To win the war against human trafficking, women working towards financial stability

Poverty is the major factor which pushes vulnerable families into human trafficking across the world. Situations like climate change, lack of job opportunities and natural disasters create favourable conditions for the traffickers to exploit the vulnerable families.

The lucrative offers of better education, good job, and good life tempt poor people to ignore the grey area behind the attraction. More often, parents understand the hidden agenda but due to no other option they accept the offer of the traffickers and send their children in hope of better future.

Trafficking for labour, domestic help, flesh, and organ are very active between India and Nepal due to the open border between the countries. The victims end up working as a bonded labourer, domestic servant or in a dance group and flesh trade.

Human trafficking can be addressed through the multi-dimensional approach and more importantly through poverty alleviation. Women of Bahuaar Kalan Nichlol village in Uttar Pradesh decided to overcome their financial deprivation by starting the incense sticks making through SHG.

This village is one of the intervention areas of Swaraksha Anti-Human Trafficking programme of Caritas India to combat human trafficking. Purvanchal Gramin Seva Samiti, the implementing partner of the programme has motivated & trained these women to initiate the incense making under Income Generation activity.

With a small financial support from the programme, these women started making incense at home and selling the product at the village market.

“Incense making is a source of inspiration for other women”, says Malti Devi, President of Laxmi SHG, “we want that each woman should think to earn money to support the family”. She is confident that through their small efforts things will change & they will sustain their livelihood.

These women demonstrated the work & shared how they purchase the raw items for making the product & how they get it ready to sell it. They are happy for this effort & said that in the initial stage if they can see the positive result in terms of earning after making & selling the incense sticks, surely their group will get the good returns through their joint efforts. Laxmi Women SHG of village Bahuaar Kalan  symbolizes  the harmony among themselves by having a dress code in their group which the group women wear during the meetings.