Inspiring women to unite to keep children safe from harm

Child trafficking is a critical issue in India with children at risk of disappearing from their families and suffering horrific abuse. Last month my husband and I visited India to see for ourselves work supported by the British Asian Trust which is empowering women to take action and protect children from abuse before it takes place.

We visited two women’s groups in a built-up slum area of Varanasi which have been established by Aangan, a front-line organisation supported by the British Asian Trust. They have helped to set up women’s groups where women come together to identify and track children and young women at risk of trafficking and abuse.

One memorable group of women are really well established and passionate about the significant social changes they are making in their community. They were particularly concerned about families giving up young women to men who come with proposals of marriage but these prospective husbands don’t always turn out to be who they say are. In fact, the women told me about instances of girls who have never been seen again or girls who have been used for sex. The group members used activities to spread the word among families about the risks posed strange men making ‘too good to be true’ marriage proposals and encouraged families to research the men more thoroughly before allowing their girls to go. And they have encouraged girls to memorise a mobile telephone number to call in case of emergency.

Whilst the women’s groups may need help to get organised at the beginning, over time they become self-sufficient in their work to identify and address child welfare issues that are locally relevant. We met with another women’s group who were concerned about children left home alone when their parents leave early for work. The women’s group took action and negotiated with the local police force to do extra patrols in the early hours of the morning to act as a deterrent.

The women’s groups keep records of children with photos and hand-written information about them; children thought to be at risk are identified with a red sticker. The records enable the women to track children and raise the alert if children go missing. Aangan is beginning to integrate a mobile app system to replace the paper records which will enable them to more efficiently capture data on children at risk and lobby local authorities to take action based on clear evidence.

Many of the inspirational women I met in the groups have become positive role models in the community. Women like the amazing Pammi who told me that mothers-in-law who may have been resistant in the past now actively encourage their daughters-in-law to join the group.

Anita Goyal, long term supporter of the Trust and Director of the Hemraj Foundation.