Runaway girls who arrive at Mumbai Central station are at high risk from prostitution and domestic slavery. The project provides care, counselling, repatriation and education for 200 runaway girls.
Every year about 200 girls (aged 16-24) arrive at Mumbai Central station from throughout India. Some are runaways, pursuing Bollywood stardom, or have eloped with a boyfriend who then deserts them. Others are escaping violence, or an early or abusive marriage. A girl arriving alone is vulnerable: her disorientation makes her easy to spot. She is quickly approached by a brothel agent posing as a friendly stranger. Research suggests she has only 15 minutes before she is swept up and disappears.
Providing a safety net to help these vulnerable girls regain their dignity and provide them with necessary life-skills through station outreach, day and night shelters, vocational skills; healthcare, counseling and reunification with their families.
To enable these girls to regain their dignity, recover from the trauma they have experienced, prevent their disappearance into prostitution, and provide the emotional, psychological support and life-skills they need to move towards independence.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
