Guria News Update April 2015

Message from the Guria Team

Over recent months India has once again been
propelled to the attention of the international media
with various incidents of horrific crimes against women
and children. The lack of basic human rights for
women and entrenched cultural attitudes which
perpetuate violence against women were recently
highlighted in the BBC 4 documentary Indias
Daughter which was banned in India. In this film the
defense lawyer standing for the notorious Delhi bus
gang rapists comments We have the best culture. In
our culture, there is no place for a woman. At Guria
we have been fighting these very attitudes and the
deep rooted violence against women and children for
nearly 25 years.
Guria has been extremely busy over the past several
months working hard on a variety of issues from
running non-formal education centres to pursuing legal
cases against traffickers to holding an awareness rally
on Womens Day with 15,000 women from Uttar
Pradesh speaking out against rape and sex trafficking.
We have also widened our focus to include more
support for people trapped in bonded labour having
rescued 461 victims of forced labour over the last 3
months. We hope you enjoy this update which gives
an overview of recent highlights and activities.

Girls at Gurias NFE centre

Non Formal Education

Guria continued to support over 300 children through 4 non-formal education (NFE) centres in Varanasi, rural Mau
district and in Madhya Pradesh. Gurias largest NFE centre in Shivdaspur, the red light area of Varanasi, continued
to support 120 children as well as play a role as a key point in the community through which Guria was able to reach
and support vulnerable children. There were around 70 children in attendance to the boat school located on the
river Ganges in an area increasingly prone to sex tourism i.e. the practice of tourists travelling abroad to exploit
vulnerable children.
There were various celebrations and events for children at the NFE centres, some highlights include:
Day out at the Waterfall Guria took the children from the NFE centre at Shivdaspur and some children from the
Boat School on a field trip to a beautiful waterfall. These children, most of who are from the red light area and
surrounding impoverished villages, otherwise have little opportunities for trips out. The children swam and played in
the river. Even the long bus rides there and back were filled with laughter and singing.

Divali celebration A Divali celebration was held at the Shivdaspur NFE centre for the children and their families, it
was also attended by volunteer associations Where There Be Dragons, Carpedium, Global Education and
LEAPNOW. In preparation Guria held a decorating competition between the new building and the old building of
the NFE centre. In order to teach the children about the potential beauty in all materials store-bought supplies were
forbidden, and the children could only use junk they found to decorate.
Holi celebration Children at the Shivdaspur NFE centre celebrated holi together with Guria staff and their families.
Sweets were distributed among the children, games and festivities were enjoyed and colours were exchanged!
New Year & Christmas celebration New year and Christmas was celebrated at the Shivdaspur NFE centre. The
children participated in staging performances including songs and dance. They enjoyed singing and dancing the
whole day with a delicious lunch at the end of the day.

Day out at the water fall!

NFE centre with decorations

Awareness Raising
Vulnerable rural districts
In order to prevent trafficking in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh where children are highly vulnerable, Guria held
hundreds of meetings and cultural programs in villages. Women from the villages were elected and appointed as
committees to monitor unsafe migration/trafficking within their communities. The most critically at risk families were
supported with goats from Gurias innovative goat bank.
International Womens Day
Guria held a massive rally in Varanasi with over 15,000 women
in attendance from Varanasi and surrounding villages in
Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Mau, and Azamgharh. The rally
was focused on child trafficking, child prostitution, and rape.
Hundreds of rescued victims came with their families, and
shared their stories with the crowd. The survivors talked about
the terrible exploitation they endured at the hands of traffickers,
brothel keepers, and brick kiln owners. They also shared the
struggles and humiliation they faced trying to get help from the
police and authorities. The survivors spoke out against unsafe
migration and shared with fellow women how to identify risks
and prevent trafficking.
Rally women unite against sex trafficking and rape

During the rally Guria

discussed their recent
report on 100 Cases
of Sex Trafficking,
Child Prostitution and
Rape
(http://goo.gl/tAqz9G) .

The rally was widely

covered by the local
and national press.
.

