SUNDAY HI NDUSTAN TI MES, MUMBAI

MAY 25, 2014 13

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Riddhi Doshi
riddhi.doshi@hindustantimes.com
A
tiny BMC classroom in the
Falkland Road red-light area
screams with silence as a
lone 13-year-old, lets call her
Khamoshi*, a sex workers
daughter, sits sombrely, word-
lessly, on the floor. She wont
talk, or smile; she barely blinks.
Like many of the children
who grow up here, Khamoshi
has been sexually abused.
This is one of the biggest problems fac-
ing children aged 1 to 18, especially among
the underprivileged sections, where par-
ents are often working and children are left
unprotected and unwatched, says Aftab
Mohammad, a child-rights activist and
head of child protection at the India chap-
ter of UK-based NGO Save the Children.
Its a problem that NGOs work year-
round to address, and now six of them have
united to participate in a new year-long
initiative called Aarambh (Hindi for New
Beginning) that seeks to tackle the issue
from within specific neighbourhoods.
The six NGOs Prerana, Aangan,
Apnalaya, Balprafulta, Navnirman Samaj
Vikas Kendra and Sneha are working to
train residents to spread awareness about
and design solutions to prevent child
sexual abuse in their neighbourhoods.
So far, their footsoldiers they call
them animators include teachers, school
and college students, and mothers in slums
in Malvani, Goregoan, Govandi, Wadala
and the red-light areas of Falkland Road
and Kamathipura in Grant Road.
The unique feature of the programme
is that it equips people andNGOs fromlocal
communities toresist, report, react toand
reduce childsexual abuse andexploitation
byworking withcivil society, government
agencies andthe judiciarytoshare resourc-
es anddemonstrate best practices, says
UmaSubramanian, Indiaprogramme man-
ager at ADMCapital Foundation, the philan-
thropic armof aninvestment management
company, whichis funding the initiative.
Training sessions with residents in the
selected areas began in December, with
sessions conducted by Subramanian, who
has a masters degree in social work and
specialises in child rights, and Prerana
founder-director Priti Patkar, who has
been working in the field of child sexual
abuse prevention for 27 years.
Training focused on the different
aspects of child sexual abuse, how to
effectively conduct research and preven-
tion workshops on the sensitive subject,
how to explain the basic clauses of the
key laws concerned, and, in case a victim
comes forward, how to communicate with
them and their family and liaise with
police and counsellors.
In April, the group of 35 animators and
activists (called mentors) hit the ground,
conducting a survey to gauge and spread
awareness among mothers and children
about what constitutes child sexual abuse,
what the laws says, and the crucial provi-
sions of the recent Pocso (Protection Of
Children from Sexual Offences) Act of 2013.
Local police personnel and doctors were
also surveyed and asked similar questions.
Efforts were also made to gauge peoples
perceptions of child sexual abuse. The sur-
vey is giving the volunteers a better idea of
how to approach the problem in each com-
munity and what preventive measures can
be planned, says Subramanian.
A total of 300 mothers and 300 children
will be surveyed by May 30 183 moth-
ers and 259 children have been reached
already after which the data gathered
will be compiled and uploaded on an inter-
active website that will function as a direc-
tory on child sexual abuse in these areas.
In the next phase, starting in June,
monthly training and awareness sessions
will be held with animators and mentors,
and awareness activities will be conduct-
ed in each area from drawing contests
to street plays and interactive sessions
held as part of cultural and religious festi-
vals like Ganeshotsav.
Much of the initiative is geared towards
correcting misconceptions. We began by
asking the volunteers open-ended ques-
tions such as, if a girl is skimpily dressed,
is sexual abuse justified? For those who
said yes, we explained how there is never a
valid reason to molest, says Subramanian.
We explained that a girl or a woman could
be wearing nothing and it would still be
inexcusable to abuse her. And we explained
