One evening in September 2018, Nethra’s alcoholic husband doused her in kerosene, set her on fire, locked the door from outside, and walked away. Hearing her wails, neighbours came to Nethra’s rescue and took her to a government hospital. Despite third-degree burns, Nethra survived after months in the hospital. But she became almost immobile. She could hardly move her hands or head as her chin was almost fused to the neck. She survived on liquid and semi-solid food as she couldn’t chew or close her mouth. “My face was so severely disfigured that my mother hid all the mirrors at home so that I would not see myself,” recalls Nethra. As the low-income family couldn’t afford proper after-care or reconstructive surgeries, Nethra was getting suicidal when Agni Raksha, a Bangalore-based NGO came to her rescue. After multiple surgeries at the NGO’s ‘Safe Haven,’ its critical care unit, Nethra is back on her feet. She is trained in tailoring and now works odd jobs and takes care of her two children.Like Nethra, most burn victims who come to Agni Raksha belong to low-income families and almost 95% of them are women. While some are victims of severe forms of domestic violence by husbands, others try to commit suicide by immolating themselves because of constant harassment. But due to the pandemic and lack of funds, Agni Raksha run by Dr Prema Dhanraj, a burn victim herself, had to shut its free critical surgeries unit. It has been a huge blow to burn victims from low-income families. You can help Dr Prema reopen her free burn surgeries unit. Agni Raksha- A beacon of hope for burn survivorsHeaded by Dr Prema Dhanraj, the NGO has treated over 18,000 burn victims in over 15 years. While the NGO continues to provide out-patient facilities for burn victims it had to shut down ‘Safe Haven’ its critical unit, because of a lack of funds after Covid.“Covid was a body blow for us as we had to close Safe Haven. We have the building, beds and other facilities, but we don’t have funds to pay doctors and support staff or buy critical care equipment and medicines. I feel very bad for victims who require emergency treatment, reconstructive surgery and post-operative care. The most heartbreaking thing for me is when some burn victims are brought here first thinking that we still run Safe Haven,” says Dr Prema.Help Dr Prema reopen Safe Haven and start providing critical care and carry out surgeries on burn victims. Donate now.As Dr Prema can no longer conduct reconstructive surgeries and post-operative care at Agni Raksha, she refers burn survivors to different hospitals with a letter pleading that her patients cannot afford the money. “I don’t always succeed in getting them free treatment in hospitals, but I try my best. I wish I could provide all the care they need at Agni Raksha,” says Dr Prema.Lifelong disability and disfigurements because of burns can also cause emotional problems such as depression, suicidal tendencies and nightmares. Many burn victims lose purpose in life. Keeping these things in mind, Agni Raksha provides psychological as well as vocational support so that burn survivors can go back to leading normal lives. In fact, 90% of the staff at Agni Raksha comprise burn survivors.Your donations can help hundreds of burn victims stay hidden away from the world as they cannot afford surgeries so they can lead a normal life. Donate now

Help Padma Shri winner Dr Prema Dhanraj provide women suffering from burn injuries with surgery and care