Sign the petition

Click Here

Womens Day Rally

Please look out for the bi-yearly report on another 100 cases of sex trafficking, child prostitution and rape
National Consultation about PIL
In December Guria organised a national consultation in Lucknow about their recent Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in
the Honourable Supreme Court of India regarding the rescue of trafficked children and women from brothels.
Concurrently Guria launched a Toll Free Telephone Helpline exclusively for support and rescue of enslaved
children/women.
Freedom Now Global Art Exchange
On March 18th Guria held the Freedom Now Global Art Exchange & Exhibit, an incredible 43 schools in 13 different
countries around the world simultaneously put on art exhibits on the theme of human trafficking. A few selected
paintings are also being displayed at Atlanta Airport, one of the largest hubs for human trafficking in the U.S,
organised by the International Human Trafficking Institute.
The walls of Gurias NFE centre in Shivdaspur
red light area, Varanasi, were covered with art,
just by walking up and down the halls, hundreds
of pieces of art from 13 different countries could
be viewed. The centre was filled with children
looking at the art from the NFE centre and
nearby schools. Children at the NFE centre
video-chatted with students from afar in Senegal,
Africa at SOS Childrens Villages in Dakar. The
children asked each other questions, sang
songs, and swapped dance moves.
Look out for March 18th 2016, because this
Freedom Now event will continue each year!
Children at the NFE centre video chat with children in
Senegal, Africa

International media and events

Freedom Fund launch event Guria founder and director, Ajeet Singh, was the key note speaker at the launch
event of The Freedom Fund in New York City, a new global philanthropic fund with the mission to fight modern
slavery.
Geneva Global visit Ajeet Singh visited Geneva Global who are supporting Gurias work , especially outstanding
legal work and innovative witness protection programme at their office in Philadelphia, USA. Ajeet also gave a
speech at Eastern University.
Philanthropy Age an article was published in Philanthropy Age, Slavery: a modern trade, featuring Guria.
Kaleidoscope City A Year in Varanasi Guria was prominently featured in a new book entitled Kaleidoscope
City A Year in Varanasi by Piers Moore Ede. Piers spent a year in Varanasi while detailing his life-changing
experiences, including some at Guria. Piers comments there is a chapter in there about Guria which many people
are telling me is the most powerful part of the book.

Rescue of slavery victims

Over last year Guria has rescued 39 girls
from sex trafficking and the charity has also
broadened its lens from sex trafficking to
cover other types of slavery, particularly
bonded labour within brick kilns; over the
last year Guira has rescued 461 bonded
labourers from brick kilns including 199
children, this includes a girl as young as 5
years old and two pregnant woman. Of the
many enslaved people Guria has rescued it
was found that most of them are not from
Uttar Pradesh state, where the brick kilns
were located, but from neighboring states.
Gurias rescue operations over recent
months have been covered in the national
media, including the Times of India
Numerous rescue operations were carried
out in Varanasi, Mirzapur, Lakhimpur Kheri,
Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi), Azamgarh,
Sultanpur,
Jaunpur,
Allahabad
and
Chandauli districts of Uttar Pradesh State.
Victims of slavery rescued by Guria from a brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh

As more and more rescued survivors of human trafficking reach their home villages, word is spreading about Guria
throughout rural communities in Northern India. This has meant more and more people showing up at Gurias
doorstep every week, telling stories of their family and loved ones who are trapped in various forms of slavery
including sex slavery. They are from far away, bravely leaving their home villages to reach the Guria office and ask
for help to rescue their families from slavery. Many of these people have been trying to get someone to help their
enslaved families for years, but the authorities would not listen to or believe them.
Guria does not have specific resources to support these rescued people so the team is working around the clock to
support people coming to the Guria office as they will not turn anyone away; they are therefore much in need of
funding to support those desperate people approaching them.
Guria has an ambitious goal to rescue 1,000 victims of human trafficking in 2015. So far this year 461 victims have
been rescued.

Legal work
100 cases of Sex Trafficking, Child Prostitution, and Rape Guria
submitted over 2,000 pages of evidence documenting police misconduct in
100 cases of Sex Trafficking, Child Prostitution, and Rape to the Enquiry
officer leading the enquiry ordered by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Following this the chief minister ordered a full enquiry which is now being
followed up by investigating officers. Several media reports covered this
successful legal intervention including The Times of India.
Attack on Guria legal co-ordinator
In December Gurias legal
coordinator, Sunil, was brutally attacked on his way to the Guria office due
to his refusal to stop pursuing legal cases against prominent human
traffickers. He suffered a fractured knee and an injured shoulder and ankle.
In spite of a complaint lodged, the police have taken no action against the
attackers. Frontline Human Rights Defenders released a letter in solidarity
with Guria. See: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/27912
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Guria filed a PIL in the Honourable High
Court seeking direction regarding the Victim Compensation Fund and its
distribution to victims of sex trafficking. Of 71 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 55
replied saying they had no records of ever paying compensation to victims.
This raises serious questions about even the work of other Non
Government Organisations (NGOs) on the issues of human trafficking, child
prostitution, and rape.

