Product details

Kshamata was a voluntary organization that worked for the social integration of the victims of human trafficking in India, founded by Bharathy Tahliliani. In India, women forced into prostitution were rescued by law and order agencies and placed in shelter homes operated by the government. Kshamata maintained a close contact with these rescued victims and supported them to cope with the trauma, learn the life and vocational skills to pursue an alternate, socially respectable profession of their choice, developing life skills to live in the society, finding employment and living life independently. Bharathy had initiated various programmes for these women in distress. The organization conducted / would conduct an outreach programme at the shelter homes. It ran a residential centre for these women called 'Kshamata Transformation Centre' (KTC) where the victims temporarily resided as they underwent counseling, and were trained in many vocational and life skills. Kshamata encouraged the women to take responsibility for their life. No restrictions were imposed on the residents at KTC and they were allowed the freedom to take their own decisions. Kshamata helped the women to start living independently by establishing group homes. It also had a social entrepreneurship initiative to market the products that were made by these women. The Kshamata team helped these women to find employment, and to integrate them in society such that they could lead normal respectful lives. While on this journey, Bharathy and the rest of the Kshamata team had to face many challenges, including funding, resistance from society and a few rescued victims relapsing into prostitution. The case describes the processes used by Kshamata to build the desired competencies among these women in distress and how they are supported in their transformation to lead a normal and independent life. The case also discusses the dilemma of a voluntary organization associated with measuring the effectiveness of training to achieve the desired impact, through the social integration of the victims of human trafficking.