Saraswati Vishwakarma spends her day in and out of a public hospital in Mumbai since her niece was admitted there. On most days she goes hungry and sometimes a small vada pav is all that she can afford to eat in the entire day. Like Saraswati there are thousands of underprivileged families living outside government hospitals in extreme conditions, with no food or a bed to sleep on, waiting for their loved ones to get the treatment they require.  Vikas Parcchanda, CEO Akshaya Chaitanya, Maharashtra Chapter is supporting thousands of family members living outside government hospitals with 6,500 hot and nutritious meals every day. This requires a continuous flow of funds, which are now drying up. They have enough cash to sustain for just one more month. One full meal a day- one thing less to worry“They stay here for weeks, sometimes even months. They are poor, most of them have no medical insurance, they lose their livelihood and have no place to stay. Many find refuge on sidewalks and pavements to sleep and decide to go hungry for days, just to save a few more rupees. So we wanted to ensure no families of the patients getting treated in these hospitals go hungry or compromise on their meals ” - Vikas Parchhanda, CEO, Akshaya Chaitanya, Maharashtra Chapter.Every day Akshaya Chaitanya serves 6,500 free unlimited hot &amp; nutritious meals at Mumbai’s 17 major public hospitals. These free meals help families save at least ₹100 every day - a big amount for low-income individuals.Served with loveFood for the ‘Hospital Feeding Programme’ is made in a centralised Akshaya Chaitanya kitchen where hundreds of kgs of rice, dal and vegetables are cooked every day. Rice, mixed veg gravy, sambhar, pulao and curd are some of the items they serve.“Each of these the family members wait in anticipation for the food to be served the next day. But the reality is we have the funds to run this kitchen for only a month. Our grocery and vegetable stock is depleting and we are in need of urgent support to continue feeding these hungry souls waiting outside the hospital. Please help us” - Vikas Parchhanda. CEO, Akshaya Chaitanya, Maharashtra ChapterFeed 6,500 meals to family members of patients in needYour donation can ensure that these well-wishers of suffering patients have at least one meal a day to sustain themselves as they brave harsh weather, unlivable conditions and hunger outside India’s public hospitals. A little bit of kindness can provide them with nutrition and care. Donate now.About Akshaya ChaitanyaAkshaya Chaitanya is an initiative of HKM Charitable Foundation started with the objective to eradicate hunger by providing food relief to marginalised sections of the society in the city of Mumbai. Through their hospital feeding service, the organisation cooks free food in their 8,000 sq. ft Byculla kitchen that caters to the poor marginalised communities outside government hospitals.

Help provide 6,500 meals per day to family members of poor patients who wait outside government hospitals

Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) is one of the most disparaging crimes crippling India’s social development and economy and threatening the dignity and security of women and children. In this context, the southern states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are no exception. These states continue to constitute the core destination areas for the victimization of trafficked women and children for economic profiteering at the cost of their human rights. Despite the absence of official statistics on CSE in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, civil society organisation estimates suggest that one out of every four victims rescued from CSE is a child and 60 per cent of all rescued children from CSE are HIV positive. Further, 75 per cent of females in the Telugu region between the ages of 15-35 years are found to be engaged in sex work.[1] Reports in the print and digital news media also indicate that sex trafficking of both vulnerable women and children is progressively on the increase. Given the scale of the issue, the government has not placed due attention and priority on the rescue and rehabilitation of CSE victims in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In addition, there is a lack of systems and capacity to conduct MEL and research, weak and uncoordinated monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) of existing programs and no investment in empirical research to understand gaps and issues. Rehabilitation of trafficking survivors remains the most persistent challenge within the current legislative framework. Rescued victims require specialised support services to recover from and overcome the years of trauma-induced mental health issues, physical atrocities and social stigma attached to being former sex slaves. In the absence of statutory rehabilitation that ensures complete and sustainable reintegration into society, CSE victims, even if removed temporarily from their immediate environment marked by social, economic, sexual, psychological and physical extremities, are highly likely to end up in the same vicious cycle of sex trafficking, either through the nexus of same perpetrators or new agents who are on the lookout for feeding on their aggravated vulnerabilities for the second time around. On-ground organisations lament that CSE victims who only receive piece-meal assistance and support post-rescue remain uncertain about their future prospects in absence of hope for alternate opportunities to sustain themselves and end up going back to sex slavery. The circumstances surrounding this lack of choice with CSE victims are marked by haplessness and isolation due to lack of specialised support services for destigmatizing their identities and acute availability of comprehensive rehabilitation measures. Given the scale of CSE in both Telugu states, the following issues have emerged:<ul><li>There is no comprehensive protection and rehabilitation policy in place for CSE victims, either in the states or at the national level. Nor there are adequate budgetary allocations in the two states. In fact, Andhra Pradesh does not even have a budget line for CSE rehabilitation facilities and services.  </li><li>Rescue operations for removing victims of CSE from situations of abuse are ill-conceived and ill-executed due to a lack of comprehensive understanding of the crime and tactical expertise and a lack of industry standards for conducting such raids and rescues.</li><li>Institutional infrastructure (shelter homes/protective and rehabilitative homes/child care institutions) for rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of CSE is insufficient and severely ill-equipped to address their complex needs for recovery and effective, holistic rehabilitation, whose numbers are advancing with each passing year. As per an article published in the Indian Journal of Gender Studies, there is a lack of comprehensive protection services such as psychological counselling from trained counsellors through the Ujjawala and Swadhar schemes. This issue was further exacerbated in 2014 after the bifurcation of the Telugu region between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 2014, where most rehabilitation homes fell under Telangana’s territory and Andhra Pradesh was left with close to none. At present, both states have 5 shelter homes each, for women.</li><li>There is a severe gap in meaningful and relevant data to even gain an understanding of the gaps and barriers in the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of CSE victims. A study suggests that though there is abundant literature on trafficking worldwide as well as in South Asia, we still do need region-specific and locally-contextualised data that will yield theoretical and empirical insights, and lead to relevant policy interventions.</li></ul> 
 Sex trafficking is a multi-dimensional problem especially with regard to its impact on the lives of the victims. The tormenting experiences of being betrayed, sold and exploited by the people around (largely includes pimps, brothel owners and customers) takes a long-term toll on the victims. This traumatic situation combined with sexually transmitted diseases, chronic depression, suicidal tendencies, alcohol and drug addiction complicates the cycle of rehabilitation. Hence, the process of rehabilitation has to be an interlinked chain of psychological healing, vocational empowerment, economically viable and socially acceptable. In order to address the physical, emotional and psychological brokenness of the sex-trafficked victims, Prajwala formulated a holistic, therapeutic approach to support the rehabilitation process. The overall aim is to help the victims to overcome their trauma by providing them with psychological and coping skills and tools required to regain stability to lead a normal life. Therefore, the rehabilitation in Prajwala is a blend of psychological healing, civic empowerment and social identity. The three-pronged stages of rehabilitation spearheaded by Prajwala include:<ul><li>Psychological Rehabilitation: Trauma Care, Counselling, Psychiatric Care</li><li>Economic Rehabilitation: Life-Skills, Employability Training, Education/Livelihood program</li><li>Civic Rehabilitation: Aadhar Card, Bank Account, Interim Relief, Compensation</li></ul>A therapeutic community as a safe shelter has been established that provides holistic rehabilitation and has been instrumental in the social reintegration support of thousands of victims 
 600 victims of sex trafficking will be supported every year

