Since its very beginning, Usthi has been committed to protecting minors and enabling them to grow up in a safe environment. For many children and young women this is still not possible in India. Over 80,000 children disappear every year in this large country. That’s 220 every day, and more than 9 every hour! That not a single child in this world should fall into the hands of human traffickers needs no further explanation. Usthi is therefore actively committed to combating and preventing child trafficking.

With our new project, which we launched in January 2017, we are supplementing our previous efforts against child trafficking. The new project Jogini Women’s Shelter is a family community that temporarily accommodates former temple slaves and guarantees them safe accommodation. Temple slavery has been prohibited by law since the 1980s. But the law was never enforced and estimates currently amount to around 250,000 temple slaves in India alone.

For the time being, we have included 10 former temple slaves in our existing program in Medchal. But the request is much higher and we could immediately accept at least 60 women. But the family communities are already filled out and there is no more living space on the campus. We plan to build more houses in the near future to meet the demand. To make the construction possible and to free more women from slavery, we need your support!