Guria News Update September 2014

Non formal education

Guria is currently supporting nearly 300 children from red light
areas through non-formal education centres, of which two are
based in Varanasi, one in Mau district, one in Azamgarh
district and one further away in Madhya Pradesh. Children
from extremely deprived and difficult backgrounds have been
helped with educational lessons as well as a variety of
creative and play activities, and many have been supported
with school work and enabled to access mainstream schools.
Gurias largest NFE centre in the red light area of Varanasi,
Shivadspur, has around 120 children in regular attendance.
Various events were celebrated at this centre including Holi,
Independence day, Childrens Day, Womens Day, Teachers
day and Eid, which were attended by children of the centre
along with their families and other community members.
Children were also taken out on trips including to the water
park over the scorching summer as well as the cinema and to
Sarnath (the site where Buddha gave his first sermon).
There are around 65 children attending Gurias boat school,
located at Ganga Ghat on the river Ganges. Guria established
the boat school in 2010 as this area is becoming increasingly
at risk and affected by sex tourism, the practice of travelling
abroad to take advantage of children who are vulnerable and
usually living in poverty. The boat school offers children a
safe place to go at night, as well as support with school work
and play and games; it is attended by many children of the
boat people, a highly impoverished and at risk group.
Message from the Guria Team
This year Uttar Pradesh has come to the attention of the international media with case after case of horrific sexual
crimes against women and children. This includes the well publicised Badaun case in which two lower caste girls
were raped and hung from a Mango tree. When these girls went missing, their father, desperate to find them, went to
the police and fell to his knees pleading for assistance the police laughed at him and refused to act. This and other
incidents prompted a wave of protests against rape. However protestors have been attacked with water cannons and
government ministers have made comments on rape such as Boys will be boys.
This is the extremely difficult and shocking context in which Guria operates. Perhaps most shocking is that the
incidents reported in the media are not isolated cases and are nothing new in Uttar Pradesh. Guria has been fighting
against extreme abuses against vulnerable women and children in Uttar Pradesh for over 20 years. This year, as in
those previous, Guria has taken a holistic grassroots approach to combat the complex issues involved which includes
education, health, livelihood support, awareness raising and empowerment of vulnerable people, along with rescuing
child victims and prosecuting the perpetrators of abuse.
We hope you enjoy this update which gives a snap shot of Gurias many activities and achievements so far this year.

Do we have a childs quote?
(To be completed)
Girl at the NFE centre
Awareness raising
Guria continued to work closely with local communities and authorities to raise awareness about human trafficking in
areas where children are at risk and through which children are trafficked known as source and transit areas with a
focus on:

Indo-Nepal border
Uttar Pradesh borders Nepal to the north, and with Nepal being one of the poorest countries in the world, there is
significant trafficking from Nepal into India. Typically girls are targeted from extremely poor villages in rural Nepal and
tricked with promises of a job and a better life only to find themselves trafficked into a life of prostitution. Many are
trafficked into Varanasi and then beyond deep into India and any number of red light districts. In addition people in
villages along the border are also very poor and vulnerable. Guria is working here to empower local communities to
tackle the issue by raising awareness and informing people of how they can reduce their vulnerability and what they
should do if they do become aware of trafficking in their community. Guria ran campaigns and innovative events in
schools to get children fully aware who then helped to spread the message through their families and throughout the
community.
Ghazipur and Mau
In rural districts around Varanasi poverty is often extreme and widespread and human development is on a level with sub-
Saharan Africa, as such children here are highly vulnerable to exploitation. Along with crippling levels of poverty and a
lack of opportunities, there is also low awareness of human trafficking and the risks. Over the year Guria has been
working in these districts to raise awareness and bring local people together to combat the issue of human trafficking. This
year Guria has continued to hold a series of meetings with local communities through which local people are able to
discuss their concerns as well as learn about legal issues around trafficking and become empowered through
understanding their basic rights.
In addition Guria has run programs of events including street plays/folk songs and workshops with school children to raise
awareness about human trafficking and get local people engaged with the issue. Guria has also linked up women living in
rural areas with government social security schemes as well as alternative livelihood options to reduce their vulnerability.
Children making clay models at NFE centre
Bedia Community in Madhya Pradesh

Guria have continued to maintain a close relationship with
the Bedia community resident in Madhya Pradesh. Within
the Bedia villages a practice of family based prostitution
is embedded in the tradition and culture of the Bedia
caste. Guria director, Ajeet Singh, and other Guria
members, spent time living with and fully understanding
this community in order to tackle such a complex issue.

