Advocates fighting the evils of human trafficking had once hoped that globalisation would help. But, recent reports and evidences show that little progress has been made in this field, implying human trafficking is the third largest and fastest growing crime in the world.
According to this report by the United Nations Office On Drugs And Crime (UNODC), the most common form of human trafficking (79%) is sexual exploitation. The victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls.
Fortunately, there are a number of organisations in India and abroad that work hard to try and bring an end to sex trafficking, child sexual abuse and offer encompassing rehabilitation programs for the deprived souls.
MISSING, a budding non-profit organisation based in Kolkata, is on its quest to end the vicious circle of poverty, illiteracy and child labor using art and technology for social change. Through its various ‘for-a-cause’ programs, MISSING is bringing a change in public perceptions, societal structures, and educating authorities and policy makers to put an end to this modern day slavery.
Fighting Sex Trafficking with MISSING
Proud to announce that MISSING is doing some inspiring work in curbing violence against women and children – their programs a parallel of the larger than life black silhouette is stirring enough to engage public on the issue of sex trafficking and child abuse.
CSR with the German Consulate
The German government recently emphasized on a strong human rights policy, which includes improvement in women rights protection. In support of the government’s decision, the German Consulate General in Kolkata joined the efforts of MISSING in creating awareness against human trafficking.
After establishing the partnership, together they will now construct 104 toilets to equip 400 people. This livelihood program is expected to benefit around 40 women, and 100 families that have young girls and children. Most of the women are either victims of domestic violence or child marriage or survivors of trafficking.
iVolunteer, let the youth drive change
iVolunteer is a promising social enterprise that volunteers to spread messages across a wider audience base, and they have joined hands with MISSING. In promoting ground-level awareness campaign, iVolunteer is helping MISSING to connect with various NGOs and student communities, and enhance its reach.
Last year, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, they conducted an awareness program at Tiljala Shed, a Kolkata-based NGO that improves the lives of rag pickers and deprived women and children. The event took place at Vidyapeeth School – where the students showed extreme enthusiasm towards fighting child trafficking.
After the talks, Missing started creating stencils, featuring the larger than life black Silhouette icon, which acts as a remembrance of girls who went missing as well stands as a testimony of the ever-increasing threat of sex trafficking on the blank walls, and spoke to people about the grave issue of sexual exploitation. The Tiljala Shed girls really enjoyed the event and helped in creating wall graffiti using stencils.
Activism on violence against women and girls
The Government statistics reveal – in every eight minutes a child goes missing in our country.
Unfortunately, modern day slavery still continues to be one of the least recognized human rights violations in India.
To put an end to this, MISSING has joined hands with Every 8 Minutes & iPartner India and 10 other NGOs across India, namely Vatsalya, Udayan, Stop, Prerna and Jamghat, for a 16 Days of Activism on Violence against Women and Girls campaign. The campaign spread awareness throughout using art as a medium for activism – they created #MISSINGGIRLS stencils on public walls in economically backward areas, especially vulnerable villages across India and spread out the message of awareness. During these 16 days of activism, the campaign created enough sensitivity and alertness among the local communities on the heinous crime of trafficking.
In closing thoughts, we believe the real power lies in educating and raising awareness about sex trafficking across multiple facets of societal framework. The medium might be anything but the message should be loud and powerful to hit the right chords of human heart and soul!
Sources:
https://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/awareness/human-trafficking-delhi-hub-3-lakh-children-forced-into-beggary-says-study/