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Society for Help Entire Lower & rural People - HEL

Support to build Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center in A.P for 500 survivors of Trafficking & Sex workers livelihoods

  • Bronze Certified 2023
  • FCRA
  • 80G
  • 12A
  • CSR-1
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About

  • Headquarters

    Ongole, Andhra Pradesh

  • Since

    1993

Society for Help Entire Lower & rural People (HELP) is a registered non-profit voluntary organization registered under the Societies Registration Act Read more and has FCRA Certificate from the Ministry of Home Affairs. We work on the issue of Human Trafficking, Child Rights, and Woman Rights, impact on communities and also provide special need assistance to affected persons in the Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, NTR, Palnadu and Bapatla Districts of Andhra Pradesh. Through our process and project, we work as a facilitator and train the communities and the leaders of the collective in building resilient communities through Prevention, Protection, Rehabilitation and strengthening Criminal Justice System. Our activities are intervention-based, creating awareness among the community and helping them develop livelihood opportunities. We work directly with community leaders, survivors of human trafficking and Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and vulnerable groups. HELP acts as a facilitator helping the community and survivor leaders to be an implementer with the support of CSRs and Funding partners. Over the past years, HELP has worked directly with survivors of human trafficking, Victims of Commercial sexual exploitation. Since the last few years, their focus has been on rehabilitative and retributive justice for survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation who have come back to their respective source communities after being rescued from situations of exploitation in various states of India and abroad. HELP has developed a collective of survivors of trafficking, namely the VIMUKTHI Survivors' Collective. The organization mentors and empowers the collective to function as a defender of the human rights of the survivors. Presently HELP is strategically intervening in the axis of gender-based violence, human trafficking, climate change impact on the community, empowerment of adolescents and young adults, leadership and system building. HELP works in collaboration with the community, survivors, youth, government and non-government stakeholders, police and administration, lawyers, social workers, psychologists, civil society organizations, judiciary and media. HELP has interventions in Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. HELP is currently making strategic interventions in human trafficking, migration, gender-based violence, the impact of climate change on communities, adolescent and young adult empowerment, leadership development, and system building. The organization collaborates with civil society organizations, the judiciary, media, police, social workers, psychologists, youth, survivors, and various government and non-government entities. HELP operates in regions including Delhi, Telangana, and West Bengal, and is part of several networks comprising NGOs, CBOs, and CSOs.


Issue

“To lead a decent life and earn with self-respect"… This is the aspiration voiced by a sex worker who yearns to establish a clothing business to sustain herself and achieve financial independence. She is a member of Vimukthi - CBO, a collective of survivors of sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and women in prostitution, based in Andhra Pradesh (AP) promoted by HELP organsiation. The above victim voices lays out a preliminary structure and ideas for an economic empowerment intervention that allows Vimukthi leaders to establish alternative sources of income through self-sustaining business ventures. This can promote financial independence by creating alternative or supplemental income streams, thus increasing ownership of assets and agency. As per the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India recent report, Andhra Pradesh has highest number of native sex workers (1.33 lakh), it was mentioned in the report that “ Andhra Pradesh has been a major source of human trafficking for prostitution for many decades. If migrant workers are also taken into account, AP stat will top the list with highest number of sex workers. Most importantly, the numbers only refer to identified sex workers. There could be thousands more have not been identified yet. Moreover, Sex-worker’s have several other vulnerabilities. They are exposed to violence, exploitation, abuse, and health risks. In addition, as sex work is not criminalised in India, Sex-worker’s face threats from associated activities like managing brothels, soliciting in public spaces, trafficking, and pimping. Simultaneously, the stigma attached to the profession makes them vulnerable to violence and discrimination from the police, clients, and society at large. However, entry into sex work does not guarantee financial autonomy and stability. Rather, multifaceted issues, like the interplay of power dynamics between pimps, brothel owners, rent seekers, etc. and prevalence of bonded debt systems for trafficked sex workers, among others, limit their decision-making power, bargaining power and exposes them to higher risks. A study by the HELP organisation finds that lack of economic independence limits the negotiating power of the Sex-worker’s and inherent inequalities in the socio-economic-cultural structure adversely coerces them to lead a life of poverty, low status, and heightened vulnerability. Poverty and financial requirements are major factors that push women into sex work, and the continuing financial vulnerability and lack of social protection acts as an inhibitor to exiting the practice, or even to limit exposure to sex work and pursue other alternatives. This is compounded by a lack of education, poor access to savings and credit, and little or no diversification of livelihood opportunities.