that this shift would be vital, because their
job eventually would be to change similar
mindsets in their community.
It was the non-confrontational ques-
tions of two young male animators, in
fact, that first got Khamoshi to talk about
the abuse she had faced.
As the young boys spoke to her along
with other children, she began to talk,
says Vaishali Karande, an outreach offic-
er at Prerana.
(* Name changed to protect identity)
UNDER THE AARAMBH INITIATIVE, YOUNGSTERS FROM SLUMS CONDUCT
SURVEYS, WORKSHOPS TO SPREAD AWARENESS ABOUT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
Apoorva Dutt
apoorva.dutt@hindustantimes.com
G
irdharilal Gupta, 57, says his real
work begins at 7 pm, when his
daily stock of coconuts arrives via
the Eastern Express Highway.
Hauling the bunches of heavy
fruit off the truck and arranging them
on his stall in Sion is a dull and tiring
chore, yet this is how Gupta has spent
his evenings every day of every week for
the past six years.
Mine is not an enjoyable job, he
says. Its day after day of long hours in
the sun, or rain. But its a living, and I
have to make do somehow.
A high-school graduate, Gupta moved
to Mumbai relatively late, at the age of
41, tired of the long hours and dull work
at his fathers failing chemist shop back
home in Lucknow.
That shop did terrible business, and
I had always dreamt of living in a big
city, so I moved here, he says.
For his first 10 years in the city, Gupta
drove a taxi that had belonged to his
late uncle. But after an accident that left
him with a limp, Gupta decided to get
off the roads and find a more sedentary
profession. A friend had a contact who
supplied coconuts, so I thought I would
try that for a while, he says.
Gupta gets about 200 coconuts deliv-
ered to his stall every day, half of which
he sells at a small profit to a vendor in a
nearby slum. The rest he sells at his stall,
at Rs 30 to Rs 35 per fruit, making a profit
of about Rs 3,000 a day, and earning about
Rs 90,000 a month. Still, he lives in a single
room in the Sion-Koliwada slum, with just
a mattress and TV set for furniture.
I have to support my son, daughter-
in-law and two grandchildren, who live
in another slum room nearby. My son, a
peon, is often out of work and frequently
quits jobs, he says. I also support my
late uncles family in the village. With
all these expenses, there is never any
money left over.
Gupta starts his day at 5 am, with a
quick bath in the common slum toilet.
Then he heads to his sons home for a
breakfast of porridge with the family. At
7 am he heads to a local tea stall, where
he sips tea with two friends as they dis-
cuss work, politics and local gossip.
At 8 am, Gupta gets a lift in a friends
taxi and is dropped off near his coconut
stall. For the next 11 hours, he will sit
and wait for customers, haggling over
prices at every purchase and dealing
with complaints about too little water in
the fruit or too little of the juicy flesh.
The heat is the worst part, says
Gupta. Also the dust and pollution.
For years I have had a persistent hack-
ing cough that the doctor says wont be
fixed unless I give up this stall. Between
coughing and starving to death, what do
you think I picked?
At 2 pm, Guptas granddaughter
brings him lunch a big bowl of curd,
two vegetable preparations, a cup of
rice and three rotis. After eating this in
the shade of a nearby tree, Gupta takes
a quick nap while his daughter-in-law
mans the stall for an hour.
I dont regret moving here, says
Gupta. Mumbai is difficult, but Lucknow
was dead when I lived there. My father
used to beat me and say I would amount to
nothing. Here I live in freedom because I
make my own decisions.
At 7 pm, the truck arrives to start the
cycle all over again. Back home by 8 pm,
Gupta eats the dinner his daughter-in-
law has left him either fish with five
rotis, or dal and rice watches some
TV serials or the news, and falls asleep
at 10 pm.
I havent taken a single break in six
years because there is never enough
money, says Gupta. My parents passed
away three years ago and I couldnt even
afford to go back for their last rites.
(This weekly feature explores the
lives of those unseen Mumbaiites
essential to your day)
A day in the life of
'I HAVENT
TAKEN A
BREAK IN
SIX YEARS'
A COCONUT-WATER SELLER

