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Month: July 2021

Victims’ voices lead the way!

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  • CATEGORY: MY CHOICES FOUNDATION

Victims’ voices lead the way!

Trafficking in Persons affects generations and not only individuals. The poor and vulnerable are the most susceptible and COVID-19 only reaffirmed this severe tragedy. The 2021 theme for World Day against Trafficking in Persons is, “Victims’ voices lead the way”. It speaks so many things all at once. It speaks the truth, it speaks to […]

Trafficking in Persons affects generations and not only individuals. The poor and vulnerable are the most susceptible and COVID-19 only reaffirmed this severe tragedy.

The 2021 theme for World Day against Trafficking in Persons is, “Victims’ voices lead the way”. It speaks so many things all at once. It speaks the truth, it speaks to the victims of abuse and it allows us the realisation, that hearing the voices of the victims and their truths, enables us to combat human trafficking.

My Choices Foundation held its 3rd Asian Anti-Trafficking Forum this week in anticipation of World Day against Trafficking in persons. We focused on equipping, strengthening and encouraging our grassroots’ stakeholders who work in the villages to keep the villages safe, encourage children and raise awareness on trafficking in persons.

This perfectly resonates with ‘Victims’ voices leading the way’. Through our grassroots stakeholders, we are able to amplify the voices of the victims and hear their accounts first-hand. Listening to the victims’ voices through our grassroots stakeholders allows us to focus on the crucial role they play in establishing effective measures to prevent trafficking, as well as measures to raise awareness more effectively through our Safe Village Program.

With the support from our grassroots’ stakeholders, we have conducted more than 5,000 Safe Village Programs across eight states in India, impacting 26,30,000 people. The programme adopts a holistic approach and focuses on sensitising at-risk community members about child trafficking, its causes, risk factors, creating awareness about ways to prevent child trafficking, sustaining the awareness and conducting vulnerability-reduction workshops. We believe that we can end sex trafficking together with collective knowledge and action.

On the 2021 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, I honour our grassroot stakeholders who are committed to listening to the stories of the victims and give them a voice. At My Choices Foundation, we are committed to giving each and every woman and child the choice to live life free from abuse and sexual exploitation. We thank you for joining us in the fight!

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This post was authored by the My Choices Foundation communications team. Our mission is to keep you informed on the cause, and hopeful that transformation is possible one story at a time.

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The emotional wellbeing of Police personnel during the pandemic

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  • CATEGORY: MY CHOICES FOUNDATION

The emotional wellbeing of Police personnel during the pandemic

Rachakonda Commissionerate (Hyderabad, Telangana), under the leadership of the Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mr. Mahesh Bhagwath, Indian Police Service initiated a quarantine follow-up for the staff of the Commissionerate who were tested positive for COVID-19 (mild and moderate cases). My Choices Foundation was brought on board to conduct counselling sessions, along with the routine medical […]

Rachakonda Commissionerate (Hyderabad, Telangana), under the leadership of the Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mr. Mahesh Bhagwath, Indian Police Service initiated a quarantine follow-up for the staff of the Commissionerate who were tested positive for COVID-19 (mild and moderate cases). My Choices Foundation was brought on board to conduct counselling sessions, along with the routine medical team group consultations. The purpose of the counselling sessions was to help the staff navigate through anxiety or serious health situations during this difficult time.

These calls focused on encouraging the staff and their family members to watch out for any COVID-19 related symptoms, referring them to an isolation facility opened exclusively for the Rachakonda Police Personnel and their families. We also encouraged them to consult the Department Doctor regularly, seek any referrals from Covid Control Room, reach out to their Senior Officers if they are in any need and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Our team spoke and listened in a very empathic manner. Loneliness, fear of family members contracting the virus, fear of being hospitalized, hopelessness, uncertainty about their future, fear of losing their loved ones and the handling of the grief after losing their loved ones are some of the many things discussed and addressed during the calls. Some personnel were very deeply disappointed when they were tested positive again after their quarantine. Our team gently encouraged them to handle the disappointment till they tested negative. With time, the Personnel started looking forward to our calls as they enjoyed conversing with our team. It gave them an outlet to share their joys and sorrows.

Our team conducted follow-up calls to 330 Police Personnel daily until all of them tested negative. We conducted 3013 sessions from 26 May to 20 July 2021 with the police personnel to help them through these uncertain times.

It is difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle and also be worry-free when someone is going through the COVID-19 crisis. The uncertainty and worries related to the spreading of infection to other family members, especially elderly parents, pregnant staff or family members of the infected staff and disruption of routines, our lifestyles can impact our mental health. The uncertainty about the future, the ceaseless news coverage and the constant social media-driven flood of messages can increase our sense of anxiety. Stress is a normal response in these situations. Stress disturbs our sleeping and eating patterns and leads to irritability or emotional outbursts and low motivation.

The Commissioner arranged for regular group consultations with the Medical team over the zoom along with Doctors and Senior Officials to encourage the COVID-19 affected personnel through this difficult time. Alongside the group consultations, individual follow-up calls were also conducted.

Feedback –

“My special thanks to the MCF team who succeeded to imbibe confidence at my depressive state once occurred.”

