Building social safety nets to prevent human trafficking using theatre
We use theatre innovatively to empower marginalised, uneducated and poor population with improved awareness, knowledge and life skills to reduce their vulnerability to trafficking.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
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Your idea
Sector Focus
Civil society
Year the initative began (yyyy)
2004
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Web site (url)
Positioning of your initiative on the mosaic diagram
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Vulnerability of targeted populations
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Increase community resilience
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
This field has not been completed. (333 words or less)
Name Your Project
Building social safety nets to prevent human trafficking using theatre
Describe Your Idea
We use theatre innovatively to empower marginalised, uneducated and poor population with improved awareness, knowledge and life skills to reduce their vulnerability to trafficking.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
We use theatre innovatively to empower marginalised, uneducated and poor population with improved awareness, knowledge and life skills to reduce their vulnerability to trafficking.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
We physically reach out to the vulnerable communities who are beyond the reach of conventional communication channels and have no way to voice their concerns. We use interactive street theatre shows to educate them on human trafficking, ways and means used by traffickers and ramifications of crime. During street theatre shows , actors interact with the audience - creating a public forum for discussion on causes of vulnerabilities, local push and pull factors etc. This innovative approach enables mass partcipation in research. People openly discuss sensitive issues like village girls who have never returned, stories of fake marriages, local people who have suddenly become rich, girls married off to grooms from distant states for few thousands of rupees. We hold community workshops where theatre based activities are used to overcome barriers posed by social and cultural differences, poverty, shyness, marginalisation, lack of education etc. The process enables the participants, most with middle level schooling, embark on a journey of self discovery. Our workshop participants acknowledge that Theatre has re-energised them , made them open and proactive. We make community vigilant. We strengthen the network by involving new actors in the fight against trafficking like village women and youths, grassroot health workers, local governance structures (Panchayat) in combating trafficking. We use role playing, storytelling and theatre based activities to involve the participants, brainstorm ways in which they can contribute and motivate them to take ownership on the issue of preventing trafficking.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
We research local factors leading to vulnerability to trafficking by holding interactive street theatre shows staged by local youths/artists, where we discuss with the community factors leading to their increased vulnerability and support needs. We build alert societies better able to protect the vulnerable and survivors through improved awareness, development of broad based partnerships and multisectoral alliances for improved access to support services. We hold workshops with diverse groups from civil society as well as local governance and law enforcement agencies creating a sustainable social safety net.
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
We plan to grow our innovation by strengthening the mechanism of social safety net by making local governance (called Panchayat in India) and grass root women who work for welfare of young children (called Anganwadis) key partners. The latter have effective reach among rural population and can become effective spokespersons ushering mindset change and also conduits for improved access to support services. Their participation will also help in dovetailing of schemes and opportunities available to women, children and the poor with efforts to combating trafficking, thereby facilitating holistic redressal. Panchayat involvement will enable improved access to care and support services, holistic addressal of vulnerability factors and strengthening of law enforcement.
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how do you create them?
Our approach is to create new partners at grass roots to combat trafficking. We have developed partnerships with community based resource groups, local folk artists, police, NGOs, FBOs, CBOs, health workers. We hold workshops to sensitise the targeted partners on the issue and use theatre to mobilise their involvement and build their communication, advocacy and leadership skills. We train youths, community based resource groups and local folk artists to stage interactive theatre shows for building awareness and also to research with community participation causes and consequences of trafficking. We hold networking workshops with different stakeholders in order to brainstorm possible ways of collaboration and joint action.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
Our efforts have led to creation of grassroot leaders working against trafficking, alert communities, improved public acknowledgement of the problem and new stakeholders collaborating in combating it.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
Lack of priority given to trafficking as an organised crime is an issue. Apprehension both among the mass and the Government that recognistion of problems like proliferation of trafficking to cater to commercial sex industry may stigmatise tourism and thus affect the business leads to silence. Lack of awareness on ramifications of trafficking among vulnerable population make them vulnerable. Lack of awareness of rights among the vulnerable (particularly women and children) make them silent victims. It is difficult to mobilise participation of poor families as time of involvement directly affects their income genearting activity. There is lack of inclination to work in collaboration among stakeholders like police,local Governance. There is also lack of holistic approach addressing alternative livelihood, education, sanitation creates a singular focus on trafficking, which in isolation cannot be addressed completely.
