Annexure I

‘CREATING RESILIENCE IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS

VULNERABLE TO PROSTITUTION

IN THE RED-LIGHT AREA AT BAINA BEACH,

VASCO DA GAMA, GOA, INDIA. ‘

Detailed planned Project

–       introduction

–       problem/need statement

–       project objectives

–       approach

–       plan of work

CREATING RESILIENCE IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS VULNERABLE TO PROSTITUTION

IN THE RED-LIGHT AREA AT BAINA BEACH,

VASCO DA GAMA, GOA, INDIA.

I.                     INTRODUCTION

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Baina Beach at Vasco da Gama is where the single organised red-light area of Goa is situated. The red-light area as well as the surrounding area is a community of mixed groups - prostituted women, perpetrators of prostitution and those who may not be directly connected with the prostitution market but are vulnerable to becoming either prostituted persons or perpetrators of prostitution. It is the existence of the red-light area as well as the assortment of the nature of individuals and families inhabiting the area that lends itself to various negative impacts on the different members of the community.

A significant part of this community that is the victim of such negative impact is the group of adolescent girls who share a similar life-situation by virtue of their being adolescent, being girl-children and being in close proximity to a red-light area.

These girls have either not attended school or have been made to leave school. Most of these girls are illiterate and unskilled. These girls spend lesser time as children do and more as adults performing the duties of the household and attending to the needs of the family.

The most risky effect of being embedded in an environment of prostitution, is that these girls are often faced with situations that make them very vulnerable to being prostituted or becoming part of the prostitution market. The vulnerability arises from various factors that are group-specific (young adolescent girls) as well as those that emerge from the family / community situation and the environment of the prostitution market.

The young adolescent girls are not allowed the opportunities that other children have during that development stage. Not being able to go to school and not having had any opportunity of learning or utilising skills, these girls do not have the benefit of any productive time to themselves. This is further aggravated by their proximity to the red-light area and its activities that they begin to observe. These girls are at an age when the costs of prostitution are not completely comprehended but the visible benefits are observed. This makes them extremely vulnerable to being attracted to the proposition of supporting the family through prostitution. Further, these girls already having low self-esteem and subjected to constant sharing of responsibilities, cannot realise the full impact of their own victimisation by their families when they are pushed into prostitution by the parents. They cannot protest against any physical or sexual abuse or violation of their rights being carried out against them whether it is by their own family members or other members of the prostitution market. Most of these girls are found helpless human beings by virtue of the opportunities they have been denied during their upbringing.

There is a great need to build strengths in these individual adolescent girls so as to protect them from their vulnerability to prostitution and prevent them from being introduced into the prostitution market. There is also an equally great need to work with the family and the community towards bringing change in the prostitution market and in the stakes offered by it. [This proposal focuses on the interventions for the group (adolescent girls of Baina Beach). Interventions at the level of family and community are being made through other ongoing Programmes of Arz, namely the Arz Women's Programme and the Arz Youth Programme].

II.                   PROBLEM/ NEED STATEMENT

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The adolescent girls of the community at Baina Beach within and around the red-light area are vulnerable to the various influences of the market of prostitution. This is mostly in terms of vulnerability to being prostituted. The other vulnerabilities that exist are in the nature of sexual abuse and psychological effects of the existence of the red-light area..

The Adolescent Girl at Baina Beach

The adolescent girl at Baina Beach may belong to a joint family, may be an orphan living with relatives or may have a single parent. She is mostly illiterate or is a school-dropout and has not had any form of skill development. She has a very low self-esteem compared to others of her age group.

The Family of the Adolescent Girl at Baina Beach

The families of these girls are usually those that have a very poor economic status. The family size is large, commonly being an average of 6 members. The family income is an average of Rs. 50 a day (except in the case of prostituted women where it is approximately Rs. 100 to 150 a day). The adult members work at temporary jobs, are construction labourers, painters, maidservants, and vegetable-vendors or are prostituted women. Most of the jobs are of seasonal nature and have low rates of payment. The family has to bear very high costs of living such as high rates of rent, food, etc as the living costs at Baina Beach are exorbitant owing to the existence of the red-light area. Most of these families live a hand-to-mouth existence.