– Constable from the Rachakonda Commissionerate team.

“My Covid 19 report is negative. Thank you for supporting me during my time in isolation. Thank you for your moral support and motivation Madam.”

– Rachakonda Commissionerate team.

Mam, I wanted to share with you first about my negative report. Thank you for your support.

– Rachakonda Commissionerate team

My mother died yesterday night and my wife has been suffering from Covid for the past 4 days. I am in deep sorrow. Feeling very tensed about what will happen next? Thank you for these calls at least I can share my feelings in my difficult time.

– ARPC from the Rachakonda

Thank you Ma’am for the Pediatrician Contact number at the right time. Took consultation from the Doctor. Feeling relieved.

– Rachakonda Commissionerate team.

Evening: 4:45 Today’s call was all about how his day looked like. He shared that both he and his son are trying to follow the chart given by the Department. He can follow most of the activities mentioned, also spending time reading books, watching TV, He is also doing breathing exercises. Taught him a few relaxation techniques too.

– MCF Team Member notes

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This post was authored by the My Choices Foundation communications team. Our mission is to keep you informed on the cause, and hopeful that transformation is possible one story at a time.

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My Choices Foundation at the multi-stakeholder hearing on the Global Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons

Posted on by My Choices Foundation mychoices
  • CATEGORY: MY CHOICES FOUNDATION

My Choices Foundation at the multi-stakeholder hearing on the Global Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons

On 13 July 2021, My Choices Foundation participated in the United Nations Multi-stakeholder Hearing on the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The event was part of the consultation process leading up to a High-Level Meeting of the plenary of the UN General Assembly, which will take place on 22-23 November 2021 […]

On 13 July 2021, My Choices Foundation participated in the United Nations Multi-stakeholder Hearing on the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The event was part of the consultation process leading up to a High-Level Meeting of the plenary of the UN General Assembly, which will take place on 22-23 November 2021 and evaluate the progress made in implementing the initiative.

Sudha Upadhayula, Head of Operations of Operation Red Alert, an anti-trafficking arm of My Choices Foundation represented My Choices Foundation, addressing the emerging issues in human trafficking amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. She highlighted key ways to accelerate the anti-trafficking efforts, drawing from the experiences of My Choices Foundation’s seven years of work in the communities to prevent sex trafficking in India.

The event provided relevant stakeholders with an opportunity to provide input on responding to trafficking in persons and is intended to inform member states engaged in the negotiations on the High-Level Meeting’s outcome document of the practical experience shared by civil society organisations and all other relevant actors in responding to trafficking in persons.

Here’s the full statement of My Choices Foundation at the Multi-stakeholder hearing:

Namaste excellencies and dignitaries. I am Sudha Upadhyayula, representing My Choices Foundation from India. We have been working towards the prevention of sex trafficking for the past 7 years.

  • We believe that trafficking in persons is a grave human rights violation, shattering the core of a person and shaking the foundations of the community. We strongly condemn it.
  • We stress the importance of collaboration for effective prevention. My Choices Foundation has partnered with over 100 NGOs across the country, building a collaborative network.
  • We call for a greater focus on prevention. Community radio, social media, and grassroots awareness campaigns should be used to identify and empower at-risk populations. During Covid, we built comprehensive e-learning modules and utilized 16 community radio stations to spread awareness.
  • We emphasize building sustainable communities through evidence-based programming. Insights from our behavioural research laid the foundation for our flagship Safe Village Programs. We reached over 5,200 villages, empowering over 2.3 million people. Our 4000 grassroots volunteers act as local influencers and sustain the impact we have created.
  • We strongly recommend leveraging technology to advance and sustain the anti-trafficking movement at all levels. Our big-data enabled ‘Vulnerability Mapping Tool’ helps us identify at-risk villages and facilitates targeted intervention. We are partnering with Traffik Analysis Hub to expand this tool globally.
  • We insist on the strengthening of national anti-trafficking helplines and building a unified platform for data collection.
  • We urge the governments and other agencies to multiply the efforts to address the root causes of trafficking namely poverty, unemployment and systematic and gender inequalities.
  • COVID-19 exposed the vulnerabilities faced by at-risk communities when a disaster or pandemic strikes. Traffickers have been utilizing modern technologies for trapping, grooming and exploiting the victims. 

    • This is the time to act. Like Mr. Ban Ki-moon said, “….We cannot let this period be remembered as one in which the global community knew but did not act.” Let us work together to end this scourge.

    You can also watch the full event here.

    My Choices Foundation

    This post was authored by the My Choices Foundation communications team. Our mission is to keep you informed on the cause, and hopeful that transformation is possible one story at a time.

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    COVID-19 relief support by PeaceMakers

    Posted on by My Choices Foundation mychoices
    • CATEGORY: MY CHOICES FOUNDATION

    COVID-19 relief support by PeaceMakers

    India has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. Multiple lockdowns in the country resulted in restricted mobility, loss of livelihoods, and an acute shortage of essential goods for many families. Our counsellors moved to online platforms to provide counselling to survivors and our PeaceMakers – local community women trained in counselling and […]

    India has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. Multiple lockdowns in the country resulted in restricted mobility, loss of livelihoods, and an acute shortage of essential goods for many families. Our counsellors moved to online platforms to provide counselling to survivors and our PeaceMakers – local community women trained in counselling and assisting survivors of domestic violence –  were proactive in maintaining contact with their community members and assisting whoever required help. (To know more about Operation PeaceMaker, click here).

