ONE of the most disadvantaged groups of people in almost all parts of the world is the girl child. In India and across the globe, girls face discrimination even before their birth. Because girls are considered to be of “lesser value” than males, they suffer from crimes and injustices such as female foeticide, female infanticide, abuse and exploitation, sex trafficking, lack of education, lack of mental and physical health care and other forms of gender oppression.
National Girl Child Day is celebrated and observed in India on January 24th each year. On this day, the focus turns to the girl child and all that she experiences, suffers, needs and deserves from the world. This is an endeavor that must not take place on January 23rd alone but National Girl Child Day can be a day to set things in motion. Individuals, schools, colleges, organizations and government offices deliberate on the issues that the girl child faces and come up with long term solutions.
In states across India, charitable NGOs that work with local communities and government bodies are among the most effective organizations to undertake the effort to save and empower the girl child. In this blog, we take a closer look at 5 NGOs that have identified 5 distinct issues that disadvantage the girl child and work to eradicate the problem from the root. This includes problems such as abduction, acid attacks, sexual abuse, stigma against menstruation and mental health.
Here are 5 NGOs saving the girl child in India!
Brave Souls Foundation
One of the worst forms of abuse that girls suffer from is acid attacks. In most cases, this is a crime that is committed by people known to the girl with the motive to “punish” the girl for rejecting a proposal or doing something that the perpetrator does not agree with. For girls from poor families, the cost of medical care and surgical treatment is too expensive and as a result they lock themselves up in their rooms for the rest of their lives. Founded by a victim of an acid attack, Brave Souls Foundation is an NGO that covers the cost of reconstructive surgeries, offers personal care and support and has pursued legal cases without a single acquittal of the perpetrators. To support Brave Souls Foundation:
Pinkishe Foundation
The stigma against menstruation does more harm than just make periods uncomfortable to talk about. This discrimination denies girls an education, leads to school dropouts among girls and even causes severe sickness and death in girls who do not have access to period products such as sanitary pads. Pinkishe Foundation is an NGO that provides free sanitary pads to underprivileged girls and educates them on how to be healthier and safer with regard to menstruation. To ensure there is a permanent and lasting change, Pinkishe Foundation holds awareness sessions in local communities to break the stigma against periods and normalize it as a fact of life. To support Pinkishe Foundation:
Sharanalayam
Girls with mental disabilities are more vulnerable than others in times of crisis. When approached by a stranger on the street who means to do them harm, these girls are not sure how to react or how to protect themselves. Because of this, the girls are often taken advantage of and suffer from harassment and assault. Sharanalayam is an NGO that takes in these girls and gives them safe shelter, good food, counseling to help them overcome their mental struggles and skills-training to secure safe and stable livelihoods in the future. The stigma against mental disabilities causes families to disown and abandon their daughters with mental problems but Sharanalayam cares for them as long as needed. To support Sharanalayam:
Inchara Foundation
Little girls are meant to enjoy their childhoods in carefree innocence. But across the world, the girl child suffers from sexual abuse and exploitation. Too young to understand the meaning of these words, minor girls are raped, molested, harassed, intimidated and trafficked to red light districts where their lives are spent in fear and despair. Inchara Foundation is an NGO that rescues girls who have suffered sexual abuse and shelters them in a safe and loving home where they receive nutritious food, education and trauma counseling to help them recover from horrific abuse. In time, the girls learn to stand up on their own feet, re-enter the world and achieve their dreams. To support Inchara Foundation:
Missing Link Trust
The alarming cases of girls going missing in the Sundarbans of West Bengal alarmed an artist who thought how she could use her skills as an artist to bring to people’s attention the issue of the abduction of girls and work toward rehabilitating the girls who are rescued from sex trafficking. Missing Link Trust is an NGO that believes in the power of prevention of trafficking through education programs, which it runs in schools across the state. The organization has educated more than 1.75 lakh girls in 600 schools and taught them how to spot traffickers, and keep themselves and the girls around them safe from sex traffickers, in addition to rehabilitating the girls rescued from sexual exploitation. To support Missing Link Trust:
Support these NGOs
On this National Girl Child Day 2025, organizations like the NGOs mentioned above will continue to keep the focus on the issues facing the girl child in India. Throughout the year, these brave and daring NGOs fight against powerful forces such as traffickers and criminals – to rescue innocent girls and help them rebuild their futures piece by piece. When you support these NGOs, you help a life that has been harmed and give her the tools she needs to rise up and live a prosperous life.
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Shirley has been in the development sector for over 10 years and is passionate about making a change in the world around her, including adopting dogs and writing to make a difference.