Escaping Abuse in Nepal

Thank you for donating to GlobalGiving Little by Little Campaign supporting our Escaping Abuse in Nepal project.  We would like to share  with you a case study about a particular girl called Cithara  (not her real name), who has had her life turned around by our shelter.

Cithara is only 11 years old and has been living in our shelter for the last 6 months.  She  comes from an extremely poor family.  Her father was a rubbish collector and her mother was a daily labourer.  Cithara and her brother witnessed a lot of fighting at home and eventually the marriage broke down.  Her mother remarried and Cithara's step father began sexually abusing her.  Even though it was witnessed by her brother, her mother chose not to believe her, but sent her to live with her father and her step mother, where things still didn't improve.

Cithara had access to one of our drop in centres and it was here she told a member of our staff what was happening and for the first time in her life she was listened to and believed.  She was refered to our shelter, where she is now at last safe.  With counselling and medical help, Cithara is slowing healing.  She is enjoying being back in school and is working hard to catch up wth what she has missed.

Without your support we wouldn't be able to continue to run this shelter, so on behalf of the girls a big thank you.

With Best Wishes

The Kidasha Team

 Since 2007, Kidasha has been working in partnership with Shakti Samuha to provide an emergency shelter and recovery/rehabilitation services for girl victims of sexual abuse and exploitation in Pokhara, Nepal’s second largest city. Shakti Samuha is a national survivor-led organisation working for the rights of trafficking survivors in ten districts of Nepal. The shelter was established specifically for children and was the first shelter of its kind where girls who are victims of sexual abuse or exploitation are admitted immediately for their protection if they meet two basic criteria:

(1) are under the age of 18

(2) are a victim of sexual abuse or exploitation or are at imminent risk of such, for example, a girl sleeping alone on the street.

It therefore offers immediate protection for these girls i.e. once a girl has been identified, she can be accommodated in the shelter within the hour, with official paperwork being completed once she is safe. It is the only facility in Pokhara which offers this service and to date no girl has been turned away. The project places a strong emphasis on de-institutionalisation, with priority on family or independent reintegration (according to age).

Since it was first established, the shelter has provided life-saving support to over 500 girls and has successfully reintegrated the majority back with their families or into independent living. It also works closely with the local community and government agencies to bring a large number of perpetrators to account.The benefit obviously goes much further as for every prosecution this can stop someone abusing another girl and also can prevent others abusing girls.

Without your support we wouldn't be able to continue to run this shelter, so on behalf of the girls a big thank you.

Best wishes

The Kidasha Team

www.kidasha.org