The father figure of the young adolescent girl's family may be her biological father, a man from her mother's second marriage, a man with whom the mother has a long-term relationship but not marriage, or a grandfather or uncle. In most cases, the men have similar patterns of thinking and behaviour especially those related to women and the family. Despite their poor economic status, the men in these families indulge in various habits that further deteriorate their life-situation as well as that of the family. These men are habitual to regular drinking. They are involved in sexual relationships with prostituted women. They also indulge in habits like gambling. Several of them do not contribute their earnings to the family expenses. A large number of them are dependent on the earnings of the women and children in the family. In fact, the men squander a sizeable portion of the family earnings for their pleasures and habits. A number of fathers expect and cause their young daughters to leave school and do housework or even jobs in the prostitution market. Additionally, within the family, the children are exposed to alcoholic behaviour, wife battering, verbal abuse, and emotional trauma of dysfunctional relationships. The children shunt from one notion of adult relationship to another.

The mother of the adolescent girl at Baina Beach usually is the victim of dysfunctional marriage and the indulgent social environment of the red-light area-light area. She usually bears the responsibility of the survival of the children and family. She is unable to devote the time required for supervision and healthy upbringing of the child. Most of the time, her frustration and stress is relieved in the form of physical abuse of the children. She usually cannot take a stand when it comes to the continuing of the education of her adolescent daughter. However, there are also those mothers who play a helpless yet contributory role to the child being made to work in high-risk situations in the red-light area-light area or even in being pushed into prostitution.

The family situation of the adolescent girl at Baina Beach has a very direct and strong bearing on her vulnerability situation. Most of her rights as a child are violated or never owned by her. She has no education, she has no opportunities to develop skills, and she has no time for recreation or space for self-expression. These girls are brought up in an environment where they shoulder the burden of the family's poor economic status, dysfunctional family life and various problems within the community. Consequently, these young girls grow up in an exploitative environment that dictates to them their 'duties' as women and the manner in which they should be performed. These girls become individuals who have no power of self-expression, extremely low self-esteem and a poor self-image.

The role of the adolescent girl is bound to being the housekeeper, the baby-sitter for her younger siblings and even the breadwinner for the family. The role of the adolescent takes the most inhumane form when she is expected and forced to become responsible for financially supporting the family through prostitution. At Baina Beach, the prostitution of minor girls carried out by their own families is not an uncommon phenomenon. This is done either through the hypocritical and illegal process of religious dedication of girls to certain goddesses. Or it is even done through direct commercial contracts made by parents/relatives of the girls with brothel-keepers in the red-light areas.

Contributory Factors to the Situation of Vulnerability to Prostitution of the Adolescent Girl at Baina Beach

The catalyzing factors creating situations of vulnerability of the adolescent girl at Baina Beach arise from causes that are internal as well as external to the individual girl.

1.       Lack of or absence of Vocational Skills

The girls are not equipped with any skills that can be effectively utilised for earning a living. In crises (whether family or individual), they face an imminent need to work and earn for survival. At such points, these young girls are sent to sell materials in the red-light area thus greatly increasing their exposure to the prostitution market at an early and premature stage of development as well as posing them to a very high vulnerability to influences of the market. The girls are forced to interact with members of the market that include brothel-keepers, bar-owners, prostituted women, customers, male-keeps and pimps. There are incidences of sexual exploitation or abuse that create tremendous emotional and social trauma for the young girl who then further gets into the mode of guilt, shame and self-rejection. In a large number of girls, this state creates an acceptance of the prospect of prostitution being the only way to gain some ‘status’ through becoming a source of a more lucrative means of living and support to the family. Alternately, during crisis situations the family forces the girl into prostitution itself.

The alternate job situation for these girls such as work as maidservants, shop assistants is very scarce if not unavailable. Such jobs are rarely offered to girls of their age. There is a reservoir of unemployed unskilled adult women who are preferred for such jobs.

