Good afternoon, everyone. We're going to call to order this 68th meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights. We are continuing our study on human trafficking in South Asia.
We have two witnesses joining us today from quite a distance. First, we have Mr. Joshy Jose, the director of implementation for Breakthrough Trust, joining us from New Delhi. In the trust's own words, “Breakthrough seeks to make discrimination and violence against women and girls unacceptable everywhere and in all its forms, including domestic violence, sexual harassment in public spaces, early marriage, and gender-biased sex selection.”
We also have Mr. Dipesh Tank, the project director for the Rescue Foundation, a non-governmental organization, who is joining us today from Mumbai. The Rescue Foundation's key activities revolve around the rescue, rehabilitation, and repatriation of victims of commercial sexual exploitation in India, those who are trafficked within India, or from Bangladesh or Nepal. Specifically, the Rescue Foundation investigates reports of missing girls who may have been trafficked, rescues victims with the help of local police, rehabilitates those rescued by providing food, shelter, health care, vocational training, and legal aid, and repatriates these girls to their families or to other NGOs.
Again, I want to thank you both for being here to provide testimony to us for our ongoing study. With that, if I can give you both seven minutes each for opening remarks, then we will open the floor to questions from members of the committee.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Tank, please begin.