Building Secure Economic Futures for Young Women

The journey of Yasmine (not her real name) is like so many others stories that the Jabala Action Research Organisation, based in Kolkata, India, encounters, of girls trying to make the right choices to support themselves and their families yet facing enormous obstacles and dangers. Yasmine, 14, is the third daughter of her family. Her father, an alcoholic, was not able to provide for the family, so she was forced to drop out at grade six and begin working, making traditional embroidery at home. The global economic recession hit hard however, and the market for handicrafts suffered, leaving her and her sister without income. She first took up a job at a local bag factory making just Rs.400 (about $8.50) a week. In July of this year, she disappeared one day after leaving work. Her family searched everyone, including relatives’ homes for her. Twelve days later, she called to say she had arrived in Delhi with promises of an income in the Rs.5000 ($100) per month range. The story that she had been told was too good to be true. Another five days later she called again, this time asking for help to be rescued from a brothel where she had been taken. Fortunately for Yasmin, a friend of her family’s who now resides in Delhi was able to investigate and rescue her from the brothel. She is now back with her family and is participating in Jabala’s programs so she can find lucrative and safe means of income generation.

Jabala was founded In 1992 by a group of young, dedicated social workers founded an organization to reach the most marginal of communities - children of sex workers living in the red light district of Bowbazar. To address the twin challenges of poverty and discrimination, Jabala’s early efforts focused on raising self-esteem and providing educational opportunities for these youth. In May 2009, with a grant from EMpower they initiated a program to provide income-generation and thus build the economic independence of young women (living in their residential shelter) who have been the victims of abuse and/or trafficking. Already there have been some encouraging results. In a joint partnership with the Kolkata Police, Jabala opened a canteen (cafeteria) to feed police department employees, which is providing a monthly salary to 12 women. Additionally, 5 other survivors have also been employed as community police, responsible for resolving conflicts at the neighborhood level.