2.       Low self-esteem

The young adolescent girl at Baina Beach typically has very low self-esteem. She has a negative self-image caused by various factors such as lack of education, dysfunctional family relationships, abusive family members, very poor social and economic situation of the family and her staying in a stigmatised locality, namely the red-light area.

The resultant low self-esteem is a principal contributory factor to their belief that they are not talented, cannot learn jobs that require skill, and that they are of no use to the family in times of need. The one thing that they have observed from their childhood that they believe requires no skill, qualification or learning is the act of prostitution.

Moreover, as young minors, they receive messages and are perceived as very lucrative prospects for being prostituted. For some girls, this becomes a negative however strong driving force in terms of one being given an importance and recognition that they have long lost. Their leaning towards acceptance of prostitution is also incremented by her expectation of her acquiring a better status in the family due to the large share of contribution that she could make through prostitution. Thus, many a times it is the lowered self-esteem itself that catalyses the entry of the adolescent into the prostitution market.

Further, in cases where the parents push a child who is unwilling, the lack of will and poor self-image causes the adolescent girl to succumb to the exploitation.

3.       Lack of Knowledge / Awareness of the consequences of being prostituted

In the eyes of the young adolescent girl, the prostituted woman is one who does not have to labour hard and yet earns ten-fold of the earnings that her entire family can earn. Besides, she enjoys the advantages of being able to interact openly with the opposite sex, drink, smoke and put on make-up. Thus, the image of the prostituted woman, in terms of the occupation that she is involved in, is not entirely negative in the eyes of some adolescent girls. Ultimately the adolescent girl sees the prostituted woman as the one who gets richer food, affords better comforts, is socially satisfied, able to support her family comfortably and is an economically independent woman.

This perception is not balanced by the true situation of the prostituted woman. The reality of extrem exploitation existing in the life of the prostituted women is not evident to the young adolescent girl as she observes it from the exterior. This creates a false picture in the mind of the adolescent. For her the only factor that restrains her is the social stigma that is accorded to the prostituted woman. But this restraint is worn out in situations of crisis when the girl is faced with the responsibility (self or family imposed) of supporting the family. In fact, the fear of stigma of being a prostituted woman is substituted by the defense of being the family support through high earnings of prostitution. Or to compensate for an alternate stigma already accorded to the girl such as experiences of sexual exploitation, rape,etc.

4.       The Development Stage Of Adolescence coupled with Lack of Knowledge of Sexuality

The young adolescent girls are at that stage of development when their curiosity regarding their own body, the opposite sex, the nature of sexual relationships is at a high. Also being in an area of prostitution, they have had experiences, whether vicarious or physical, that have aroused their curiosity about sexual behaviour and especially about prostitution.

However, they have a lack of knowledge of sexuality due to either absence of proper role models, lack of parental guidance, inhibitions to discuss sexual needs and behaviour, or absence of persons they can trust or confide in. These conditions create situations of high risk when the young girl is involved in situations of interaction in the prostitution market or interactions with the opposite sex of her age. Any negative incidences have a direct impact on her route into the prostitution market.

5.       Pressures of the Family and Environment and Pulls of the Prostitution Market

The young adolescent girl faces double forces thus accelerating her vulnerability to the prostitution market: both in terms of pressures from the family and community and pulls from the prostitution market. The family pressurises her in terms of her ‘duty’ to help in terms of financial support and her potentiality to do so. Her exposure and interaction in the prostitution market creates forces of attraction for her in the form of the apparent independence, the colorful social life and opportunity to earn sufficiently to be able to afford the comforts of life.

Need for Intervention

The most direct consequence of not addressing the problem is in terms of the continuous inflow of girls into prostitution. Besides the illegal activity of child prostitution being precipitated, there are children being subjected to the dangers of innumerable health hazards and to various types of sexual abuse and exploitation.