Despite the attack Sunil is recovering

well and just returned to the office!

Putting Justice First: Legal Strategies to Combat Human Trafficking in Northern India.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation and The Freedom Fund, cited Gurias legal work as an
example of a successful anti-trafficking strategy in the recent report Putting Justice First: Legal
Strategies to Combat Human Trafficking in Northern India.
One of the biggest challenges in the fight against slavery is the impunity that traffickers enjoy or at least, that they
used to enjoy In Varanasi, I visited Ajeet Singh and the brave team he leads at Guria, an organisation that is
using the Freedom Funds investment to pay for a team of lawyers to file legal cases against traffickers. Just a few
years ago not a single trafficker had been convicted. Now there have been 23 such convictions. Dan Vexler,
Director of Programs, Freedom Fund

Sakti and Ranju

This is the statement of a victim Guria rescued made to support her legal case which Guria is leading:
My name is Sakti and my age is 12 years. I belong to the tribal belts of Orissa. I and my sister, Ranju (8 years old)
were brought to Varanasi by a man and his wife under the pretext of a good education. After bringing us to Varanasi
they kept us both in bondage in their restaurant. They did not let us go anywhere and they used beat us and make
us work in the restaurant and clean the utensils. In the night, the man used to rape me against my will. If I protested
he threatened to kill me and my sister. When we asked to speak to our parents he used to beat us a lot. Fifteen days
ago, the man raped my sister as a result of which blood started coming out her.
Sakti and Ranju are vulnerable being from an extremely marginalised community struggling with poverty. They were
enticed away with the promise of an education and a job. Once deceived they were taken by a man and his wife all
the way from Orissa to Sarnath, near Varanasi. The girls were kept inside a restaurant where they were made to
work as bonded labourers for 3 long years. During this time they were also beaten, sexually abused and raped.
When Guria became aware of the trapped girls they carried out a successful rescue operation and recovered them.
Guria then pressured the police to get a complaint lodged against their captors. Further to this Guria got the bail of
the accused rejected meaning they could not walk free. The statement of the victims was recorded successfully and
along with rehabilitation and support from Guria the children have been returned to their parents.

Volunteering with Guria

Guria are visting the UK!

Half Marathon Gaurav Mathur ran the Old

Deer Park Richmond Half Marathon, London,
raising nearly 150 for Guria, Gauravs brave
efforts can still be rewarded here:
https://www.justgiving.com/gaurav-mathur2

Ajeet and Manju of Guria will be visiting the UK in April, this is a

first time and one off visit for Guria! Pls join us for a number of
events including:

Freedom Now! A Freedom Now event was

held at Princeton University supported by the
Freedom Fund and attended by Guria
director, Ajeet Singh. Attendees enjoyed
dance and music and learnt about Guria's
work.

We will be screening the Specks of Dust film on Tues 28th April

at 7.15pm at School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS),
University of London. The film follows Gurias incredible story and
on-going fight against sex trafficking and child prostitution. Ajeet
and Manju will attend and be available for questions and
discussion following the screening. For more info on the film:
http://specksofdustfilm.com/ and the screening see Facebook
event.

The day you realise you are just a speck of

dust is the day you will begin living your life
the way it should be. Ajeet Singh, Director,
Guria

Ajeet will be delivering a seminar at the Criminology Institute,

University of Cambridge at 12.30-2pm on Thurs April 30th. This
event is hosted by The Cambridge Migration Research Network.
For more info see the Facebook event

Your support
Guria are a grassroots frontline charity working in an incredibly dangerous environment, international support and
awareness means a lot to Guria and they are extremely for all the support from volunteers around the world. If you
are able to help or have ideas for awareness raising or fundraising, such as sponsored events, please contact Sarah
Wraight (Guria UK) at sarahwraight@guria-uk.org.uk Alternatively you can donate online by clicking HERE.

Children at Gurias NFE centre in Shivdaspur, the red light area of Varanasi
Guira India Website
Guria Facebook page

Guria UK Website
Guria Blog spot

Contact UK: sarahwraight@guria-uk.org

Contact India: guria.freedomnow@gmail.com