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In India, many young girls between 8-17 years are forced to abandon their childhood and step into adulthood. They are forced to become breadwinners and supplement their impoverished family’s income. Many of these young girls are threatened, beaten, starved and raped.
NO more. We are working to stop these young girls from being sexually exploited.
We?
Freedom Firm. An anti sex trafficking NGO on a mission to end the sex trafficking of minor girls in India.
How?
First, through rescue operations with the police. We will rescue these minors and forced majors from red light areas across India. Then when they are safe in shelter homes, we will counsel them, conduct life skills sessions and vocational training with them – teach them how to deal with their emotions, feelings, conflict, how to manage their time, budget, run a household.. For the ones who want to get back to school, we will help them enrol in school. For those who want to sit for their board examinations, we will provide extra coaching and for the rest of the survivors in the shelter home, we will provide them with vocational training and teach them different skills – jewellery design, making jute bags, handmade cards and stoles, tailoring, making phenyl, room fresheners, and liquid hand wash, cakes and chocolates, perfumed candles…
How do we know we will be able to accomplish all this?
Our track record, our tried and tested strategies that keep evolving based on the victim and survivor’s needs and commitment to this critical cause. We have been rescuing, restoring and seeking justice for victims and survivors of sex trafficking for the last 15 years. Our goal - to re-integrate them into society with confidence and skills so that they can live wholesome and productive lives while earning a good income for themselves and their families. We have rescued 803 girls and women from prostitution and impacted the lives of more than 3000 girls and women through our resotration programs, vocational training, adventure camps and community programs.
Our track record, our tried and tested strategies that keep evolving based on the victim and survivor’s needs and commitment to this critical cause. We have been rescuing, restoring and seeking justice for victims and survivors of sex trafficking for the last 15 years. Our goal - to re-integrate them into society with confidence and skills so that they can live wholesome and productive lives while earning a good income for themselves and their families. We have rescued 803 girls and women from prostitution and impacted the lives of more than 3000 girls and women through our resotration programs, vocational training, adventure camps and community programs.
Our field offices are in Pune, Nagpur, Ratlam, Allahabad and Kolkata – we work in red light areas in and around these cities and any other locations where we find minors are being forced into prostitution. Our restoration programs are currently being conducted in 11 shelter homes. Our social workers visit survivors who are released from shelter homes, to ensure they are faring well, gainfully employed and if required, provide them with medical assistance, connect them with employment opportunities and organise skill development training.
The pandemic and months of lockdown have worsened an already bleak situation – desperate parents have been selling minor children to traffickers who auction them off to brothels across India. The good news, we have been successful in rescuing many minors from brothels, equipping them with skills and ensuring the accused bail applications are rejected and victims get their day in court.
We don’t want the fire and spirit of these innocent and vulnerable young lives to die out. Will you be part of the exciting journey of rebuilding and reshaping them instead?
Funds raised will go towards our restoration programs in shelter homes in Mumbai, Pune, Karad, Nagpur, Allahabad, Meerut, Ratlam, Morena, Ujjain and Kolkata.
Funds raised will go towards our restoration programs in shelter homes in Mumbai, Pune, Karad, Nagpur, Allahabad, Meerut, Ratlam, Morena, Ujjain and Kolkata.
ACTIVITIES
87 life skill sessions | 4 vocational training sessions | 11 Year-end celebrations | 4 Workshops
A survivor’s bittersweet journey through restoration
In June 2018, we got a lead about Deepti, a young girl being forced into prostitution in a lodge in Mumbai. On 13 June 2018 along with the police, we raided the lodge. Deepti was rescued and three people were arrested. To us this young girl looked barely 17, but her medical reports later revealed that she was 22 years. Deepti was sent to a shelter home. A standard procedure for all victims rescued but within three weeks she was released back to her family. We continued to meet her and phone her regularly to ensure she was safe.
A survivor’s bittersweet journey through restoration
In June 2018, we got a lead about Deepti, a young girl being forced into prostitution in a lodge in Mumbai. On 13 June 2018 along with the police, we raided the lodge. Deepti was rescued and three people were arrested. To us this young girl looked barely 17, but her medical reports later revealed that she was 22 years. Deepti was sent to a shelter home. A standard procedure for all victims rescued but within three weeks she was released back to her family. We continued to meet her and phone her regularly to ensure she was safe.
