Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan (Guria India)

Ensuring access to health services for rescued victims and at-risk women/girls/communities in the remote vulnerable villages & the red-light areas through referral services

Raising awareness among decision makers and lobbying for legislative changes to combat sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of women & children through Public Interest Litigations (PILs), liaison, seminars, trainings, workshops and much more

Supporting rescued survivors/at-risk children with non-formal education and access to mainstream schools at the source villages and destination red-light areas. This is further supplemented with youth groups, sports tournaments, food & nutrition, art therapy (clay work, bead-making, painting, handicrafts, hand-made cards etc.), computer classes, laughing/shouting classes, meditation, music & dance, theatre, photography, videography, sports, gardening, feeding birds, exposure visits, picnics and much more.

Supporting rescued victims/at-risk children with vocational training, one time livelihood support for economic empowerment/business development, motivated self-employment

To take things to a logical conclusion and prevent any resurgence of the powerful brothel keepers/traffickers, we compulsorily pursue legal cases against human traffickers/brothel keepers along with counseling and mock trials; applications for government compensation; survivors’ meetings; home verifications; data collection on sex trafficking; liaison with authorities; innovatively using bail rejections, brothel seizures, opposing fake custody applications, fighting cross FIRs (first information reports) and habeas corpus petitions by traffickers on concealed facts, challenging fake protection orders and acquittals, etc.

Looking at the life threats from the traffickers/brothel keepers, we innovatively provide witness protection through relocating the survivors, food/travel/health/clothes support, fortification of their houses/terrace/doors/windows etc.

“Freedom Now” – Focuses on Art exchange & Exhibit, Performing Arts and other Initiatives to mobilize public opinion in our fight against sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children.
• Guria India, through art exchange & exhibit, is partnering with schools and organizations across the world to create a tidal wave of awareness, empowerment, creativity, and activism. The students learn about human trafficking, create art about trafficking and exchange their art with each other.
• The performing arts is a series for awareness and fundraising to fight sex trafficking & child sexual exploitation in North India. The concerts began in 1995 only for the women in the red-light areas to spread awareness, save the dying art form, give dignity to the women singers and provide alternate livelihood options. The efforts of these women as artists have been documented in an article published by Cambridge Journal and a book published by the Oxford Press. Gradually, in the recent years, it also included the local folk artists from the marginalized & excluded sections of the society. also These concerts were held at Bharat Bhavan (Bhopal), Sri Ram Centre for Art and Culture (Delhi), Bhatkande Music Institute (Lucknow) and the World Social Forum (Mumbai). Later in the next stage it got solidarity from music maestros such as Ashish Khan, Girija Devi, Chhannu Laal Mishra, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, Pt. Vikas Maharaj who all performed at prestigious venues such as Teen Murti Bhavan (New Delhi), Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Institute of Indian Arts and Culture) London and Hotel Taj Ganges (Varanasi). For more information, visit www.freedomnowcampaign.org .
• The other initiatives are innovative & powerful ways that communities around the world choose to support the campaign. These include documentaries on Guria India, marathons, cycle rides and many more

The critical mass for change and deterrence on attacks on activists depends on the mobilization of civil society, people’s participation and ownership at all levels within the source, transit, and destination levels of sex trafficking. Keeping this in view, Guria India undertakes foot marches, cycle marches, village meetings, street plays/folk songs, sports tournaments and much more for awareness on the issue among the at-risk women/children in vulnerable villages and the red-light areas. Primarily, the focus is on building vigilance groups comprised of village women against sex trafficking. This has led to 1,10,000 membered women vigilance committee; ensuring access to government entitlements; youth groups; compassionate services amidst COVID-19 pandemic (ration distribution, cremation of bodies, medicine distribution, vaccination) and much more.

Status report on police’s misconduct in cases of sex trafficking, child prostitution and rape – invited enquiry by Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, half-yearly Guria India newsletters.

Categorized systematically into Pre-Rescue (reccee of the rescue site and completing other legal formalities for rescue), Rescue (assisting the police and district administration in carrying out the rescue), Post-Rescue (Counseling, Home Verification, rehabilitation/re-integration, medical facilities etc.). Beside this we have gone throughout the country for rescue in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha etc.

Sensitization programs with police, media, advocates, border police, non-governmental organizations, community based organizations, judiciary

To prevent trafficking at the porous Indo-Nepal border in the district Maharajganj, we undertake awareness campaign in the schools/colleges through quiz/essay/painting/debate competitions, workshops/seminars with the Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) and the local police stations

Involved and garnered support from UN Economic and Social Council Report on Human Rights Defenders 2006, Asian Human Rights Commission Urgent Appeals (Hong Kong), FRONTLINE (Ireland), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, UN Rapporteurs on Trafficking and sale of Children and UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders (Geneva), National Human Rights Commission for Women (member of 2 enquiry committees on trafficking and partnership for legal & health literacy campaign for women in sex trade), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (Joint rescue at Meerut red-light area & other cases), National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (Training), Ministry of Women & Child Development (member Inter-ministerial committee on new law & Central Nodal Agency on Trafficking), Seema Suraksha Bal (Training), Police & Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (Training), Child Welfare Committee (Training & restoring rescued children), DCPU (Training), JJB (Case to case basis)

Princeton University, Smith College, Paris School of Business, University of Wisconsin, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, US Programs such as Fulbright, Alliance for Global Education, Where There be Dragons, Leap Now, Carpedium, as well as University of Arkansas, University of Applied Sciences – Heilbronn (Germany) and many more.