Fighting the Scourge of Sexual Slavery in India
Eugene, OR — Wednesday, August 8, 2007. India Partners reported last month that two tribal village pastors in Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, found a 13-year-old girl named Laxmi lying in tall grass, and near death on a remote road. The pastors carried the girl to a local partner agency of India Partners, where she received life-saving medical attention.
It was learned that Laxmi's mother died when she was 10 and her father, a struggling rickshaw puller battling alcoholism, had sold her to a local brothel for $25. Laxmi was found by the village pastors after attempting suicide when her pleas for rescue from the brothel went unheard.
Believing the girl was dead, the brothel owner had Laxmi driven to a remote location and her body dumped in some roadside bushes, where it wouldn't be found.
Laxmi is now surrounded with love at the agency, the Orphans Faith Home, where she is fed, clothed, sheltered and receiving an education, free from the bondage of sexual slavery.
This true story is a shining example of the work being done by India Partners and its indigenous partner organizations in India.
In response to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in India, and in an effort to see that no girl is left to a life of sexual slavery, India Partners has established the Commercial Sex Worker Fund which will benefit indigenous partners in India who are providing sex trade rescue, shelter, education, vocational training and HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
For more information, or to make a tax deductible donation to the CSW/HIV/AIDS Fund, visit www.IndiaPartners.org
India Partners is a development and relief organization committed to helping the people of India help themselves. Our partner organizations in India serve all regardless of caste, religion, gender, or creed.
India Partners is a member in good standing with ECFA and AERDO.
Media Contact
Jason Rowe
Development Associate
India Partners
email: Jason@IndiaPartners.org
877-87-INDIA
541.683.0696
