Thank you very much, everybody. My warm regards from India.
Rescue Foundation is a non-profit that works primarily in rescue missions. For the last 20 years we have been rescuing young girls, especially girls who are minors, from brothels, red light areas, guest houses, and various other such places across the country. With about 150 spies around the country, we deal with and get sensitive information from them. Our primary job is to get the girls out of the brothels and those places where they are being exploited. Then we bring them to our shelter home and fight a massive legal battle; post the legal battle part, we give them the ability to bounce back in society.
The primary reason that most of these girls are pushed into prostitution is poverty. The number one state in India where human trafficking happens is West Bengal, and the number one state in India where minor girls are being pushed into prostitution is Rajasthan.
One of the primary reasons in West Bengal is poverty. There is a lack of opportunities in that region, so often young girls, orphaned girls, are fooled by traffickers and pimps in the hope getting a better job and livelihood. They have been brought to larger, metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and other places, and sold into brothels.
Unfortunately, because of the social stigma around the whole idea of red light areas and brothels, no sane person travels through them to hear their voices when they're screaming, when they've just been brought to the brothels and realize they have been pushed into prostitution. After a point they give up; then the whole unfairness and exploitation starts.
The Rescue Foundation works closely with the police and security agencies to raid these places, rescue them, and bring them back. In our shelter we give them basic education in English and Hindi and vocational training, and we teach them how they can go back and earn a livelihood with dignity. That's what Rescue Foundation does.
That's about it.