Ending Large Scale Sex Trafficking in India

Millions of children are trafficked in India each year. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, trafficked children are used for prostitution, forced into marriage, illegally adopted, used as cheap or unpaid labour, used for sport, and used for organ harvesting.

But most are forced into prostitution, usually after having been kidnapped and coerced into sexual slavery on promises of schooling, jobs or marriage. There are millions of people in prostitution in India - and an estimated 40% of them are children. They are held captive in brothels against their will where they are beaten and sexually exploited, and suffer from communicable diseases and even death.

Globally, 98% of sex slaves are women and girls; only 1% of these girls will be rescued.

From 2014, Operation Red Alert of My Choices Foundation has been working to end sex trafficking in India by preventing girls from ever entering it, i.e. the prevention model. We built relationships with NGOs in the field, listened to their concerns about the gaps in the national response, and conducted landmark research into compulsions behind the behaviour of men who buy and sell girls for sex. Based on this award winning research, we developed the Safe Village Program with messages that inspires lasting change.

Our Safe Village Program has been designed to help people at all literacy levels understand human trafficking and prevent it from happening in their village. We designed a comic book, available in the local language of each area we work in, to provide education on human trafficking, and information on how to report any case that arises. It is a powerful tool for education, awareness, and action. We aim to educate every key stakeholder living in high-risk villages in India on how to identify and prevent human trafficking, and thereby transform thousands of villages in India into “Safe Villages”.

Operation Red Alert founded and operates the Red Alert Helpline (1800 419 8588), which is the only national helpline dedicated to responding to cases of human trafficking.

Operation Red Alert, through its work, has created more than 4,400 “Safe Villages” in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Our Anti Trafficking Helpline has received over 45,000 phone calls from across the country.

Every day we receive stories of people from safe villages calling our helpline not just to report about possible traffickers but also to inform us about child marriages and missing persons cases. Operation Red Alert then coordinates with its strong network of partners and police to follow up on the reported cases.

With your help, Operation Red Alert can continue to reach villages to educate children (and their parents) on the signs and dangers of trafficking to ensure that our girls remain safe.