Another direct consequence of not addressing the issue of vulnerability of the adolescent girl child at the Baina Beach community is the increase in the number of families living a parasitic existence at the cost of the child's life. This further leads to a demonstration effect for the other families who begin to give credence to the act of prostituting a child for the survival of the family.

Overall, the effect of the problem not being attended to is a slow anomalous acceptance of the unexpressed yet widely practiced norm of exploitation of the girl-child, the sexual abuse of the child, and of child prostitution. The occurrence of the prostitution of a child becomes a common phenomenon that no longer summons the sensitivity or even attention of the community. There is a growing unconcern and apathy not just towards this inhuman treatment of the girl-children of the community but even towards the girl-child of one's own family.

An effective and timely intervention can play a significant role towards addressing the present needs and problems related to the vulnerability of adolescent girls at Baina Beach. Attending to the problem will result in providing that alternative for the adolescent girl away from the route of prostitution. It would give her the inputs to resist efforts being made by family or community members. Further, she would be armed with adequate information of productive and unproductive behaviour and their consequences. They would be equipped with a better capacity to judge the consequences of entering the prostitution market in terms of its costs vis-à-vis its seeming benefits. Interventions to address the problem will also empower the girl as well as their families to resist any temptations or bribes being offered to them by the members of the prostitution market, such as unscrupulous brothel-keepers.

There would be an overall impact on controlling the crime of child prostitution. The interventions would also have an impact on the phenomenon and activities of the prostitution market.

Strategies adopted by the Community to address the problem

The community's attempts to manage this problem have been perceived only in terms of families endeavoring to send their daughters to some skill training with the prospect of future employment. There has been almost an absence of any strategy developed within the community or any resolution made against the practice of child prostitution. Worst, there seems to be little realisation of the creation of the vulnerability to prostitution of the adolescent girl for which the family plays the main precipitating role. Thus not until the girl is into prostitution that the community notes any change in her status.

Some families have sent their girls to the Arz Children's Drop-in Centre. However, the families felt that the girls were not learning a skill that would enable them to support themselves and the family in terms of family income.

Need expressed at the community level

Various members of the community including adult prostitution women have expressed their concern for the adolescent girls who reflect the vulnerability to prostitution particularly for those who interact with members of the prostitution market. The need has often been expressed to provide training to these girls in terms of teaching a skill in order that they would not have to face vulnerable situations.

Above all, the adolescent girls themselves have expressed the desire for such a service.

Barriers in Service-Provision

It is perceived that there would be some barriers to service-provision owing to the nature of the phenomenon as well as the nature of the group with whom intervention is planned. The prostitution of adolescent girls is a big money-spinner in the prostitution market and the intervention of empowerment that would protect the girl from her exploitation would harm the interests of innumerable stakeholders of the prostitution market. Bringing about a change in the phenomenon of prostituting children is expected to directly consequence friction and resistance from various quarters whose interests will be affected by the changes.

Another major group that thrives on the prostitution of the adolescent girl and that has become habitual to the benefits of the same is the girls' families. In a number of cases the family of the girl itself will pose restrictions, find faults and try to discourage the girl from continuing with the Programme when they see clearly that her empowerment would create difficulties in the process of putting her to prostitution. Also, many families will function as barriers led by the greed of making large amounts of money through prostitution vis-à-vis the prospect of equipping their girls with a skill that will enable them to make a much lesser living. This has an important bearing on the progress of work and realisation of desired outcomes.

One more factor that could create hurdles is the development stage of the girls. In considering the stage of their sexual development and the pattern of socialisation offered by the red-light area, there are certain girls who would take longer to be included in the fold of the programme.

Most importantly, the long accepted habits and internalised benefits of parasitic living on the earnings of a child through prostitution has become an accepted form of behaviour and a part of life of individuals and families at Baina Beach. This implies that the intervention involves change in set patterns of socialisation of an entire community that is expected to show results only over a long term of consistent work. In the initial stages, this itself will create a barrier in the form of families themselves discouraging their girls from participating in the movement.