Womens meetings and campaigns
Over the year Guria has organized meetings and events
to bring together women from villages across the
vulnerable districts of Ghazipur, Mau, Azamgarh, Jaunpur
and Varanasi in Eastern Uttar Pradesh in order to raise
awareness of womens rights and unite vulnerable women
in fighting exploitation. Guria are also in the process of
identifying village leaders and building their capacity to
tackle the root causes of exploitation.


Livelihood support

Last year Guria established a Goat Bank which is now up
and running. Goats, which have been labelled the ATM
of the poor, produce milk and around 6 offspring each
year, thus providing both a cash income and a source of protein, desperately needed by the poorest people. Gurias goat
bank provides a pregnant goat to a vulnerable family living on or below the poverty line, the family are then able to gain
protein products from the goat and once the offspring are produced, one is paid back to the bank, ensuring that the
scheme is sustainable and supports itself. This year Guria placed 40 goats in the bank, based in rural Ghazipur district,
following which they were milked and medicated before being distributed to villagers. Support from the goat bank means
families are less desperate to migrate and children less vulnerable to exploitation, as the whole family has improved
access to food and an opportunity to increase their income.

Legal work
Guria pursue a holistic approach as they understand this as the only effective way to address the complex issue of human
trafficking and child prostitution. As part of this they undertake a significant proportion of legal work and are unusual in
this respect as being one of very few NGOs willing to work in this area. Gurias legal work includes rescuing children from
slavery, prosecuting perpetrators of trafficking and protecting witnesses throughout the process. This is incredibly
dangerous due to the high levels of corruption in Uttar Pradesh and the tendency of police and officials to work together
with the powerful criminal gangs who control child prostitution. As such Guria staff have been subject to death threats,
physical violence and abuse.

Currently Guria has a total of 364 cases open against 942 human traffickers; with an additional 192 para legal cases; has
achieved the rejection of bail for a total of 322 human traffickers; and in total has secured 24 convictions of traffickers.
Convictions are extremely rare and a huge achievement, and as it not unusual for legal cases to last for 5 10 years, the
rejection of bail is crucial as it means traffickers cannot simply go on with their activities whilst on bail.

This year Guria published a status report on 100 cases of child prostitution, sex trafficking and rape which exposed the
negligence of the police and investigating agencies. This was sent to the Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh, as well as being
released to and widely covered by the media.

Boy at the Goat Bank
Public Interest Litigation
This year Guria filed two new Writ Petitions as Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Honorable High Court of at Allahabad
and the Honorable Supreme Court. PIL offers a way of protecting and ensuring justice for the most vulnerable as well as
being useful in holding the authorities to account, raising awareness, empowering marginalised groups and it can help to
reform the law over the longer term.
The PIL was put forward to raise awareness of the new modes of operation of traffickers. During the hearing Guria
presented a range of evidence to the Supreme court including their report on 100 cases of child prostitution along with
statistics including that there are around 1.2 million child prostitutes in India and that each year only around 0.07% of
children in prostitution are rescued. More specific and lesser known evidence included that uncovered through Gurias
work including the new methods used by traffickers, such as injecting children with growth hormones in order to prepare
children for prostitution faster as well as the use of fake marriages to hide trafficking and the networks of inbuilt tunnels
and hidden rooms used to conceal child prostitutes during raids in brothels. Guria achieved an excellent outcome as the
Honorable High Court accepted the PIL and called for a complete report on the matter from the Union of India, State of
Uttar Pradesh and Director General of Police Uttar Pradesh State.
Rescue of child labourers from a brick kiln
During a rescue operation over the summer Guria rescued 20 child labourers from a brick kiln in a rural area close to
Varanasi. Child labour in brick kilns is a typical form of exploitation and slavery which occurs in rural Uttar Pradesh. In
these brick kilns children are forced to work extremely long hours on the production of bricks under inhumane conditions
which puts the under extreme physical and psychological strain and at high risk from injury or even death.
When Guria became aware that the children were working under illegal conditions of forced labour with minimal wages or
for some no wages at all they immediately visited the kiln to take evidence including photographs. They went to the local
government labour commissioner demanding action be taken, the commissioner first refused to act asking Guria to return
in a weeks time. Guria, knowing this would allow time for information to get to the perpetrators and the child labourers to
be concealed, pressurised the authorities until an agreement was made. A team comprising the Labour department, the
Anti Human Trafficking Unit Varanasi and the police along with Guria departed for the rescue operation the following day.
Through the rescue operation Guria were able to uncover 20 child labourers from the site. However it transpired that the
brick kiln owner, responsible for using children as slave labourers, was colluding with the Labour department, Anti Human
Girls of the NFE centre taken for a day out at Sarnath
Trafficking Unit and the police to do all they could to prevent the rescue. The brick kiln owner along with some local thugs
attacked the rescue team and took away the rescued child labourers whilst the Labour department, Anti Human
Trafficking Unit and the police looked on. During this process Guria staff were abused and physically attacked.
Subsequently the Labour department, Anti Human Trafficking Unit and the police in collusion with the brick kiln owner filed
a legal case against Guria.
Guria is currently pursuing this case with the Honorable High Court at Allahabad in order to remove the case against them
and fight for the rescue of the children. Please support Gurias urgent appeal on this case by clicking here.
Volunteering with Guria
Freedom Now! London to Cambridge
56 miles for Guria: In July nine brave
cyclists completed a bike ride from London
to Cambridge, the team completed the
journey in two groups within 6.5 and 11.5
hours. Cyclists traveled 56 miles, well
done Brian Millington, Erwin de Genst,
Helen Taylor, Jim Carroll, Sam Carr, Harry
Whitby, Phil Haigh and Claudia Black, with
one, Sonia Dhiman, taking a small detour
and additional travel to the start making
her total 62 miles, wow what a feat!

