Save runaway girls from human trafficking

From Surviving to Thriving... Meet Sara, a programme co-ordinator and case manager from URJA (our partner organisation)

After volunteering in a school for children, with parents from marginalised communities, experiencing extreme poverty and forced to work as sex-workers or selling and using drugs, Sara built a curiosity for research into mental health and substance abuse prevention. She pursued a degree in clinical psychology, keen to give back to the communities she had worked alongside in her youth, especially women. 

"This sparked from the personal journey I have been through, and the personal trauma I have experienced. I realised that we are targeting the children, but forgetting what families and backgrounds they are coming from. When I came across URJA, I realised that working with women is essential to bringing about that change. Women are majorly seen in the nurturing and motherly role, here in India, in the culture that we have, in the patriarchal system that we have, its very important to target the family system, the mothers, to work on their trauma so it is not passed down and to work with children to grow as individuals... we want the child to also feel part of the whole process...we do need a lot of resources for that for sure. We need more resources."

Sara shares that growing up she hated being a girl and wished to be a boy, knowing that her family would be happier if that were so. "The love and care that my brother received, I also wanted to receive it myself." Even as she grew into a woman, she hated that also and the oppression and expectation that came with gendered roles of being a woman.

It was only until she moved to Mumbai and "took charge of my own life", that things began to transform for Sara. She began to live on her own whilst studying her masters, which she noted is very unusual for a woman and during that time alone to reflect away from her family, she noticed that "the child in me, was hidden still, crying for help." This recognition of her upbringing being unfair and that she only ever wished to be treated equal to her brother came to the surface. "I thought it was love and care I was asking for, but I was actually asking for equal rights." This drove her to support other women like herself who had experienced neglect and abuse from their parents and despite them being against her career choice and studies, she began to work for URJA.

"They are like me and have experienced the same as me" Sara shares, in solidarity with the women she works to support. "Give someone support based on their needs and not on their gender."

Sara is just one of the many awe-inspiring women who work at URJA every day to provide personalised support to women and their children who are forced to runaway. She is looking forward to seeing how her personal experiences and expertise in mental health can nurture even more women and disrupt the generational flow of trauma. In her spare time she enjoys writing poetry and is pursuing publication also. 

Watch Sara's story here

Thanks to you, women like Sara can work in Karuna-funded projects and be given access to the resources they need to deliver the most exceptional care to survivors and become advocates for change, encouraging them to truly thrive.

Thank you.