Rationale for Intervention by Arz

The need for support of the intervention proposed by Arz exists in the imminent and most important need to stop any kind of vulnerability of any child to child prostitution. The target group of adolescent girls is one that is least likely to rejoin the mainstream education. And the main cause of the acceleration of their vulnerability is their not having any skill for future economic independence. There is a great need to develop their potential to become economically and socially stable and capable of making their own choices in the face of other parties having control over these decisions in their lives.

Further, the intervention proposed by Arz is based on the experiences of and is an extension of its ongoing work at Baina Beach. It is based on the need expressed by the concerned groups. Work is already underway with the other groups related to this phenomenon - namely the families of the vulnerable girls, the community members and the members of the prostitution market that influence these girls. (This is done through the other projects of Arz).

III.                 OBJECTIVES

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1.       To empower the adolescent girls at Baina Beach in order to enable them to deal with factors of vulnerability to the prostitution market.

2.       To provide skill-development to adolescent girls at Baina Beach towards preventing vulnerability to prostitution.

3.       To provide functional literacy to adolescent girls at Baina Beach towards empowering them to deal with factors that cause their forced entry into the prostitution market.

4.       To provide awareness to adolescent girls at Baina Beach related to factors of vulnerability to the prostitution market.

IV.                 APPROACH

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The work proposes to attempt at bringing changes in the individual thinking and behaviour pattern of various groups - the adolescent girl, the family of the adolescent girl, the members of the community and members of the prostitution market.

The basic underlining approach of work is that issues concerning vulnerability to prostitution, especially child prostitution, have to be handled in association with the other prime issue concerning the life-situation of these girls and their families at Baina Beach namely the girl's need to support the family or contribute to the poor family income.

The approach is to carry out work at three levels:

i)                     Individual-specific Intervention

This would involve empowering each individual girl through inputs of skill-development, literacy, and self-reliance towards making educated choices and enacting them.

ii)                   Group-based intervention and

The aim is to enable the formation and participation of the group of adolescent girls towards bringing about self-help and support to other adolescent girls at Baina Beach who are vulnerable to prostitution.

iii)                  Intervention at the level of the Community

The work through this project would help to create an enabling environment at Baina Beach towards increasing awareness of vulnerability of the adolescent girl-child at Baina Beach and control of the crime of child prostitution.

V.                   PLAN OF WORK

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The period of intervention planned is of one year.

The plan of work towards achievement of the objectives of this project is four-fold. The work will be done through four components simultaneously acted upon. These are not phases of work or components that are sequential but will be implemented in co-ordination.

Component A- Empowerment through Skill-building

This component comprises of capacitating the girls with a skill that has the following qualities:

1.       The Girls are interested in the skill

2.       The girls feel a sense of empowerment in mastering that skill

3.       The girls feel that in having that skill, it will enable them to be self-supporting and self-sufficient.

4.       A skill that can be universally (universal in the context of the adolescent girl) utilised.

Our work experience has shown the need for these girls to learn tailoring. It is pertinent to highlight the commonly discussed importance of building non-conventional skills for building economic stability and self-reliance in keeping with the changing times and its greater utility as compared to conventional skills such as tailoring which may not yield the same returns.

However, in reflecting the needs specific to this group and community, it has been found to be the most commonly expressed need and an apt one. It is their reasoning that tailoring is the one skill that helps women and girls wherever they go. A large number of the girls are married to men living in rural areas where the learning of other non-conventional skills may not continue to be a source of support for sustenance. Tailoring, as felt by them, is a skill that would have use in all parts of the country and even in the case of shifting out of this community, they could continue to use the skill for their benefit. Even in villages tailoring is one skill that comes in handy for survival in times of need - eg. A saree blouse is an item that all Indian women need to have stitched most frequently.

The number of adolescent girls that will be trained will be 20 girls who will undergo training for tailoring. These would include girls of prostituted women, perpetrators of prostitution as well as families not directly connected to prostitution but residing in the same area.

A skilled person would carry out the tailoring training. It would comprise teaching both Indian and Western clothing.