    Our PeaceMakers are playing an indispensable role in providing support to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Some of our PeaceMakers have years of training with us which encourages them to go above and beyond their roles. Before My Choices Foundation started COVID- 19 relief work in 2020, two of our PeaceMakers – Anees and Shah Jahan helped the community members by distributing grains, cooked food and providing money to people in need. The PeaceMaker programme aims to empower women in the community and the fact that Anees and Shah Jahan conducted these activities on their own, is a testament to the training we conduct for PeaceMakers. (To read more about our PeaceMakers and their journey of becoming a PeaceMaker, click here).

    During the pandemic, PeaceMakers were proactive in leveraging their position in the community to assist people in need. Through their assistance, we identified women and families who required help and assisted the PeaceMakers to essential resources were provided. They contacted all our beneficiaries to identify women who required assistance, pregnant women who were unable to access necessities or families infected with COVID-19 struggling for essential supplies. Our PeaceMaker coordinated with local authorities and the My Choices Foundation team to ensure help was provided. We assisted in the form of distribution of ration, providing monetary assistance through our Lotus Fund and a haven through our Safe Home.

    In 2020, by the end of the first wave, our PeaceMakers started entering the field with full precautions to conduct door-to-door awareness about domestic violence and our helpline service. Some of our PeaceMakers who are also ASHA Workers (primary health care workers) and Anganwadi (community creche’) Teachers played a crucial role in reaching out to women in the community. While everyone’s movement was limited during the pandemic, this team was still active in the community as they are government-appointed volunteers who provide invaluable aid to the communities. ASHA workers and Anganwadi workers (government-led initiative) helped many domestic violence victims to get the necessary help, be it assistance with Police, Legal, medicines and food essentials. Distressed women who still reach out to the Police are directed to our counselling centres for assistance.

    Our PeaceMakers play a vital role in our ability to reach the vulnerable communities in Hyderabad and Warangal. To help them continue their great work, we conduct drives to provide them with safety kits which include – N95 Masks, surgical masks, gloves, face shields and sanitisers. We distributed 40 safety kits among our 40 PeaceMakers who are actively involved in creating meaningful changes in the lives of women, children and families. Armed with the safety kit, the PeaceMakers are entering the field safely and interacting with the community members to create awareness about domestic violence and our counselling and helpline services.

    COVID-19 Safety kits distribution

    My Choices Foundation

    This post was authored by the My Choices Foundation communications team. Our mission is to keep you informed on the cause, and hopeful that transformation is possible one story at a time.

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    Guide for friends and families of survivors of violence and abuse

    Posted on by My Choices Foundation mychoices
    • CATEGORY: MY CHOICES FOUNDATION

    Guide for friends and families of survivors of violence and abuse

    Sensitive and unbiased are two words that one must never forget when talking to a survivor of violence and abuse. Not providing a supportive environment can have adverse effects on the mental health of the survivors. Lack of support and reassurance can at times even make them tolerate the abuse for the sake of society. […]

    Sensitive and unbiased are two words that one must never forget when talking to a survivor of violence and abuse. Not providing a supportive environment can have adverse effects on the mental health of the survivors. Lack of support and reassurance can at times even make them tolerate the abuse for the sake of society.

    But, we must not forget that we are the change-makers of society and must work together to make communities a safe space for survivors.

    What can you do to help survivors?

  • Reach out to the concerned person in a safe space and time. Express your concern in a non-threatening manner. (Example – I am concerned that someone is hurting you and I am worried about your safety)
  • Be good listeners: many times even just listening to what a person has to share makes them feel strong and supported. A mere act of listening can make the survivors feel more comfortable and accepted in a society like ours. 
  • Let them know that you are there for them: Being there for someone can make them feel powerful. Look out for them and regularly ask them if they need your help with something.
  • Be respectful of the choices and decisions made by the survivor. You have to be patient about the choices the survivor makes. Self-empowerment is a long process. It will have to happen at the pace of the survivor and not yours. 
  • Try calling the domestic violence helpline yourself. Do not on behalf of your friend but call to learn about the help available and how to be more supportive in the situation you are in. 

    • Healing can be a long journey for the survivors, but your support can make a difference. Looking out for people who require support is the least you can do to make their lives easier.

    Be the friend, the partner, the parent or the neighbour that our society needs.

    Be the changemaker.

    If you or someone you know is being subjected to domestic violence please call 1800 212 9131, if it is unsafe to call please text us at 9333 40 4141.

    My Choices Foundation

    This post was authored by the My Choices Foundation communications team. Our mission is to keep you informed on the cause, and hopeful that transformation is possible one story at a time.

    Share this story

    Support Our Work

    Your donations make it possible for us to give women and girls the choice to live a life free from violence and exploitation.

    I WANT TO DONATE

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