Through their hard work and determination we have raised over 3,200 for Guria. You can still support this event by
visiting: https://www.justgiving.com/guriauk
Colours of India: A concert was held in Cambridge in collaboration
with a local charity called Sakhya: Friends of India. This event
celebrated Holi and included excellent renditions of traditional dance
and music from the four regions of India. It raised awareness about
Guria with a presentation given by Sarah Wraight on Guria and their
fight against human trafficking; in addition a small photo display was
arranged of the brilliant photography of Laurent Goldstein. The
venue was full and 120 people learnt about Guria.
Somosas and Chai: Students from Smith College, Northampton,
visited Guria's non formal education centre in May, and upon returning they created a little bit of India and ran a fundraiser
including selling chai, samosas and scarves, painting henna tattoos and telling others about Guria.
Specks of Dust: Watch this space for news on the documentary currently being made about Guria titled Specks of Dust;
see the Facebook page for more information: www.facebook.com/specksofdust
Clothes for kids: Monique and Matthew Epstein, and a number of
their friends donated clothes to the children of Varanasis red-light
area. The Guria family conveys their love and gratitude towards
Monique Epstein, Matthew Epstein, and their friends in the USA.
New furniture: Deepika Goyal at Popcorn Furniture made a
donation to the Varanasi NFE Center with brand new furniture
little chairs and tables, cupboards and beds for afternoon naps,
and best of all toys of all kinds. The children are absolutely
thrilled and will never tire of pretending to make kicharee in little
wooden dinette-sets. Thank you Deepikaji.
Avaaz: Guria has a campaign on Avaaz demanding an end to
police negligence, we have worked hard to gain the signatures of
over 1,100 people, but we need more support, please circulate to
your networks. Click here to sign
New furniture at NFE centre
Colours of India
Freedom Now cyclists
For more information see: Guira India Website Guria UK Website Guria Facebook Guria Blog
Online donations: JustGiving
Contact UK: sarahwraight@guria-uk.org or contact India: guria.freedomnow@gmail.com
















Your support
The Guria team would like to say a huge thank you to all our
supporters!
Guria are a frontline charity dedicated to protecting vulnerable
woman and children, which leaves little time to raise attention for
Gurias work. Not only funding, but international friendships and
recognition are important to Guria. Your support in being aware,
spreading the word or raising funds is important. If you have
ideas for awareness raising or fundraising, please contact
Sarah Wraight (Guria UK).


Abhayas story
Manesh made me sit on his bike by threatening me with a gun along with his friends. I was raped for days and when I fell
ill they brought me to my village by a vehicle and ran away after throwing me near my house.
A fourteen year old girl called Abhaya, living in Varanasi, was kidnapped whilst she was returning back from visiting her
sisters house. She was taken to Jharkhand, the State neighboring Uttar Pradesh, and was forced into a fake marriage
there. Abhaya was kept locked in a house and was raped continuously by a gang of men for ten days. In addition one of
the men put vermillion dye in the girls hair parting a symbol of marriage and took a photo with her.
When Abhaya fell ill due to being raped and severely abused the kidnappers returned her to her home by driving back to
her village and throwing her out near her family home. Abhayas family made complaints to the police who refused to take
action. Instead the police threatened the family, along with the kidnappers family, to keep quiet. During this process
Abhaya was illegally detained under police custody in a police station for two days whilst they pressured her to withdraw
the case. The family contacted Guria who forced the release of the girl from the police station, ensured the complaint was
registered and succeeded in ensuring the kidnappers were sent to jail and that their bail was rejected. Concurrently Guria
provided support to the girl and her family including witness protection which is not provided by the state.
The kidnappers remain in jail whilst the case is under trial and Guria continues to help Abhaya overcome the huge trauma
she has been through.
* names of victim and accused have been changed

Holi at NFE centre
Girl at NFE centre