A new program in India is helping survivors of child sex trafficking get justice for others like them ― by pursuing careers in the legal system.
The School for Justice, launched in April by Dutch anti-trafficking group Free a Girl, provides funding and other support to women who have escaped underage sex trafficking, so they can prepare for university and earn bachelor’s degrees in law.
The goal of the program is to empower former victims to change how India’s legal system fights trafficking ― because all too often, perpetrators aren’t brought to justice. The program also aims to raise awareness of child sex trafficking.
The School for Justice’s inaugural class kicked off in April with 19 young women. To maintain their safety, the group did not release their full names, the location of the school, or the name of the university that some are attending.
Millions of women and children are victims of sex trafficking in India, according to the U.S. State Department. Traffickers often promise them opportunities for employment or marriage, only to then force them into prostitution.
While India has strong laws against trafficking, they are not always enforced. In 2014, for instance, police investigated 3,056 human trafficking cases, including 2,604 sex trafficking cases, the State Department reports. Yet 77 percent of the traffickers who were prosecuted were acquitted.
The School for Justice helps survivors become lawyers by covering the cost of school fees, housing, food and transport as they pursue their degrees. The participants all live in the same house, run by staff members of partner organization Sanlaap, which rescues girls from brothels and provides them with housing and education. There, the students take English classes, basic law classes and get assistance applying to and attending university.
One of the major challenges the School for Justice is tackling is the stigma that sex trafficking survivors face.
What’s more, the Indian government often arrests survivors for trafficking-related crimes rather than getting them the support they need, the U.S. State Department reports. The problem isn’t limited to trafficking victims in India: In the United States of America law enforcement officials often perceive sex trafficking victims as criminals and arrest them for prostitution and other related charges.
The School for Justice program costs around $3,400 per student per year. Private donors in the Netherlands have already funded expenses for the next two years, as per the report, but the school is currently seeking more donors from India and elsewhere to fund a new crop of participants in 2018 and onwards.