SAVE MISSING GIRLS

Everyday more than 600 children and 200 women go missing in India. 

West Bengal accounts for 44% of reported cases of trafficking in India.

South 24 Parganas is one of the top five districts with the highest occurrence of such cases. 

The twin blows of COVID-19 and Cyclone Amphan have landed people in further abject poverty. Reverse migration along with a lack of any foreseeable income, acute food shortage, and loss of connectivity has led to communities constantly battling for daily necessities. The stress, poverty due to unemployment, the disruption of social and protective networks, and decreased access to services have increased the risk of violence for women. More domestic violence complaints, child marriages, child trafficking, and teen pregnancy have been filed under COVID-19 than in the last ten years. Most of the girls who are trafficked are lured from their homes with the false promise of employment opportunities. Even when girls are rescued and brought back, the biggest obstacle they face is a lack of gainful occupation.

This is where MISSING works.

To prevent trafficking, it is crucial to provide livelihood and entrepreneurial opportunities and ensure the financial empowerment of vulnerable community members. Even after undergoing skill training, the key problem many women face is the lack of entrepreneurial skills and the inaccessibility to markets. MISSING has two Women Empowerment Centers (WEC) - in Madhya Gurgurya and Madhusudanpur. 

We have a Digital Empowerment Centre in Vasa - Madhya Gurguria that provides free digital literacy training to women and youths. Through the Digital Literacy Centres, MISSING will reach more vulnerable youth, survivors of violence, and child marriage to create more digitally empowered and entrepreneurial leaders in the villages of Sundarbans. 

MISSING also provides training to vulnerable youth for leadership and youth-led advocacy on social issues (youth empowerment and leadership) through the Swadhikaar program. The Awareness and Safety Programs will be conducted with Swadhikaar Youth leaders across multiple villages which have a high occurrence of child marriage and sex trafficking. They will get inspired to act as catalysts for change, spreading awareness among their peers and families.

MISSING reaches out to survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence, in the Sundarbans region and empowers them.

Prevention as a strategy needs to be adequately addressed. We ask - WHY WAIT FOR A GIRL TO GET TRAFFICKED TO SAVE HER?

You have an important role here!

Your donation will help educate and empower many vulnerable women and girls, and youth of Sundarbans: 

• to prevent themselves from getting trafficked
• to break out of the cycle of exploitation and poverty