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AUGUST 2010 OUT NOW!
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ASK . . .
DR GRUGNI
DR VIBHA
THE DOCTOR
MISS MICHE
YOUR OPINION COUNTS
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK OF THE TEENAGER
CHANGEMAKER
BOMBAY TEEN CHALLENGE
Restoring Broken Lives
Ashagram children with BTC's 2008
Bharat Jyoti Award
Verus Ferreira
...................................................Almost every day we come across a news item on human trafficking. Every day somewhere in the country a young girl is forced into prostitution. Dedicated to restoring broken lives, Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC) works in and around the city's red light district, reaching out to and rescuing those forced into prostitution and their children. In its twentieth year, BTC also reaches out to substance users, street gangs, juvenile delinquents and those who live on the streets, but the main focus is on children bought and forced into prostitution.
At a recent event, BTC and the Hard Rock Café, Mumbai came together to launch the Stop Sexual Slavery campaign. Alternative rock band Starsailor's lead vocalist James Walsh and Britpop band Ocean Color Scene performed live to support the cause.
BTC Founder & Executive Director K. K. Devaraj
Reports reveal that more than 1 million children are sold, bought and forced into prostitution. An emotional K. K. Devaraj, Executive Director and Founder of BTC, says that the children are often subjected to emotional and physical abuse. "Their childhood has been snatched away from them. Ours is a sovereign republic that stands for freedom and equality and yet we allow children to be victims of this crime. A child who refuses to submit is often kept locked in a room for days and nights without food or water, beaten mercilessly, sometimes gangraped. At times they are whipped, burned with cigarette butts until they submit themselves." He mentions an instance where he found a child who had never seen sunlight for two years. "How can we let such things happen in our city?" he questions.
The 57-year-old says that initially he found the going tough. "For two years I struggled to convince these women to let my team help them and their children. They couldn't trust anyone, as their own families cheated them in the past. But we built a relationship and that's how it all changed. The children who came to me would tell me, 'Take us out of this hell'. It was all God's protection that helped me through the obstacles."
Ashagram
Log on to the BTC website at http://bombaytc.orgBTC has HIV, dental and medical clinics providing free treatment as well as an 24x7 ambulance stationed in the area. Regular meetings between mother and daughter keeps the mother updated on what her child is doing. The children live in Ashagram (Village of Hope) outside Mumbai that caters to their educational and emotional needs. Today, many young girls have completed their education, some securing an MBA, another a Masters in social work, while others have decided to be part of the NGO. "We also have an AIDS orphan home where one of our own girls is in charge," says an elated Devaraj. The boys and girls we help today are going to be the successors of tomorrow who will take this movement forward."
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