In 2019, we had not heard from Deepti for a while. Finally in June 2019, we were able to reconnect. Deepti had married a man named Rohit and they were living in a tiny room in a slum in Mumbai. The couple fought often. Sometimes they fought because his relatives cut him off because he married someone from the flesh trade. Deepti was not invited for weddings or any social gatherings though Rohit was. He blamed her for the rift in the family. Rohit drank heavily and often beat her. She would immediately call our social worker who would counsel her and sometimes Rohit.
In April 2020, Deepti shared that she was pregnant. Pregnant and underweight. She asked if we could help her with milk and some special protein powder which we did. Due to the lockdown, she wasn’t able to visit a doctor either. She wasn’t able to go for any of the scans to ensure her baby was growing well. Rohit too was out of a job. For a few months we helped Deepti and her husband with groceries and protein powder. The last few weeks of her pregnancy, Deepti tested positive for Covid. She was admitted into a special Covid hospital for pregnant mothers. Since they needed money, her husband was working as a substitute driver and couldn’t be with her in the hospital. Through his absence and her illness and pregnancy, Deepti had a cheerful and sunny disposition. We called her everyday to cheer her up and to listen to her updates.
Early September 2020 Rohit called to share that Deepti delivered a healthy son. Both mother and son were well. Their finances were strained for many months as Rohit wasn’t able to get a steady job. In March 2021 he finally got a job as a driver and was paid quite well. Once the second wave of the pandemic hit, he lost that job. Soon the family once again were struggling financially. In May they started contemplating suicide. When a routine call with Deepti revealed her dark thoughts, we counselled her. In the following weeks we had online life skills sessions with Deepti on self-awareness, goal setting, women’s rights, emotional management. Deepti even joined our online workshop where she learned how to make room freshener, floor cleaner and liquid hand wash. We have visited Deepti a number of times-she keeps her home well. She is also a good mother who is taking good care of her son.
Deepti and Rohit invited us for their son’s first birthday and we were happy to be a part of it. Deepti is in constant touch with our social workers – reaching out to them when her child is sick, when she and her husband fight…She is keen to start a home business so she can add to their family’s income. She hopes that her husband and herself will be able to give their son a good life.
In April 2020, Deepti shared that she was pregnant. Pregnant and underweight. She asked if we could help her with milk and some special protein powder which we did. Due to the lockdown, she wasn’t able to visit a doctor either. She wasn’t able to go for any of the scans to ensure her baby was growing well. Rohit too was out of a job. For a few months we helped Deepti and her husband with groceries and protein powder. The last few weeks of her pregnancy, Deepti tested positive for Covid. She was admitted into a special Covid hospital for pregnant mothers. Since they needed money, her husband was working as a substitute driver and couldn’t be with her in the hospital. Through his absence and her illness and pregnancy, Deepti had a cheerful and sunny disposition. We called her everyday to cheer her up and to listen to her updates.Early September 2020 Rohit called to share that Deepti delivered a healthy son. Both mother and son were well. Their finances were strained for many months as Rohit wasn’t able to get a steady job. In March 2021 he finally got a job as a driver and was paid quite well. Once the second wave of the pandemic hit, he lost that job. Soon the family once again were struggling financially. In May they started contemplating suicide. When a routine call with Deepti revealed her dark thoughts, we counselled her. In the following weeks we had online life skills sessions with Deepti on self-awareness, goal setting, women’s rights, emotional management. Deepti even joined our online workshop where she learned how to make room freshener, floor cleaner and liquid hand wash. We have visited Deepti a number of times-she keeps her home well. She is also a good mother who is taking good care of her son.
Deepti and Rohit invited us for their son’s first birthday and we were happy to be a part of it. Deepti is in constant touch with our social workers – reaching out to them when her child is sick, when she and her husband fight…She is keen to start a home business so she can add to their family’s income. She hopes that her husband and herself will be able to give their son a good life.
