HER FUTURE RESOURCE CENTERS
A safe space for children growing up in red light areas.
Help us raise $50,000 to provide shelter, education and opportunity to 350 children and 150 women
HFC, working closely with local grassroots partners, operates five Resource Centers for children growing up in the red light areas of Kolkata.
WHAT IS A
RESOURCE CENTER?
The Resource Centers offer safe space, and holistic services, to kids children growing up in red light areas. We also provide counseling and vocational programs for mom, many of whom were trafficked into the area as young teens, and are still working in prostitution because they have no other means to take care of their children.
THE PROBLEM
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Women and children in the red light areas of India are subject to inhumane conditions, violence and oppression. Without support, it is almost impossible for them to break out of the cycle of violence and poverty.
Women who are victims of human trafficking and repeated rape experience severe trauma, and health issues such as TB, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. The damage to their mental health and self-esteem is extreme. Women who spend decades being exploited in red light areas face an even harsher fate as they age. When they are no longer young and healthy enough to attract even the lowest-paying clients, they are literally cast out on the streets, where many live on scraps of cardboard begging for food. 98% of women in brothels in India are illiterate, because most were trafficked as children.
Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation is an international human rights crisis, and India is an epicenter of the problem. An estimated 18 million of the world’s enslaved population is in India.6 There are 5 red light areas in Calcutta alone, with a population of at least 100,000 women and children.
Children growing up in the red light area are highly vulnerable to sexual assault by their mothers’ clients or by groups of men seeking sexual services who crowd the streets of the red light area every night. 90% of girls and 75% of boys growing up in the red light area have been sexually abused by the age of eight. Without intervention, most girls end up trafficked alongside their mothers. The red light areas of India are also hot spots for other gender violence issues, such as child marriage, rape and severe domestic violence.
Pinky is 9 years old. She lives near one of our Red Light Resource centers. When we say she lives nearby, we mean she literally sleeps on the same street. Pinky, her brother and her mother do not have a regular place to stay. They are what is called ‘pavement dwellers’ – in
the red light area. Pinky’s mom is no longer young and healthy. She has TB, so it is hard for her to attract customers and she has to agree to more violent sexual practices, and rent a room by the hour when she gets a customer. Pinky has learned to always lay face down when she sleeps, and to cover her head and body with a sheet to disguise the fact that she is a girl. Otherwise, men will come and lay on top of her to assault her while she is sleeping.
Because of the Resource Centers, Pinky now has a safe place to stay when her mother is working. She has been able to go to school for the first time through our sponsorship program. Her dream is to become a police officer so she can protect children and women in her community.
OUR SOLUTIONS
Through this campaign, our goal is to grow and support our five Red Light Area Resource Centers. Each of the Centers has its own unique vibe and services – depending on the needs of the women and kids using it. All Centers offer safe space, education support, counseling, and therapeutic arts for children, and job training, counseling, supportive community and remedial education for women.
The Resource Centers serve 450 women and children in three Calcutta red light areas, Sonagachi, Bowbazar and Kidderpore.
Through this campaign with a goal of $50,000, we aim to do the following:
Increase the number of children we serve
Add education programs, especially English language and Computers
Enhance programs with additional materials and staff
Increase the number of women in Economic Independence programs
Purchase and refurbish a building, so we can add kids and offer more services
HOW OUR RESOURCE CENTERS CHANGE LIVES
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Children’s lives improve when they have a safe place to study, play, or simply find safe shelter while their mothers are seeing clients. These spaces will make it possible for them to stay in school and make it far less likely for them to be abused.
School sponsorships, remedial education, preschool, tutoring and enrichments enable red light area kids to stay in school, or to start or return to school, and to be successful in their education.
Red light families share one room in a brothel, so it is very dangerous for children to remain at home while their mothers are seeing clients. Many children have been abused because a client tired of the mother and simply reached for her young child instead. The streets in the red light area are also not safe for children, because from late afternoon into the night hours, they are thronged with raucous, drunken men seeking sexual services.
Women’s lives improve when they gain the skills and the necessary support to earn a livelihood outside of the sex trade/exploitation. Through this campaign, we will offer job training, financial literacy and life skills training to women (Bakery/Cafe Management, Jewelry Design & Metalsmithing, Sewing, Beautician, Computers/Spoken English). Women choose the training that best meets their needs and interests, and gain the skills, confidence, and economic advantage to overcome extreme poverty and social stigma, and to support their children.
With counseling, awareness of their human rights and supportive community, women and children can heal and begin to envision a brighter future for themselves and their families.