Component B - Empowerment through Literacy

The other component is that of helping the girls to revive their knowledge of basic reading and writing of the language of their choice or to teach them to do so. This will be done with the aim of capacitating them to independently manage their daily functioning. The stop of dependence on others who then use that power in situations of vulnerability and will instill the confidence in them to deal with such situations more capably. The Literacy classes will be held half-hourly every day.

Component C - Empowerment through Awareness

In this component, there will be intensive provision of information, awareness and discussions on the issues in the prostitution market, factors that affect adolescent girls living in and in close proximity to red-light areas, family situations and pressures, sexual development and sexual relationships / exploitation, methods of dealing with pressures to join the prostitution market.

The efforts would also be to build a very strong relationship of members of the group as well as of the group and the organisation so as to create a self-help effort within the group and instill the confidence in each girl to be able to approach the organisation in times of need.

Awareness sessions will form part of their schedule once a week.

Component D - Creating Long-term Self-reliance

This component would create the self-sustenance of the project within each individual. The aim of the project is not just to create the resilience and self-reliance for the present period of time but to create the same in a manner that these girls pass on into adulthood equipped with it in order to deal with any future risk situations. The aim is also to arm the future woman with a skill that will help her situations of crisis and shield her from vulnerabilities similar to the ones in her present environment. For instance, in situations such as husband becoming alcoholic in her marital home in a far away village, or in situations when the woman becomes a widow which many a times has led girls/women to prostitution.

This component would consist of therefore providing her with the equipment that she would need in order to use her skills. The work-plan also involves an attempt at bringing in job work at the end of their course - work. And attempting job placements in the city area of Vasco.

Annexure II

Feedback on Progress in First Year

FEEDBACK ON FIRST YEAR

Name of the organization Arz

Date of establishment September 1997

Location Baina Beach, Baina, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa, India.

Description of area Baina Beach is the only known and organised Red-Light area in Goa, it is an urban slum with lack of an organised hygiene and sanitation system, overcrowding etc in the Port town area.

Contact person(s) Zarine Chinvala

Director, Arz

Address MHN 27/1, Behind Anthony Bar, Baina Beach, Vasco da Gama, Goa 403 802

Email: arz@goatelecom.com, arz_goa@yahoo.com

Phone number Ph: 91 832 519951 / 515353

Fax: c/o 91 832 501173

Number of children currently enrolled in the project: The girls have been divided into three

Batches –A, B and C with a total of 20 girls.

Batch A and Batch B consists of sixteen adolescent girls who are most vulnerable to the prostitution market. They have been exposed to the market directly or indirectly. Their family background is that of single parents or their mothers, fathers who are alcoholics and older siblings (sisters), who are already into prostitution. Each girl has an average of three-four siblings. A few of their sisters have been religiously dedicated and put into prostitution. Many of them also have younger siblings whom they have to parent. The male siblings in most of their families enjoy differential treatment and are not expected to do anything to contribute to the family income. All of the girls in one Batch had been into rag picking. This exposed them to a lot of risks. This also made them very vulnerable to exploitation. A few of these girls have been in conflict with the Law. Some of the girls have been working as small vendors in the red-light area in the late evening and nighttime, selling eatables such as boiled eggs etc., mainly consumed by male customers visiting the area. The girls are either illiterates or school dropouts and are mostly unskilled.

Batch Three consists of six older girls, some of whom had earlier experienced prostitution and with similar demographic profile as the previous batch.

Batch One

Batch Two:

Batch Three:

Current Girl/Boy ratio Not applicable

Current Teacher/student ratio: 1: 8

Over all vocational training and skill development project attendance percentage approximately 80%. The girls do face a lot of pressure from their homes being prospective “products for the prostitution market” Most families resent the fact that the time spent by the girls in the programme do not yield income for the family. Hence there is a great pressure on the girls to be directed into activities that create earnings at the same time to shoulder their household responsibilities, thus leading them to miss the classes.

