Freedom Matters: November 2015

, by Unknown

Gratitude :-)

This documentary would not have been possible without the relentless support, faith, and blessings of the following people:

Content Advisors

Dr PM Nair

Rishi Kant

Subir Roy

who not only advised us on the content, but also connected us with like-spirited people so as to turn this into a powerful response to the situation of human trafficking.

Script Writers

Nikita Gupta

Mihir Chhangani

who gave soul to the script through their stirring words.

Heartfelt Gratitude To

Anju Dubey Pandey

Bhuwan Ribhu

Dr PM Nair

Kailash Satyarthi

Kalki Koechlin

Lalitha S.A.

Ritesh Sharma

for being the face and voice of the documentary and for inspiring and motivating us to dream this.

Love To

Andrew Critchley

Niharika Pandit

Nikita Gupta

Nishant Khemani

Oshika Pandey

Raunak Bhandari

Rangoli Goyal

Renu Agarwal

Sasmita Patnaik

Shrinkhla Jain

Silky Agarwal

for agreeing to be featured to lend completeness to the film.

Grateful Thanks To The Benefactors

Jatin Khemani

Pankaj Gupta

Rahul Sethi

Saurav Tibrewal

Sumit Gupta

Vikas Vardhan Singh

for helping with the much-needed resources that enabled this dream.

Graphic Designer

Suruchi Jain

who has been patient with us through multiple alteration requests of the documentary poster.

Blog Designer
Sunaina Sharma
who has been extremely helpful and patient in designing the blog.

Marketing and PR

Manan Dhaundhiyal

Sanjeeta Singh

for their intelligent marketing strategies while keeping the purpose and intention intact.

Thank You For Your Support

Amish Ralhan

Anisha Narula

Nirmala Nair

Nandita Dutta

Nilanajana Bhattacharjee

Nishi Kant

Pinky

Prema

Prema Manshani

Ravi Kant

Tamanna Khan

Vivek Kumar

for being there and believing in us blindly.

Special Thanks To

The woman from GB Road (Delhi’s red light area) who entrusted us with her story

EmotionalFulls Production Team

MTV EXIT

Shakti Vahini

Society for Participatory Integrated Development (SPID)

Bachpan Bachao Andolan

Last but not the least, heartfelt gratitude to my dearest friends who run the India-based production house, The Storygraphers. They have not only curated this creation, but have also been extremely patient and empathetic with the issue.

Sincere thanks to Ashish (Editor) for taking this to a level I had not envisioned, to Hardik and Naveen for their brilliant cinematography irrespective of the weather or place, and to Rahul for his soulful voiceover.

If you would like to contact them for any photography or videography projects, you can

e-mail them at mailthestorygraphers@gmail.com.

And indebtedness to my family (especially my sister Parnika) and friends. Without their support and blessings amidst all the ups and downs, I could not have had the courage and determination to make this happen.

With a heart full of gratitude and love,

Pankhuri :-)

2 comments

, by Unknown

What We Can Do

What Can We Do?

(This blog post will be regularly updated)

Dear Fellow Freedom Fighters,

Thank you for taking that one step to change the world. Here are a few simple steps that each one of us, irrespective of our educational background or profession can take; no matter where we are in the world. Needless to mention, some or all of these come together to make an impact. Therefore, we need to have faith and patience in our individual action, no matter what it is.

1. Be a conscientious human being

The least we can do is to ensure that we do not employ a child at home or work and, do not let anyone around us work under inhuman and exploitative conditions.

2. Power of social media

Recently, a lot of petitions have been successful in ensuring justice for victims and survivors of human trafficking. All we need to do is spend a minute for signing an online petition. If we want to help further, we can share them on Facebook with your friends. Our 1 minute can go a long way in saving lives.
Anti Slavery International - Join Online Campaigns
Walk Free - Sign Online Petitions

3. Like facebook pages of organisations
We can help them spread the word about the issue, share success stories and helpline numbers.
a. Shakti Vahini
b. Anti-Slavery International
c. International Justice Mission
d. Polaris
e. Walk Free
f. Free The Slaves
g. Bachpan Bachao Andolan
h. Global Rescue Relief
i. Kat-Katha
among many others.

Organisation websites
Sannihita

Country wise list of NGOs here.

4. Sponsor a child online
We can give a one-time donation or a regular monthly donation to support a child’s education. These organisations send periodic reports on the child’s progress. Education helps in reducing vulnerability to exploitative situations, like getting trafficked.

a. World Vision International

b. Deepalaya

c. Save the Children International

5. Exercise your rights as a consumer

As Bhuwan Ribhu points out - as consumers, we have the right in demanding the kind of products we want. Write to companies, send e-mails and sign online petitions.

