#Ho Meri Bhi Pehchan#Be The Wind Beneath My Wings  


Reportedly, 95% of the sex workers in GB road were once young girls with aspirations who were abducted or brought in forcefully. Stuck in the shackles of the brothel owners, their identities are wiped, leaving them with no access to their basic civil rights as citizens. Stripped of their dignity, they are reduced to the image of immoral women and continue to be marginalised.

PROBLEM: 
2000 sex workers (Didis) residing in G.B Road, New Delhi don't possess essential documents like Aadhar, PAN, and Voter ID cards. With their impoverished lives dependent on the brothel owners, they have no identity and address proof to apply or update these documents. As a result, they do not have access to day-day needs such as ration, education, medical aid, banks or any other government welfare scheme.
With no income source and lack of access to social schemes during the Covid-19 pandemic, the community struggled for weeks without food, sanitation and medical supplies. This also exposed them more to the COVID-19 virus as they couldn’t access government vaccination drives.

SOLUTION:
To end this vicious chain of constant exploitation and vulnerability we at Maan Foundation wish to provide the DIDIs (Sex Workers) with social protection and citizenship rights that can go a long way in providing them with a safety blanket from these day-to-day atrocities.  


How can this be achieved?

• Conducting documentation drives for aiding fresh applications

• Provide documents, including Aadhar card, PAN card and Voter ID to our beneficiaries
• Updatation and correction of details
• Run awareness drives to inform them about
  -Protection from fraud & exploitation due to lack of knowledge
  -Precautions to be taken to safeguard their documents
  -Organising and protecting documents 
• Raise awareness and disseminate information on
  -Benefits and schemes that can be availed using their documents
  -Digitisation of documents and governmental processes

How will this benefit them?

• Enable their children to access education
• Access to social security and welfare schemes 
• Acquire medical aid and healthcare schemes
• Procure ration from government shops
• Become financially independent members by having access to bank accounts and financial aid
• Ability to break free of the exploitative debt cycles 
• Instil a sense of identity and safety in them

With your support, we were able to complete the first phase of the project. We could successfully collect extensive data from more than 300 women in the area. To strengthen our roots and the impact of the planned project we spent considerable time and effort in building trust, relationships and a safe space in the community. The grassroots leaders reached out in the community to individuals, and listened to and solved their document-related queries and difficulties.

For the second phase, we aim to provide documents for more than 200 sex workers in the next 6 months. We plan to initiate fresh enrollments, updating and correction, in most cases without relevant and supporting documents for Aadhar card, PAN card, bank account, voter ID and birth certificates.