Restoration and education for 36 trafficked girls

Shirisha* is 17 now years old. She belongs to the Badi community, which is a marginalized cast group. Her mother died when she was only 6 months old and her father remarried. Her stepmother deprived Shirisha of the care she needed as a child. She was raised by her grandparents. Her grandparents were very poor. Her family would seasonally migrate to Himanchal Pradesh for seasonal employment.

Shirisha met a woman from India who offered her a job as a salesgirl at a clothing store. As she was looking for ways to pay her grandparents for supporting her, she accepted the offer of the woman and went with her to India. They stayed in New Delhi for 5 days and on the 6^th day, they went to a hotel for lunch. Shirisha wondered why they would stay at a hotel and she asked the woman. The woman responded that they were there to enjoy and that they would start working the next morning.

That evening, when Shirisha was sleeping, the woman locked the door of Shirisha and ran away. A few hours later, a man entered her room and attempted to rape her. The man told her that the woman had sold her to him for 260 dollars. Shirisha was shocked and tried to escape but this was not successful. She realized that she was trafficked. She was assaulted and raped and locked up for 2 months. She was rescued by a team of Shakti Samuha on their 6^th surveillance visit to the hotel. With the help of the local police, the team conducted a rescue raid and rescued 4 girls, including Shirisha.

After the legal procedures, she was repatriated to Nepal and she now stays at the Half Way Home. Here, she is provided with psychosocial counseling and non-formal education. After rehabilitation, she would like to return to her grandparents.

* Her name was changed for safety reasons.