Visit Made in a Free World to know more

Determine your Slavery Footprint here.

6. Donate
There are a lot of organisations around the world which need financial resources. We can help them. If you do not find any organisation to donate, kindly write to us. We together can find an organisation where your money can have the maximum intended impact.

If you would like to donate to a shelter home which is doing an inspiring and tough job to educating the children of sex workers inside Delhi's (India) red light area, you can write to Lalitha SA at lalithasa10@gmail.com. Your contribution will make her fight a bit easier. More about her organisation can be found at SPID or you can watch this video to know about her shelter home (a home in real sense of the word). Get ready to be inspired!

7. Volunteer/Mentor/Intern
Volunteering to teach or mentor a child or adult in any organization can reduce the vulnerability of that person to exploitative conditions. 2-4 hours per week is all that is required. You can find local NGOs in your locality who need volunteers. If you do not find any and you wish to volunteer, write to us. We together can try to find one.

Volunteering opportunities around the world available at -
http://www.idealist.org
https://www.omprakash.org
Some organisations in India where you can apply:
Make a Difference
People for Parity

8. Use your talent
People use photography, writing, public speaking and other forms of talents to spread awareness on the issue. For instance, one can learn about the issue and write on blogs about it, we can also open clubs in our college and workplace to tell people about ways they can try to contribute to the cause, fundraise for NGOs etc.

9. Raise your voice
If we are skeptical, we should raise our voice, be a whistle blower, report an incident of crime.
Global hotlines across the world can be found here.

10. Report an incident of crime
In India,
- National helpline for children - Childline at 1098
- Bachpan Bachao Andolan - +91 11 49211111, +91 11 26224899 or file a complaint on their website
- Call Shakti Vahini at +91 11 42244224, +91 11 31909025 for incidents related to forced sex work and forced marriage

11. Open a club/society at university/college/school
Students at any level of educational system can make a huge difference. A society in college dedicated to the anti-human trafficking mission can spread awareness, work with local NGOs, help them fundraise, gather more people to take up these simple steps.

12. Host gathering to spread awareness (be a peer educator)
We can host gatherings, show documentaries and discuss about human trafficking. The purpose is manifold - one, awareness generation to reduce vulnerability and two, getting more people to fight this crime. You can use this documentary or any other documentary and share the resources mentioned here.

13. Be a responsbile producer
The least we can do as producers and manufacturers is to ensure that we do not employ and children and we do not encourage or support forced labour, which means that we give fait wages to all.
We need the producers and manufacturers to join this fight against human trafficking with us because as we all know that majority of human trafficking around the world is for forced labour.

14. NGO-corporate partnership
One of the challenges that non-profit organisations working against human trafficking face is lack of sustained socred of funding. Corporates can come together with NGOs not just for funding support but also to help with their expertise.

In India, this can be done through FICCI or CII

15. Learn and read

A. Visit websites of organisations to know more

Prajwala

Childline India

Shakti Vahini

Ant-Slavery International

B. Study human trafficking
If you would like to specifically learn about the issue through formal education, here are some courses you can pursue online or otherwise.
a. ‘Human Trafficking' by The Ohio State University, Columbus on Courseera (1 month free online course).
b. 'Certificate in Anti-Human Trafficking' by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, India (Distance learning course. Can be completed in at least 6 months and maximum 2 years).

C. Media sources
CNN Freedom Project
GUARDIAN Modern Day Slavery in Focus

D. Open Education on Trafficking and Slavery by 150 top academicians and practitioners
Beyond Trafficking and Slavery

16. Be a compassionate social activist/development professional
a. Financial stability is not necessarily an issue - Many people think that money would be an issue because this work doesn’t seem like it would pay our bills. However, there are people who have money, there are foundations which are ready to give you a scholarship, the NGO’s also pay you enough to take care of the bills. When the sages coined this saying - where there is a will, there is a way - they were not kidding. If you REALLY want to do something, the money comes from weird places you don’t even know existed.

Here are a few links for job opportunities - work full time - Job opportunities around the world

b. You need not be a full time social activist if you are in a different profession - Look around. There are poeple who need our help. An example of what you can do to change the world is here - The Children in the Park

A collection of some or all of these actionable points strengthens advocacy and activism and brings change. Needless to say, this is not an exhaustive list. We are learning too. Therefore, if anybody has any other sources or websites, we can keep adding to this list.

Also, if anyone would like to share their experiences of taking up these simple steps, or share any thoughts on these, or has any doubt regarding the authenticity or the ability of these sources to really make an impact or is not able to access any of the above mentioned ways, please feel free to write on this blog or email at aht.pankhuri@gmail.com.

Thank You. It is time to rock the world, TOGETHER!

:-)