In the poorest parts of India, adolescent Dalit girls face the double barriers of caste and gender discrimination. This project works with partners across India to keep young girls out of arranged marriages and safely in school. Your donation will help buy school supplies, fund educational hostels and create community groups to ensure that girls are protected and safe to continue their education.
Many adolescent girls in the poorest parts of India are socially destined to become teenage wives, effectively property of the husband's family, spending their lives as household labourers where systematic physical and sexual abuse is common. Financially struggling parents often feel obligated to prioritise the education of their sons - meaning their daughters too often get left behind.
Your donation provides school materials and support groups that their parents are not able to provide. For girls who cannot access quality education locally, our residential hostels provide holistic education in a safe and nurturing environment to give young women from extremely poor backgrounds the tools they will need to build an independent future for themselves and become leaders.
You will be helping Karuna to continue working directly with schools to create girls' groups; they can then travel together safely and learn about other topics like women's health, which can be difficult to access in rural India. We help create groups for the parents too, ensuring education is prioritised. Alumni from our hostels continue into further education and professional jobs, thus transforming the lives of their family and establishing themselves as strong community leaders.