Action

The programme is centered around the establishment of an Enterprise Facilitation Center (EFC) to support individual members (survivors of trafficking and sex workers) in setting up a micro-enterprise, by providing training on business skills, enabling access to finance, and playing a facilitative role. This EFC programme concept does not only focus on working with individual members, but alsoacts as a body to support SHGs and their members to either run group businesses or develop individual businesses. It is a body of representatives drawn from Vimukthi’s Leadership Council, its SHGs and its members who will carry out their EFC functions under the aegis of Vimukthi. This alignment willensure that two parallel structures to promote economic empowerment are not created, but rather they work in cohesion towards the same objective. The goals, objectives, concept, and structure are provided in the following section. Programme Goal & Objectives The primary programme goal is articulated as follows - To economically empower and promote the financial independence of Vimukthi members, by enabling them to establish and run an income generating activity. The objectives of the programme also place significant focus on the development and capacity building of SHGs so that they can better manage group businesses or support their members to run individual businesses. The objectives of the programme are given below. Theory of Change: At its core, the programme aims to enable FSWs and survivors to establish their own micro-businesses. The belief is that this will provide economic empowerment, agency, and financial independence, which can enable them to set up alternative livelihoods. Therefore, this Idea Paper proposes the setup of an EFC within Vimukthi, to facilitate users with the required support to establish their businesses. Theory of Change (ToC) for the proposed intervention is presented in the form of a logic model diagram on the following page, reflecting the function and concept of the EFC. 1. Creating alternate livelihoods and income sources for sex workers 2. Enabling financial support and access to finance to sex workers to establish micro-businesses 3. Training sex workers to run and grow their micro-businesses 4. Building SHG capacity to run group businesses or support sex workers to establish individual businesses 5. To reduce vulnerabilities and promote the socio-economic agency and mobility of Sex workers.

Demographies Served

Cause Area

Sector

Sub Sector

Impact

7,250 Children rescued from Begging, Child labour, abuse & Exploitation 1,452 victims rescued from human trafficking / sex trafficking 1,872 victims provided with accesses to safe space 1,423 survivors received rehabilitation services 2,750 children prevented from second generation prostitution 1,245 children of sex workers educated 5,750 police personnel trained on children rights and Human trafficking 52 Traffickers convicted 42,265 women & families provided with food, mental health counselling in COVID period 1,145 survivors connected with Government IDs 897 survivors linked with SHGs

Programs

  • Livelihood Programmes

    District

    State

    HELP works to ensure that people find an increase in income through livelihood generation activities. It conducts job-oriented skills training for young girls in trades like tailoring, computer operations, four-wheeler driving and jewellery making among others and has also set up a revolving fund, which would help the women in times of financial need.

    The women who require funds would borrow from the fund and would invest in income generation activities like small petty busineses and tiffin centres, paying back later with a small interest. This would keep the fund alive and all of the women are benefitted from increased incomes.

  • Survivors Leadership Programme

    District

    State

    An invaluable resource for the curriculum has been VIMUKTHI, a group of people who have been victims of sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation. In 2015, the joint venture with VIMUKTHI commenced. With over 650 members, the collective has become a platform for survivors to battle stigma both at the family and community levels in addition to advocating for justice. By identifying potential survivors, preparing them, and supporting survivor-led initiatives as change agents, this program improves the leadership of survivors.

