The Dalit Freedom Network's (DFN) is partnered with expert Indian partners to empower Dalits in their quest to break free from caste-based slavery and achieve social freedom and human dignity. DFN seeks to knit together the combined resources of individuals, foundations and organizations both inside and outside of India all of whom are working for the freedom of Dalits within India. DFN has strategic programs working in Education, Economic Development, Healthcare, and Social Justice.
topAbout the Country
There are an estimated 60-115 million child labourers in India today, 15 million of whom are in the virtual modern slavery that is debt bondage. Employers regularly hand out beatings, whilst the working conditions are inhumane. Millions of women and girls are trafficked in the form of prostitution and slave labour, they face abuse and have no rights. Actual enforcement of legal action is very unlikely.
Combining the problem of child labour and human trafficking in India is the social class system 'caste'. Caste divides society according to birth, into levels of worth, placing a low value on women and controlling and regulating social, economic, political and religious life in India. This social prejudice results in gender-selective abortion of tens of millions, causing an alarming decline in India's female population.
Caste discrimination, a religiously sanctioned racism that has maimed, dehumanized and destroyed hundreds of millions of people through the ages, is 'India's silent apartheid'. The Dalit Freedom Network seeks to prevent this condition and to free the Dalit child guaranteeing full-life transformation for a whole new generation.
Premila's Story
Premila is a modern slave. It was her eighteenth birthday in her small village in rural Bihar. Her parents, desperate to escape their impoverished plight, signed their daughter over to a nightmare. For the paltry sum of 800 rupees (US $18), she was sold to a man living in faraway Punjab state. He claimed there were no 'good women' in his village and therefore he was forced to buy a wife. 'Wife' is a term used loosely. 'Sexual slave' would be more accurate.
For two years Premila was used as a modern-day concubine. There was no marriage ceremony. There was no hope of marital love in her future. Her body was abused at the will of this man, her 'husband', and at the will of any of his male relatives who came to call. It was a living hell. But her days were about to get worse.
Eventually, a new investment opportunity presented itself and Premila was turned out of her new 'family' in Punjab and sold to a well-known prostitution ring in the nation's capital, New Delhi. Premila brought a relatively good price: 5,000 rupees (US $109). She joined thousands of other women who exist in impoverished, disease-ridden, dangerous conditions. She was forced to sell or give her body under threat of abuse or death.
Premila was a 'good' employee and was soon traded again to the streets of Mumbai for 35,000 rupees (US $762). It was here in Mumbai that she was finally rescued. Returned to her hometown of Khathiar, Bihar, she was and is a broken woman. She will never re-marry and will forever have to live with what happened to her.
topExplanation and History of the Project
Dalit's insist that the best way to change lives, achieve measurable results in their community, and escape the plight of modern slavery and oppression of their children—both boys and girls—is education. They want quality English education that serves the whole person and includes community and spiritual development. The invitation to free the Dalit child by offering pre-emptive education programs was enthusiastically accepted by Dalit Freedom Network.
The result? A phenomenal intervention in the lives of Dalit children and holistic transformation of the Dalit people of India.
Already in India, more than 50 schools operate under the Dalit Freedom Network banner. More than 8,000 children—both Dalit and underprivileged; both boys and girls - are receiving this high quality education in an atmosphere of love and compassion. A true full life transformation for Dalits, preventing the cycle of oppression, is now on the horizon for each and every Dalit child.
3Churches can get involved in the Dalit Freedom Network's Healthcare projects by sponsoring vaccinations, village health workers, or by going on one of several medical trips to India every year... www.dalitnetwork.org/go?/dfn/resources/C133/