How many people have you served or plan to serve?
We have worked all across Goa, Sikkim and vulnerable districts of West Bengal to combat trafficking. Sex tourism and trafficking is proliferating in Goa and Eastern Himalayan region covering Sikkim and north Bengal. Youths and children are also trafficked for exploitative labour. West Bengal is a source, transit and destination. We plan to replicate our model across the country in areas like North eastern hill states, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Goa etc.
Directly
Mass awareness campaigns have reached out directly to more than 30,000 people in Goa, Sikkim and West Bengal. We have trained more than 4000 police officers at Goa and West Bengal. We have worked with more than 1200 vulnerable children living in homes and shelters and their teachers at Goa. We have worked with more than four hundred Anganwadi workers (workers under Integrated Child Development Scheme) all across Goa , Outreach workers of fifteen NGOsand FBOs in West Bengal and Goa, college youths from four colleges at Goa , members of forty legal aid cells in Goa, and around 400 self help groups of women from Goa have been mobilised to build a social safety net.
Indirectly
Community workshops and theatre shows organised by the groups trained by us have reached out to Panchayat members, village youths and women, parents, children etc. FBO and NGO members have worked in their villages and have trained more village women and youths to lead the combat against trafficking.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation?
There is improved coordination between NGOs and police at West Bengal and Goa. The training of police has led to prioritisation of trafficking as an organised crime among police. Our campaign feedback highlighted that children recorded as missing in Sikkim may be victims of trafficking. Before our intervention there was hardly any awareness on this. At Goa, community acknowledged that victims of trafficking are not necessarily children of poor migrants but their own - a big change from earlier mindset to see the problem as a migrant issue. NGOs, FBOs, youths are using our methodology effectively in their own interventions.
There is improved help seeking attitude among police - e.g. they call up NGOs whiel going for a raid. There is also improved coordination among police across district and state borders.
Is there a policy intervention element to your innovation?
Improved coordinaton between police and NGOs to combat trafficking. Forming community vigilance groups, involving Anganwadis have been recognised as key strategies by the Government to build awareness and prevent trafficking.
Exactly who are the beneficiaries of your innovation?
Communities living in media dark areas have benefitted from our awareness campaigns. Youths, grassroot health workers and outreach workers of GOs and NGOs, members of FBOs, self help groups of women have been empowered with communication and advocacy skills to lead actions against trafficking. Police constables and sub inspectors have been empowered with communication skills and attitudinal orientation to combat trafficking.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Our programmes for stakeholder mobilisation and capacity building have been financed by Unifem, UNODC and the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. The social safety nets established are inherently sustainable and do not need any financing. We are strengthening linkages between local administration, police, community , care and support providers (shelters, legal aid cells etc.). We are also bringing in new actors like FBOs, grassroot health workers for strengthening the safety net etc.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization
We are a Public Limited Company (social entrepreneurship). Our annual turn over of about 15 million INR. We have a 64 member team, with a mix of full time regular employees, consultants and assignment coordinators (recruited on contractual basis for the assignment period, from a pool of trained group of people). We also have developed a network of 3000 persons from theatre/ folk/ cultural background all over the country who have been trained in social communication.
