Ending Large Scale Sex Trafficking in India

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted young girls in multiple ways. While the family vulnerability increased, they also are becoming more susceptible to traffickers who are using innovative ways to exploit. We remain steadfast in our aim to create Safe Villages by increasing awareness about sex trafficking and child marriage through our Safe Village Program and are working towards making villages in India safe.

To date, we have reached more than 5,000 villages across 8 states in India- Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. We have empowered more than 2,590,000 people to spot signs of trafficking and report any instances of trafficking or child marriage. Our program uses a customized comic book to create awareness about sex trafficking. We distributed more than 1,310,000 comic books which also has our Anti-Trafficking Helpline number that people can call to report cases of trafficking or child marriage. 

Testimonial from the field: 

One of the mothers after attending the SVP said that, “We thought of getting my daughter married. Many of our neighbours knew about it. But now we are informed that early marriage is a punishable act, and I assure you that, till my daughter is 18 years of age, we will not talk about it. I want my daughter to attend the school like other children”.

Through our Safe Village Program, we have also been empowering people to use our Helpline to report instances of trafficking and child marriage. We have received more than 51,000 calls through our anti-trafficking helpline to report trafficking and child marriage. Our team then takes the complaint forward with assistance from local authorities to help the families. 

To ensure the sustainability of our Safe Village Program, we enlist volunteers as custodians of the Safe Village. We have more than 2,000 Rakshaks (Field Volunteers) across 8 states who are the eyes and ears of the village. They are vigilant and spot signs of trafficking and child marriage, report them and assist the survivor with the help of local authorities. 

We have also enlisted more than 200 Nodal Teachers who have taken on the role of keeping the children of the village safe and ensuring they are given a holistic education. 

And finally, we have more than 1,100 passionate Gram Mitras (Friend of the village) who help in conducting home visits and support in the rehabilitation of survivors of trafficking. They also assist in identifying and preventing domestic violence in the communities. 

Testimonial from our Gram Mitra:

One of our Gram Mitra’s is also a Ma Sitola Temple (local temple) board member, a woman who cares for her village and wishes to keep it safe - 

"I am attending this programme for the first time and I liked it. I am thankful to the Red Alert team for thinking about our society during this pandemic.  Today our village people received very important awareness through this programme. I heartily wish that you continue this programme and I am promising you to help in any way possible. Thank you."

Our wide network of Rakshaks, Nodal Teacher and Gram Mitras have helped us ensure that villages are safe and the awareness is sustained after the completion of the Safe Village Program. 

If you spot any signs of trafficking or child marriage please give us a missed call on 1800 419 8588 and our team will respond to assist you. 

Operation Red Alert of My Choices Foundation has been conducting Safe Village Programs and re-visits in the communities to end large scale sex trafficking in India. Through our Safe Village Program, we have reached more than 4,600 villages across 8 states in India- Rajasthan, Maharastra, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. We have empowered more than 2,490,000 people to spot signs of trafficking and report any instances of trafficking or child marriage. Our program uses a customized comic book to create awareness about sex trafficking. We distributed more than 1,230,000 comic books which also has our Anti- Trafficking Helpline number that people can call to report cases of trafficking or child marriage. 

Testimonial from the field: 

Mohan*, one of the people who attended the Safe Village program was delighted to hear about our Anti-Trafficking Helpline and said, “It is good news for us that we have someone to call in case of social issues”. 

*Name changed to protect the identity

Anti- Trafficking Helpline

We operate an Anti-Trafficking Helpline: 1800 419 8588 that the community can use to report suspicious activity or suspected trafficking. We have received more than 1,500 calls since October 2020. Calls have also poured in from states like Assam, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh where we have not conducted our awareness programs. This is a testament to our work and the awareness of people about the issue of sex- trafficking.  These calls are being managed by our State Coordinators and our NGO partners. Our helpline is backed by a strong network of partner NGOs, government bodies, law enforcement, and safe houses. Through our helpline services, we were able to identify 38 instances of trafficking which are being looked into by our NGO partners and appropriate government agencies. 

Radio Programs 

As COVID-19 restricted our field programs, we quickly adopted mass media to educate the communities on sex trafficking. With more than 1,000 hours of programming time, we reached 2,76,325 people across 100 villages with our radio programs. These programs proved beneficial when we started receiving calls from people to report instances of trafficking after listening to our awareness programs via radio. 

COVID-19 Relief 

The pandemic saw a rise in the cases of sex trafficking and domestic violence. This gave rise to a pandemic within a pandemic. We conducted awareness programs in remote locations in Maharastra about domestic violence, sex trafficking, and the safety regulations regarding the pandemic. Through our programs in the past three months, we have reached more than 17,000 people. While conducting these programs we were able to identify families in dire need of support. We provided relief to 275 families by distributing food kits. 

Custodians of the Safe Village 

To ensure the safety of the villages, we enlist Rakshaks, Gram Mitras, and Nodal Teachers who sustain the awareness of sex trafficking and report cases through our anti-trafficking helpline. 

Nodal Teachers are determined and dedicated volunteers, who are passionate about safeguarding the children within their community. We have Nodal teachers in the community who play an instrumental role in forming peer groups, adolescent groups, vigilance committees, and other units to ensure the village is safe. 

We have also enlisted Gram Mitras (Friend of Village), who help in home investigation reports and rehabilitation of survivors of trafficking. They help in identifying and preventing domestic violence in the community.

Rakshaks are our field volunteers who live within the community and have the potential to spot suspicious events. We have 1860 Rakshaks who provide crucial information about suspicious cases such as missing children, school dropouts, child marriage, fake marriage, or things that can lead to trafficking. With extensive knowledge about various government schemes, they encourage the community to stay healthy and live peacefully.