Medium of instruction Hindi

Below are some general questions regarding the project. Since your time is valuable to us, please make your answers as detailed as possible.

Details on the school curriculum (please attach additional sheets if necessary)

THE DAILY TIMETABLE:

BATCH A 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. : Tailoring

12.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. : Non-Formal

Education, Literacy &

Awareness Sessions.

Extracurricular

Self-expression activities

BATCH B 3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. : Tailoring

5.00 p.m. - 6.00 p.m. : Non-Formal Education, Literacy &

Awareness Sessions, Extra curricular

activities like drama, singing, street

play etc.

BATCH C 2.00p.m. – 5.00p.m. : Tailoring

SKILL-BUILDING

The course has been planned for a period of nine months. It is planned to give the girls the complete set of skills for tailoring. By the completion of the course it is proposed to teach them to tailor baby clothes as well as adult clothes. The items proposed to be covered are baby dress, baby bonnet, baby frock, baby napkin, skirt and top, shorts, 6-piece dress, sari blouse, churidar, ghagara choli, skirt (plates) Blouse (school), umbrella frock, tight skirt, Katori Blouse, A-line dress, 8 piece dress, salwar kameez, petticoat, shirt, prince cut dress.

LITERACY

It is planned to provide functional literacy to the girls who are illiterate in the languages Hindi and English. For the girls who have been to school, there is a need to revive their knowledge of the languages and enable them to move further in terms of reading and writing. An emphasis is laid on conversational English as the children have expressed that as a need.

AWARENESS

Various issues have been covered with the girls either as per the timetable or as the need was expressed by girls or felt by the teacher.

Historical stories such as that of freedom fighter Subashchandra Bose, British era in Indian history, Freedom Struggle, importance of Independence day, etc.

Other topics covered have been the occurrence of day and night, eclipses, flowers and their functions, the parts of human body, the importance of air, good habits, sessions on sexuality etc

And other activities that they can use in their day-to-day life. Plans to take them to the post office, bank, hospitals, bus and railway stations etc.

Self-expression and recreational activities:

The girls are also thought to take part in street plays, dramas, and a few forms of dances etc are also undertaken.

PARTICIPATION OF THE GIRLS IN OTHER ACTIVITIES OF Arz.

The girls under the Asha programme have been included in other programmes of Arz as well. They participate in various activities of the Arz Children’s Centre such as indoor and outdoor recreation, art and craft sessions and drama, fancy dress competitions, sports etc

The girls were also taken with the other children for an excursion to the Bondla Sanctuary and National Park where they learnt about different aspects of nature.

They were taken for an exposure visit to Cluny Convent Technical Institute, which teaches skill-development to girls. Here the girls observed the different skills that can be learnt and especially the discipline and behaviour of the students.

The girls have been included in the Health Services of the Arz Children’s Centre. This covers medical attention for minor and major ailments for the children as well as the parents/family members. Girls have so far been treated for dental problems, fever, urinal infections, etc. and parents have been helped with medication for TB.

The girls were also attended to by the Counselor & Therapist of the Arz Children’s center. She had been taking group sessions with the girls as well as holding capacity building sessions with the staff that work with them.

The girls are also being trained to assist the staff in working with the younger children thereby involving them in the activities for the community.

Long-term goals of the project (mention any changes you foresee)

The basic aim of the project being is build resilience among the young girls. These girls could be the agents of change in preventing child prostitution both in their own family and around them. By being involved in the project, they demonstrate that there are alternative ways and opportunities for earning a livelihood. It is also aimed at creating self-dependence among the girls to be able to resist the forces that act against them.

Long-term plans include placing them in job after providing them with the vocational/skill training. Self help groups have also been started in each of the batches for financial assistance when any of the group members are in need.

To provide them with other alternative means of employment at their own homes has been the other plan. Currently the staff ave been trained in mushroom cultivation to impart the knowledge to the girls in the long run.

