Modern technology helps the Dalit Freedom Network UK team keep up to date with the many initiatives we have launched to help India’s oppressed Dalits. However, nothing can replace the experience of actually visiting those projects from time-to-time and assessing the impact they are making at ground level. Following the most recent trip, our campaign manager shares the encouragements he found alongside areas where the work can be developed further…

A recent visit to India by DFN UK staff has opened up exciting possibilities for the future development of our work to bring an end to the human trafficking and modern slavery of the country’s Dalits. The ten-day visit to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and New Delhi included an evaluation of our on-the-ground anti-trafficking projects, meetings with other key players in tackling trafficking in India and discussions with Indian staff on strategic developments for DFN UK’s campaign.

Refuge for trafficking survivors and the vulnerable

The visit focused around three of our four refuge shelters and associated projects including vocational training and education. The Andhra Pradesh shelter is part of a growing work among joginis. Joginis are trapped in ritualised prostitution and are, in many ways, similar to devadasi (among whom we also work). 99% of joginis are Dalits – untouchables - and our Programme Director estimates that there are 100,000 joginis in Andhra Pradesh. A key aim is to prevent the children of joginis from being exploited. Their circumstances, particularly their extreme poverty, make them expecially vulnerable. Our projects provide them with nutrition, healthcare, education and a safe place to live.

Our Karnataka shelter offers care, protection and rehabilitation for survivors of sex-trafficking or for women and girls who are particularly vulnerable to this form of exploitation. A special emphasis is put on developing skills and learning to enable them to stand on their own two feet and earn a living.

In Delhi, we are linked with the North East Support Centre and Helpline, whose work focuses on the discrimination and abuse of women and girls from the north east region. Research and experience shows that this is increasingly taking the form of human trafficking, particularly for the purposes of domestic service, marriage and the sex trade. This often involves sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Most of the women are from the indigenous tribes of the north east, thus falling outside the caste system. Tribals are often included when the term “Dalit” is used in a broad sense, and are subjected to at least as much discrimination and exploitation as people categorised by India’s government as lower castes.

Our Indian partners are also working with tribal people who have been trafficked from India’s Orissa state. Our visit enabled us to meet the sixteen year-old girl whose rescue we reported last summer. She had been sexually abused by her traffickers and sold into abusive domestic service. Her mother is now with her and they are staying in one of our shelters, accessing care and education, while we continue our search for her eighteen year-old sister who was trafficked at the same time and is still missing.

Strategic developments

The trip came at a strategic time for DFN UK. Since our official launch at an event in Parliament last autumn, we have been developing resources to enable people in the UK to champion Dalit freedom. We have also been engaging with British politicians and officials to use their influence to encourage the Indian authorities to take effective steps to tackle the trafficking of Dalits. As a result of key meetings with our Indian partners, we have identified specific projects that can be funded through DFN UK, set in motion a process to identify specific advocacy issues for champions to take up, along with developing further opportunities for UK supporters to be involved in the work. Keep returning to our website for more stories and reports, as well as announcements about these developments.

In the meantime, you can support the projects mentioned above through Help Them Help Themselves scheme.