To Attend or Not To Attend

At the age of 12 Jiya* was forced to attend to her first customer. 

It was her mother who had sold her to the pimps in the Red-light area. 

Jiya’s mother had married a man who was addicted to alcohol and was physically abusive. Jiya recounts her mother leaving him and remarrying in the hopes of a better life. However, the second husband turned out to be more violent, he threw acid on her mother’s face. The acid attack left Jiya’s mother unable to carry on with the only work she knew. With no income source and extreme poverty, the mother pushed her daughter into the profession.   

Jiya was sold to a brothel in Bhandup, where she was forced to work for 3-4 months before she could send any money back home to her mother. The pimps and the brothel keeper got her addicted to a chemical drug to ensure that she wouldn’t abscond from the red-light area. She was also highly addicted to tobacco.

Following a tip from an informant Rescue Foundation had conducted a raid in the Red-light area of Bhandup a few months ago. Jiya had turned 15 years by then and was promptly rescued and brought to the organization’s safe home in Mumbai. She was provided with immediate medical care and was introduced to the counsellor who commenced work on building a rapport with her.  

Both the counsellor and the shelter staff observed that she had difficulties adjusting to the shelter. She had anger issues and would frequently pick up fights with other residents. She was extremely hesitant about participating in any of the educational or vocational training activities and would often express her wish to go home.

The cut marks on her hands revealed that she was vulnerable to self-harm tendencies, so our team prioritised helping her out with her anger issues. The subsequent counselling sessions were focused on helping Jiya understand a little about anger management. She showed an interest in learning the coping mechanisms and strategies she could employ to channel her anger in a more productive way.

Within a few weeks, we started noticing that Jiya was calmer. She had enrolled in the beautician course and was attending the classes regularly. When the shelter superintendent asked her about joining her school, she could trust her enough to confide in her about her fear of failing. Jiya had dropped out of school in standard 5, and expressed how she was scared she wouldn’t be able to pass her exams, even if she tried. Our shelter superintendent put Jiya at ease indicating that the worst that could happen, was that she’d study for standard 8 again. This conversation helped Jiya overcome her fears. It seemed worth trying and she expressed her willingness to resume her education.

On the day she was supposed to join the school, she was up at 4 o clock, enthusiastically waiting for her caretakers to drop her to school. When she was back, she barged into the counsellor’s cabin to tell her about the day. 

At the age of 16, Jiya is finally free to attend to her school and vocational training classes. 

Her journey, like many others, continues to be empowered by the well-wishes and contributions of donors like you. Our entire team is sincerely grateful to you for fueling our work and the girls’ progress. 

*Name changed to protect survivor’s identity