Of the 13 million children who are victims of trafficking worldwide each year, most appear to come from India. These are statistical estimates, because typically these minors do not have birth certificates and therefore “do not exist” in the eyes of society. What is certain, however, is that every day thousands of children who are alone, who have fled abuse, violence, and poverty, or who have been kidnapped or simply lost, are at risk of being involved in this human trafficking. Children who run away from their families, from villages far away, to other countries, out of fear or poverty, or who are forcibly removed and attracted to Calcutta by the large railway stations and the most notorious neighborhoods. They arrive in search of salvation, with a desire for adventure and a better life, but end up living between the tracks and platforms, dazed by the cheapest and therefore most devastating drugs, only to be kidnapped, raped, forced into prostitution, child labor, and outright slavery.

Our goal is to stop them in time and provide them with assistance and protection, but also to track them down when they are already in brothels or invisible in stations. We have therefore set up a specialized and dedicated team of operators who monitor the most high-risk areas of the city (2 million people pass through Sealdah station alone every day) to identify the children before it is too late. Over the years, we have renovated houses to serve as emergency shelters where these children can be protected in the first instance, and we have long been committed to the ambitious project of reuniting them with their families, whenever possible.