Educate Her Empower Her

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of girls is practiced as a custom in some parts of Rajasthan. The Nat community of Rajasthan is one of the oldest De-notified tribes in India that still practice a custom where they force their minor girls for commercial sex work, as a customary way of living to earn their livelihood. Girls as young as 10 years old are sent to Mumbai, Delhi, Meerut, Jodhpur and other cities by their own family members. These communities are caught in a web of poverty, vulnerability and stigma. The children born in these families have very limited access to Education, quality Healthcare and alternative Livelihood, and it has created a tragic vicious circle, severely affecting the growth of young girls, and crushing their dreams. Although traditionally girls in the Nat community are seen as income-generating vehicles - through sex work; they do not hold any decision-making power, even on their own bodies. iPartner India, a registered NGO, working on anti-trafficking, has identified ‘limited access to Education’ as the main reason for the lack of voice and agency amongst the girls in the community. Since poverty tops the list of marginalisation, education is rarely seen as a tool for upliftment or as an alternative pathway to a better livelihood. Therefore, there is an urgent need to not only safeguard the girls from inter-generation prejudice but also give them a life of dignity and power. At iPartner India, we are not saving them but igniting their agency.

After a thorough needs assessment, iPartner has designed a holistic preventive model program ‘Rakshan’. The idea of this program is to work with the entire ecosystem to save the current and next generation of vulnerable minor girls from commercial sexual exploitation, by focusing on educating girls and creating an environment of change. To break the cycle of exploitation, iPartner India intensively works with the Nat families to encourage and motivate them to send their girl child to boarding schools where they can continue their studies without being pushed into sex work by the family members and the community leaders. Along with it, iPartner India is also working to provide an enabling educational environment for girls who exhibit excellent academic merit but are simultaneously most vulnerable to being pushed into trafficking. They, along with their families are counseled about the opportunities that lie ahead through education, which can help them break the cycle of poverty, and reap dividends in the future. iPartner provides hand-holding support to them and is also preparing them for various national entrance exams. 

A 12-yr-old Pinky (name changed), from Nat Community says, “I don’t know what I want to become when I grow up, but I definitely know that I want to study and lead a life of my choice”.

Despite facing the challenges of life from a very young age, most girls from the Nat community have dreams, and vocations, but lack the agency to support them. Given the right opportunities, these girls will be able to complete their education and become strong guardians to put up a fight against commercial sexual exploitation. They will act as role models and inspire other girls to follow their dreams. Through the interventions, iPartner India is already documenting a positive shift within families of these communities towards education. While earlier, schooling was seen as an activity for girls only till primary school, now many families are perceiving it as a means to an end, that can help them break the cycle of poverty. However, the road to imparting absolute education is still a long way, as it requires overcoming internal biases, positive reinforcements from peer-group, and most importantly - validation, motivation and support from all corners. For this iPartner India needs financial support to provide an enabling environment for 10 girls to grow and obtain their full potential.