The other plan is also to start some sort of a production workshop where in the girls can be self-employed where tailoring and other stitching orders can be taken by themselves and marketed. This would be done by the girls themselves, a stipend could be paid for the girls who could take up the marketing their products. The older girls could be taken as tailoring instructors instruct the new girls who would be enrolled in the project.

Description of current vocational/ skill development project facilities (building, equipment etc)

Currently the project is occupying one room where the training takes place for the girls, three sewing machines, facilities required for tailoring like scissors, thread, needles, cloth, paper, pens, pencils, books etc The entire project is handled by one staff, who is the tailoring instructor.

How do you need to improve these facilities?

With the increasing number of girls the project is reaching out to, the facilities like the sewing machines need to be increased to at least ten sewing machines. There is a need to also increase the budget of the raw materials used for the training, especially the cloth necessary for practice. The current space available is proving to be small and with the increasing number of girls, it would be less crammed if there were resources to hire a bigger room. Some basic facilities, such as provision of a water filter etc., would be very helpful if available.

In terms of staff requirements, there is need for a professional social worker and a designer. The Social Worker, would help in catering the counselling need of the girls, and provide the necessary individual attention to each of them. The social worker will also carry out the Non-Formal Education, awareness and personality development programmes and plan long-term production and marketing. There is also a need for a part salary for an accountant to deal with the same.

In order to provide a firmer base against their vulnerability, it is intended to involve certain girls as peer trainers. This would involve payment of a stipend for marketing of the products and training the new batches.

How do you think the vocational/skill development project has improved in the last year?

Development of the skill of tailoring of the girls which was planned for a period of nine months has been accomplished successfully and all the batches have completed a major part of the course with just two months left.

Through non-formal education, their awareness level on various issues has been enhanced. Basic functional literacy has also improved.

There is improvement in the areas that have been worked upon, namely behavioral aspects and personality traits of the girls and their discipline, from them being very restless, usage of abusive language, concentration, improvement of group relationships etc.

The issue of their vulnerability has been effectively addressed in the various sessions, making them both aware of the factors and helping them to fight, it by building self-resilience in them.

The families are constantly updated regarding the progress of the girls, through parent-teacher meetings, home visits and involving them in the activities of the project.

The girls are also being trained as helpers by working with the smaller children, using them as change agents to make a difference in the community.

What are the problems you have faced in the last year?

Most of these girls tend to have very low self-esteem. The low self-esteem is reflected either in withdrawn and non-participative behavior or very aggressive, distractive and attention-seeking behaviour. There has been reasonable change in their behavior and self esteem since the last few months after the project started.

Another area of difficulty was inculcating discipline in the girls. Due to lack of any formal training or inputs, bringing about disciplined behaviour was very difficult in terms of getting them to be a part of a formal structured programme, adhering to rules of attendance, controlling group dynamics, their usage of abusive language etc.

As mentioned earlier, most of the girls were either school dropouts or illiterates and a few of them by virtue of being first generation learners, had poor grasping and retention skills. Much headway could not be made initially in the skill development because of the lack of functional literacy of basic maths and reading skills.

Most of these girls are very vulnerable, by being directly exposed to the prostitution market and the kind of things they see around them. These girls also face undue pressure from the parents who are still looking for some sort of income from the girls and to shoulder household responsibilities. In some cases, there is the temptation to religiously dedicate the girl-child. There is also a lot of apprehension among the parents about their future jobs after learning the skills of tailoring.

How would you rate the overall effectiveness of this project over the past year?

The overall effectiveness of the project has been satisfactory. We are able to see changes in the individual girl as well as the attitude of the community, vis-à-vis adolescent girls and prostitution. But we strongly feel that there is still a need to do a lot of work in both the areas of the individual girls as well as building the group feeling of the community at large.

How much longer do you foresee requiring Asha funding, and for what purposes?

The project very specifically targets the most vulnerable adolescent at Baina Beach red-light area. Evidently, this is a group that will have to be addressed continuously. It is felt that until a few more years, until more sustainable system in terms of support groups / workshop, etc. is implemented, and there is constant source of income, the project would need support from Asha.