Did you know that only 1% of all people who have been trafficked are ever rescued? It’s been said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Nowhere is this truer than with trafficking. To end trafficking in India and around the world, it must be stopped at the source. We must hold Indian women and girls back from ever being taken, so they stay safely at home and never need rescue.
When Jiyana was 8 years old, a trafficker came to her small village and told her impoverished family she was so beautiful that she should be in the movies. They gave Jiyana’s family 2,000 to 3,000 rupees, which is $25 to $40, about what it would cost to sponsor her mom in a class for a year. The trafficker told Jiyana’s family he would take good care of her and would continue to send them money every month from her earnings. Jiyana’s family likely didn’t know what would happen to her, or they were so crushingly poor they rationalized their decision, as many impoverished families do. They gave eight-year-old Jiyana to the trafficker, and the trafficker took Jiyana to a brothel in northeastern India.
The communities we serve, impoverished and illiterate lower castes, are most vulnerable to trafficking. With your support, Sister India is raising awareness about trafficking and giving students and their communities the tools they need to protect the vulnerable among them. In addition to training students and their communities about the signs and dangers of trafficking, Sister India classes also equip them to effectively prevent it. As the students learn to read, write, do math, and run their own home-based businesses, families are lifted above the poverty level, alleviating the terrible financial pressure to traffic their own children. Together, community members band together to stop traffickers.
By raising trafficking awareness among vulnerable families and communities and giving them the tools they need to resist it, we help stop the massive flow of lives into destruction, so rescue is never needed.
