhutan border, the way out of poverty is to become self-reliant. Her dream is to set up a shop to sell traditional 'makhela chaddor' sarees.

Jaya now resides in a shelter home and has returned to her studies.She is currently studying for her 10th standard board exams and wishes to pursue further studies. 

And as for Nazia, she grew up in a brothel with a couple she thought were her parents. Tortured and forced into the sex trade from the age of 12, by the time she was 14, Nazia had had two abortions and given birth to a son. Now 15, her dream of a 'good education' can only be fulfilled in a private school. When asked what she would like to become when she grows up, she proudly says “I will work hard and become a police officer so that I can stop bad people from trafficking young girls like me.”

At 14 million people, India has the highest number of enslaved people in the world, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index Report.

One out of every third enslaved Indian is a child.

40,000 children are kidnapped every year in India and it takes only 48 hours for a street kid to be lured into prostitution.

Your continued commitment and support will enable girls like Nazia, Manjali and Jaya to follow their chosen paths towards independence and freedom from fear.

We are relying on you Global Givers, to take the girls to the victory line and help them in giving a second chance to live their lives with dignity, free from fear and oppression.

Imagine how a small contribution will make you such a happy part of the story of these three young girls. And imagine how the joy you give will come back many times over for you and your loved ones.

Forever in gratitude for your support,

iPartner India Team

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the girls