Therapeutic Community For Victims of Sex Trafficking

Community based orginzation working for transgdenr community 

Human Rights

Transgender Welfare Equity and Empowerment Trust (TWEET), commonly known as Tweet Foundation is a community-led organization focused on trans* empowerment and welfare in India. TWEET Foundation was established by seven trans* activists in 2015 to support the trans* youth movement, especially the trans* men community that faces extreme gender-based violence and has been highly invisibilized. TWEET is a trans-led organization and as a pioneer in India, represents an equal partnership among trans* men and trans* women. The organization came into existence to specifically work on issues that had not been addressed in other larger HIV service delivery or advocacy programs in the past in India. Resources for young trans* persons have been scarce in India and the issues of the trans* communities from a social, psychological, and economic standpoint have remained unaddressed. TWEET works to provide critical support to young transmasculine and transfeminine persons such as crisis support, short shelter stays, health and legal resources, and connecting with skill building and inclusive employment opportunities. Alongside community-based capacity building, TWEET works closely with key stakeholders for mainstreaming trans* advocacy. TWEET partners with the government to bring in policy-level changes and with civil societies and corporations to build strategic partnerships in order to holistically support trans* welfare. TWEET is a registered society under the Mumbai Charity Commissioner (registered in May 2017).

Donations through Give Foundation, registered under section 80G of India's Income Tax Act, 1961 are tax-deductible.

Maya Awasthy

TWEET Foundation

This nonprofit is registered as a charitable trust under section 12A of India's Income Tax Act, 1961.

This nonprofit is registered under section 80G of India's Income Tax Act, 1961. This means you can deduct 50% of the donation you made through your tax return.

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Help Padma Shri winner Dr Prema Dhanraj provide women suffering from burn injuries with surgery and care

Help provide 6,500 meals per day to family members of poor patients who wait outside government hospitals

Therapeutic Community For Victims of Sex Trafficking

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