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Goal: To
provide options to the children in Kamathipura and its vicinity so that
they do not fall prey to exploitative situations such as prostitution,
pimping and other anti-social activities.
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Project Ankur was
initiated in the year 1993 to work with women
in prostitution (WIP) and their children aged 3 – 16 years.
The aim of the project was to help them in overcoming some of their
problems and also for seeking long-term
rehabilitation. As the team worked intensely in the
field, it realized that the project’s focus had to be
children whose future was yet to be shaped. The children of WIP were
growing up in a vulnerable situation and the project felt it imperative to address their needs on a
long-term basis.
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Ankur specifically has the
ideology of helping
shape the future of the children, giving them a choice and the power to choose a life
other than prostitution. Ankur means ‘sapling'. From this
sapling, the project and the children are encouraged to grow into a
tree with an identity of its own (Asmita).
The children of Ankur live
in Kamathipura - one of the oldest and largest red-light districts in the whole of
Asia. Thousands of women in prostitution live in this densely packed
slum in the heart of Mumbai. Not only does it contain the largest
population of women in prostitution, it also serves as a reception area
for girls and women from all parts of the country and the world*. Anecdotal evidence and
observations made by the project team suggest that a close link exists
between crime and prostitution. Kamathipura is also a centre for other
illegal activities including bootlegging, drug trafficking and smuggling**.
Objectives:
 To
provide education,
health, child-friendly support services based on actual needs of the
community.
To
actively involve the
community in identifying, implementing and sustaining programmes for the
 fulfillment of
children’s needs.
Developing
and
implementing comprehensive short term/long term rehabilitation
programmes for the
children of WIP.
Prevention
of child
sexual abuse and exploitation of women.
Networking
with
organizations working on similar or related issues so that advocacy and
policy level
interventions may
be collectively initiated.
Empowerment
of women
through awareness programmes and mobilization to form a purposeful group
for action.
Activities:
Education
Nutrition
and health
Recreation
and
personality development
Life
Skill Education (LSE)
Psycho
social support and
counseling
Community
out reach
Long
term rehabilitation
Networking
*Source:
Network Against Child Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking (NACSET), May
2001
**Source:
previous reports and case studies
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