BUSINESS HAS DROPPED BY HALF SINCE I

STARTED SIX YEARS AGO. PEOPLE DONT WANT
COCONUT WATER ANYMORE. THEY WANT THESE
SODAS. ONE ASKED ME YESTERDAY, CAN I HAVE IT
CHILLED? ARRE, THIS IS COCONUT WATER, IT CHILLS
YOU NO MATTER WHAT ITS TEMPERATURE.
GIRDHARILAL GUPTA, 57

THE SUCCESS OF SUCH A

PROGRAMME WILL DEPEND ON
HOW WELL THE ANIMATORS AND
MENTORS ARE TRAINED. IF THEY
ARE TAUGHT HOW TO CUSTOMISE
THEIR APPROACH FOR DIFFERENT
KINDS OF PEOPLE AND LINK CHILD
SEXUAL ABUSE TO CHILD RIGHTS,
IT COULD BE VERY EFFECTIVE.
IF NOT, IT COULD BE COUNTER-
PRODUCTIVE. THE DESIGN OF
THE INITIATIVE HAS GREAT
POTENTIAL TO SUCCEED,
HOWEVER, AS NOBODY CAN
HAVE GREATER INSIGHT
INTO THE PROBLEMS OF A
NEIGHBOURHOOD THAN ITS
OWN RESIDENTS.
AFTAB MOHAMMAD, head of child
protection at the Mumbai chapter of
UK-based NGO Save the Children
FOOT SOLDIERS
Action Six NGOs have come
together to enlist slum residents
in the battle against
child sex abuse in their
neighbourhoods
NISHA SHINGAN, 20, TYBA student and
resident of Bhagat Singh slum, Goregaon
I joined the Aarambh initiative because I was
tired of the harassment, molestation and even
rape rampant in my neighbourhood, and I wanted
to help make it a safer place, especially for chil-
dren, says Shingan, a volunteer with NGO
Balprafulta since 2012. There have been many
disturbing cases of child sexual abuse in our area.
Just recently a mentally-challenged girl was bru-
tally raped. In March, a 16-year-old was locked up
in a slum room and raped repeatedly over at least
a month.
With most victims hesitating to come forward,
such crimes become more rampant, says Shingan.
So far, Shingan and her team of two have sur-
veyed 45 children and 50 mothers. In most
cases the initial reaction is that they dont want
to talk to us. But over time, they agree to lis-
ten, she says.
People, especially children, always find it easier to
talk to people of their community, says clinical
psychologist Raheen Jummani.
Local residents tend to be
able to relate to survivors and
victims better, and are more
motivated to deal with the
issues too, she adds.
M
U
M
B
A
I

