SEATTLE — India’s newest up-and-coming sex-trafficking lawyers are smart, strong and dedicated. They have a unique mission: to put the men who robbed them of their childhoods behind bars.
The School for Justice, an initiative of the NGO Free A Girl, helps survivors of child prostitution become certified lawyers who will fight to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice in court.
In a country with 1.2 million children illegally forced into prostitution, their skills are desperately needed. Despite stern anti-trafficking laws, an average of fewer than 50 child prostitution cases per year in India result in convictions. Consequently, brothel owners and soliciting clients have learned that they can expect to walk away with impunity.
The School for Justice proposes two solutions to this problem: educating more lawyers who are well-versed in child prostitution laws, and providing survivors with a working knowledge of how they can use the law to their advantage.
The School for Justice officially opened on April 6, 2017, with an inaugural class of 19 young women between the ages of 19 and 26. All are survivors of child sex trafficking.
A typical day at the school begins with physical activity–yoga, karate or dance. The students spend the remainder of the day preparing for law exams and studying English. They live together in a house run by one of the school’s partner organizations. The school covers food, housing and transportation expenses—about $3,400 per year for each student—with the help of generous donors.
The women in the program receive tutoring and mentorship to help them complete a level 12 education. The school then assists the girls in applying for university. Thanks to a partnership with one of the most highly-regarded law universities in India, the survivors are able to attend university just like any other students.
Four of the 19 young women will begin their law studies this month. After five years at the university, the students will receive their Bachelor of Law degree, with a specialization in commercial sex exploitation. The School for Justice will then lobby the Indian government for these women to become public prosecutors.
The School for Justice was born when Free a Girl asked the marketing and communications agency J. Walter Thompson to design an ad campaign to inform people about the realities of child prostitution in India. After looking at the numbers, the agency decided that an ordinary ad campaign wasn’t going to be enough. They needed an initiative that would last for years.
According to Evelien Hölsken, director of Free a Girl, the school’s greatest challenge came from the stigma that has long been associated with those who have survived forced prostitution. The reality of what these girls have faced can be overwhelming. However, Hölsken added, many of the responses to the school were both positive and supportive of the girls’ mission.
Girls sold into child prostitution in India live in some of the most inhumane conditions in the world. Children as young as seven or eight years of age are sold into brothels, where they are forced to have sex with as many as 20 men in one day. One of the young women attending the School for Justice was sold into the brothel at the age of nine. Another was sold at the age of 16, by her husband, after two months of marriage.
Life is not easy for these girls after being rescued. They are often ostracized and looked down on by society. Their families sometimes refuse to take them back. The Indian government, far from offering assistance, has been known to arrest survivors for crimes relating to human trafficking.
The students at the School for Justice have all suffered trauma as a result of their experiences. Each of these women has received counseling and therapy, and psychological support is always available through one of the school’s partner organizations.
At the same time, their experiences have made them fiercely motivated. They are determined to protect other girls from what they have gone through. They won’t give up until the criminals are behind bars. As one girl pointed out, “The perpetrators are not punished and walk around free. That’s why I am still not free.”
The school is already making plans to expand and seeking out new donors to support the class of 2018. Hölsken says that Free a Girl is also looking to start Schools for Justice in other countries. The school is crowdfunded; Free a Girl encourages anyone who wishes to end the forced prostitution of children to contribute.
– Emilia Otte
Photo: Flickr