International development and humanitarian relief programs frequently work in areas where modern slavery flourishes. This connection has deepened as the COVID-19 global pandemic increases social and economic vulnerabilities to human trafficking.
But in India, a pandemic response program is now working to prevent the spread of the coronavirus while simultaneously spreading critical information to help people avoid human traffickers.
Free the Slaves helped link our advocacy partner, HEAL Trafficking, with our India front-line partner, Emmanuel Health Association, to hand out anti-trafficking pamphlets to vulnerable community members at vaccination clinics.
HEAL Trafficking is dedicated to ending human trafficking and supporting its survivors from a health perspective. The group shared their informational handout for patients in health care systems with Emmanuel Health Association, who translated it into Hindi. It includes information about how to identify if someone is at risk of forced labor and trafficking. The pamphlet includes local helpline phone numbers for women and children in distress, civil society organizations, and the human rights commission.
The goal of the brochure is for patients become aware of trafficking and connect them to resources if they are victims. The project distributed more than 20,000 brochures in one of the most vulnerable areas of India, the East Champaran district of Bihar.
The patient brochures, which are customizable to include local resources, are available in 20 languages including English. Learn more here.