L
O
C
A
L
MAHESH (last name withheld
on request), 20, BCom student and
resident of Falkland Road
The son of a commercial sex worker,
Mahesh is now an effective animator for
Aarambh, having been inducted via NGO
Prerana. It was he and 19-year-old co-ani-
mator Shahdul* who managed to break
Khamoshis* silence last month, while con-
ducting a survey on awareness about child
sexual abuse in the community.
Even though sexual abuse of children is so
common here, we were surprised to find
that most mothers thought that only girls
were molested and not boys, says Mahesh.
We also found that, to many mothers,
showing child porn or stroking and caress-
ing a non-sexual part of the body was not
considered abuse.
In 2012, a 17-year-old working at a tele-
phone booth here was molested by her
65-year-old boss, who threatened to take
revenge on her family if she talked.
The torture began with showing her a
pornographic clip on his cellphone, which
later became physical, says Vaishali
Karande, a mentor from Prerana. Because
the girl did not report him, the man eventu-
ally convinced her father that they should
get married. She was seven months preg-
nant when she finally reported the crimes
to Prerana and then the police.
To prevent such crimes, animators go door
to door, talking about the different aspects
of abuse, warning signs in victims, and how
justice can be sought.
People from the community are best
placed to address such situations and create
a safety net for children and women, adds
Priti Patkar, founder of Prerana. At Prerana
we believe that every community has the
know how to solve its own problems. With
Aarambh we are trying to help these people
discover this and kick-start a sustainable
project, which could continue even if there
is no external support.
(* Names changed to protect identities)
DEEPAK SONAVANE, 22,
Bachelor of social work student and resi-
dent of Bhagat Singh slum, Goregaon
It was unreported cases of sodomy
and forced castrations in his commu-
nity that prompted Sonavane to vol-
unteer as an animator. We know of
cases of children being forced into
the service of temples, an ancient
practice that is now illegal in India
because such children are raped and
abused regularly, he says.
He has so far managed to survey 75
children and 45 mothers and talk to
them about ills of child sexual abuse
and how to prevent it.
Next, Sonavane will help organise
activities such as drawing competi-
tions for children, to bring the com-
munity together in action, and help
possible victims express themselves.
WORKING FOR CHANGE
FROM THE
GROUND
If we dont,
who else will
change the place
that we are living
in? Its time the
atrocities were
stopped and
offenders
exposed, says
Nisha Shingan,
20, a college stu-
dent and resident
of Bhagat Singh
slum in Goregaon
who has joined
the Aarambh
initiative via NGO
Balprafulta.
Children also
have feelings
and I am glad
that somebody is
trying to ensure
that we lead
happier lives,
says a 16-year-
old school stu-
dent and resident
of Falkland Road
who has grown
up seeing children
of sex workers
abused.
I have been
molested and
so have many of
my friends in the
neighbourhood.
This should end
and I support the
animators in the
slum in their
endeavour. They
are doing a good
job, says a
12-year-old
schoolgirl from
Bhagat Singh
slum in Goregaon.
ABOUT THE
AARAMBH INITIATIVE
In June 2013, a think tank of social workers
and activists called Study Circle met to discuss
ways to make the fight against child sexual
abuse more effective and sustainable. At the
end of the meet, it was decided to take on the
problem at the grassroot level.
Among those who attended that meet
was Uma Subramanian, India programme man-
ager at ADM Capital Foundation, the philan-
thropic arm of an investment management com-
pany, which is now funding the initiative.
She and other activists invited select
NGOs with experience in this field to partici-
pate. The six NGOs that signed on then identi-
fied local volunteers in specified areas, picking
those who had shown the most aptitude for
social work.
Each team of local volunteers, or ani-
mators, was then assigned an activist as a men-
tor to guide them through the training and in
their door-to-door campaign.
After initial training sessions that
stretched from December to March, the door-to-
door surveys and awareness campaigns began.
In all, 300 children and 300 mothers will be
reached by May 30.
Data from this survey will be studied and
used for further training and discussion ses-
sions, to be held once a month from June. The
data will also be compiled and uploaded on an
interactive website that will function as a data-
base on child sexual abuse in these areas.
Over the long term, awareness activities
will be conducted in each area over the next
year, from drawing contests to street plays and
interactive sessions held as part of cultural and
religious festivals like Ganeshotsav.
Nisha Shingan
and Deepak
Sonavane, who
have joined the
Aarambh initia-
tive via NGO
Balprafulta,
conduct an
awareness
session with
girls at the
Bhagat Singh
slum in Gore-
gaon where they
live. HT PHOTOS:
RIDDHI DOSHI
Two young residents of Falkland Road,
volunteers with NGO Prerana, conduct an
awareness drive with children in their
neighbourhood as part of the Aarambh
initiative against child sexual abuse.
MOTHERS STILL THINK ONLY GIRLS AT RISK
I WANT TO HELP MAKE
MY AREA A SAFER ONE
WE MUST ALL
ACT TOGETHER
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