Human trafficking has been identified as one of the most brutal crime committed against marginalized women and children for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. It has been identified as one of the most heinous crime committed against marginalized women and children. The sex trafficking has emerged as a clandestine business involving a huge financial profit with minimum risk. The common causes for such slavery in the region are prevailing poverty, perennial flood, insurgency, conflict situations and internal displacement. Therefore we launched “Ujjawala” a comprehensive scheme to curb human trafficking from northeast India. This project was initiated on 1st November 2009 and is supported by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India.

Components of the Ujjawala are

  • Prevention.
  • Rescue.
  • Rehabilitation, Shelter and support services.
  • Reintegration and Restoration.
  • Repatriation.

Incense sticks making training for survivours at UJJAWALA

Objectives

  • To generate community awareness for prevention of human trafficking.
  • To rescue women and children from the place of sexual exploitation.
  • Immediately after rescue, provision of safe and secured custody for the survivors has always been the priority of UJJAWALA.
  • To lay out instant treatment and rehabilitative services both quick and long term including legal aid, counseling and vocational training; also supply basic needs like food, health care and clothing.
  • To undertake restoration/ reintegration of the survivors in the family and society at large. To facilitate the process of repatriation of the foreign survivors to their country of origin.
  • To generate awareness against human trafficking through pamphlets, articles, workshop, seminars and other activities.

Our goal is to reduce human trafficking in northeastern states of India and to uphold the respect and dignity of the survivors and make them ambience through social and economic empowerment. We are trying to improve socio-economic status of the survivors and marginalized women by promoting skill development program and appropriate education for girl children. We are also in an expedition to increase our network and lobbying with social, legal political, human activist, media, and organizations at local, national and international level.

Ujjawala had constituted three “Community Vigilance Committees” and three Balika Sanghas”. It’s a group of 10 to 12 members of adolescent girls that will prevent human trafficking and exploitation through social mobilizing and other activities.