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
Our training methodology has been recognised by UNODC as an effective non conventional technique for training police sub inspectors and constables. At the end of project end evaluation at Goa, our approach for community capacity building was recommended for wider replication and outreach. Our intervention in Eastern Himalayas received UNFPA-Laadli media award for gender sensitivity, 2007 in Eastern region. Theatre is now recognised as a medium of communication to reach out to the unreachables and cross the barriers of literacy, language and social isolation. There is still a lot to be done to ensure capacity building of rural block level groups and their participation in social communication. Then only it becomes a complete participative and sustainable in nature.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
There is lack of availability of fund to work in source areas to combat organised crime rackets involved in trafficking in person for commercial sexual exploitation or exploitative labour. There is little focus on building partnership between local governance, civil society and law enforcement agencies to strengthen social safety nets. Also, post trafficking activities including rescue, rehabilitation etc gets more priority from funding point of view, whereas the need of the hour is to make the community alert at source and transit areas to prevent trafficking.
The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
In 2000, the organization created a portal on theatre in Bengal after eleven months of in depth research. The research initiated the idea of using our cultural heritage as a tool for community empowerment by engaging them in building community awareness and creating local champions for advocating change. Today we have covered more than 25000 villages across 21 states of India. Every campaign design involves research to understand communication needs, identifying local partners and finally training them to become advocacy champions. Art has become sustainable livelihood for hundreds of theatre groups and folk artists trained to communicate on diverse issues ranging from health, sanitation, bio-conservation to child rights and women empowerment.
We also realized that life skill development is critical for making community lead their development. Critical barriers were lack of education and awareness, low self esteem, lack of trust, poor communication skills etc. We succeeded in creating grass root leaders like health workers innovatively using stories, masks and role plays to make people more aware, self help groups learning to manage businesses, rehabilitated people building a new community, police constables and Panchayats partnering to stop human trafficking and many more.
Uniqueness of our approach includes the model of sustenance where local resources and stakeholders are trained, capacitated and empowered to take control of their own future. The methodology mobilizes all stakeholders towards participating and contributing in the process of their own development- social, economic, and environmental.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material
Amitava is the founder and full time Director. He is an engineer from IIT,Kharagpur and started his career in Information Technology sector India and USA. After working for 11 years in software, he conceived banglanatak dot com. Amitava participated in Times of India’s Lead India contest in 2007 and was declared First Runners-up of the Eastern Zone. Amitava is also awarded with Chevening Gurukul scholarship 2008 for leadership and excellence from London School of Economics.
Emphasis of Work
Our work strengthens prevention of crime and protection of vulnerable by creating alert communities who are better able to recognise potential situations of crime , are aware of their rights and have improved access to support services. Prosecution of crime is strengthened by building of police-public partnership and facilitating development of new intelligence sources at community level. Protection of survivors is strengthened owing to stronger linkages between police, public and care and support providers. Emphasis is given in involving local people to create a sustainable mechanism for combating trafficking.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| using theatre to build social safety net.pdf | 463.69 KB |
 | 205 weeks agoAmitava Bhattacharya said: Innovative approach of training was used with police (mainly supporting officers like constables and assistant sub inspectors) instead ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 205 weeks agoAmelia Forrest Kaye said: Dear Ananya, The Changemakers Team is excited about your work. It is clear you are utilizing well-tested techniques, and implementing ... about this Forum topic. - read more > |
| 206 weeks agoAmitava Bhattacharya said: Dear Dana, The social safety nets established do not need grant funding or any separate financing. The stakeholders manage from ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 206 weeks agoDana Frasz said: Dar Ananya, Have you explored ways in which you could support yourself financially outside of grant funding? Could you possibly ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 206 weeks agoAmitava Bhattacharya said: Dear Dana, we have updated our entry. about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 207 weeks agoAmitava Bhattacharya said: Thanks for your comments. Interactive theatre is used for awareness campaign, whereas for capacity building and with focussed groups ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 207 weeks agoJessica Ebbeler said: Hi, I commend you for your energetic and innovative strategy to use street theater to reach out to vulnerable populations in an ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 208 weeks agoDana Frasz said: Hello Ananya, We would love to learn more about your work. Could you please update your entry form to include information about how ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
