What do we mean by a ‘South Asia free from injustice’?
Social justice is broadly defined by the British Government as making society function better by providing people with the support and tools they need to help turn their lives around. More specifically, it is about removing the barriers people face through gender, age, race, disability, income and much more.
The United Nations recently marked its International Day of Social Justice to promote human dignity through global efforts towards poverty eradication, decent work, gender equality and access to social well-being and justice for all.
Addressing social injustice underpins the British Asian Trust’s work and informs our vision for a future of South Asia where people are not just surviving, but thriving. In a region where around 22.5 million people are suffering violence, trafficking and abuse, there is plenty of work to be done.
Our anti-trafficking programme works with several partners on the ground to deliver high-impact solutions to tackling trafficking in its many forms - sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, child labour, forced marriage and many more.
We work very closely with our partner Prerana in India to tackle intergenerational prostitution and protect women and children from the threats of human trafficking across Mumbai’s red light districts, by defending their rights and dignity.
More specifically our work with Prerana supports the innovative ‘Aarambh India Initiative’ a platform that aims to support communities in safeguarding children from child sexual offences. Aarambh India is a centralised space for organisations working on the issue of child sexual abuse to access information, share work and knowledge, whilst connecting to national and international experts.
Our work focuses on ‘The National Resource Centre on Prevention of Sexual Offences against Children’,which was started to create a simple, online, one-stop portal that provides information and resources to all the stakeholders working on the issue of protection of children from sexual offences.
It is also India’s first online resource centre on prevention of sexual offences against children and a comprehensive and interactive resource pool. The portal highlights key areas through distinct pages on the law to protect children and emerging issue of online safety.
Abha Thorat-Shah, Executive Director (Social Finance), British Asian Trust