  • Kaarya, VIMUKTHI and Caring Connections

    District

    State

    Through the Kaarya program, victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking can learn how to start and run small enterprises and live honorable, dignified lives. Supported by financial aid, training, and facilitation, survivors of trauma, sex trafficking, and stigma can independently establish and run micro-businesses that help them combat stigma in the community, stand in for other victims in their communities, and combat abuse at home, in the community, and among stakeholders.
    vimukthi is a leadership development program for victims of human trafficking that focuses on empowering survivors through peer support groups and the collectivization of survivors in order to increase capacity, resilience, and healing.
    Caring Connections is a program designed for physical, psychological, and physical healing as well as health services. bolster community-based organizations' (CBOs) social workers' ability to carry out survivor-centered and rights-based rehabilitation and recovery initiatives.

  • Children Empowerment for Getting Out of the traditional prostitution

    District

    State

    This programme in partnership with DASRA sets out to save girls from the evil of exploitation and getting pushed into prostitution. It works against the tradition of the Dommara / vaddera community where post-puberty, girls are dedicated as sex workers, abused and exploited leading to their dropping out of school. The programme partners with law enforcement agencies and creates awareness in communities about this malpractice.

    Vulnerable girls from these communities are grouped into youth clubs and are provided training on child rights, education, training on advocacy, vocational training, and community sensitisation and are led to participate in child-led interventions empowering them against this practice and exploitation.

Impact Metrics

  • 1872 Survivors Received Safe Space

    Program Name

    survivors provided with access to safe space

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 34
    • 2022-23 48
    • 2023-24 26

  • 1,423 Survivors Rehabilitated

    Program Name

    survivors rehabilitated

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 25
    • 2022-23 15
    • 2023-24 21

  • 2,750 Children Prevented From Prostitution

    Program Name

    children prevented from prostitution

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 22
    • 2022-23 17
    • 2023-24 15

  • 3,870 Children Recived Education Support

    Program Name

    Formal Education Support (Books, Stationary, Uniform, Tuition Fee, School Bag)

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 145
    • 2022-23 110
    • 2023-24 121

  • 450 Victim Families Received Alternative Livelihoods

    Program Name

    Victims Families Who Increased Their Income Through Additional Livelihood Support

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 25
    • 2022-23 45
    • 2023-24 32

  • 275 Survivors Received Support in Their Crisis Period

    Program Name

    CRISIS RESPONSE

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 20
    • 2022-23 28
    • 2023-24 35

Leadership Team

  • N v S Rammohan

    Secretary

  • S.Pavan Kumar

    Programme manager

  • S.Venkateswara Reddy

    Finance Manager

Demographics & Structure

  • No. of Employees

    21-50

M&E

  • Internal, External Assessors

    No

Policies

  • Ethics and Transparency Policies

    No

  • Formal CEO Oversight & Compensation Policy

    No

Political & Religious Declarations

  • On Affiliation if any

    No

  • On Deployment Bias if any

    No

Registration Details

  • PAN Card

    AAAAS2747P

  • Registration ID

    133/1993

  • VO ID / Darpan ID

    AP/2016/0099272

  • 12A

    AAAAS2747PE20160

  • 80G

    AAAAS2747PF20085

  • FCRA

    010330068

  • CSR Registration Number

    CSR00035056

Location

Other Details

  • Parent Organisation

    Society for Help Entire Lower & rural People - HEL

  • Sister Organisation

    Society for Help Entire Lower & rural People - HEL

  • Type & Sub Type

    Non-profit
    Society

Website

Financial Details

 Income / Expenses

  • 2022-23

    Income
    Rs.9,816,822
    Expenses
    Rs.7,229,472
    Admin Expenses
    Rs.712,650
    Program Expenses
    Rs.6,516,822
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.

  • 2023-24

    Income
    Rs.10,423,933
    Expenses
    Rs.11,520,430
    Admin Expenses
    Rs.1,125,000
    Program Expenses
    Rs.10,395,430
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.
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