International Childcare Trust - 'Girls at Risk'
With your help, TRAID has donated £69,982 to International Childcare Trust (ICT) supporting child labourers working in India’s textile spinning mills.
Dindigul District, an administrative region in the south of Tamil Nadu, is well known throughout India for its thriving textile industry. Every year, schemes known as ‘sumangali thittam’ (marriage plans) lure thousands of girls, often from poor rural communities, into the garment industry with an incentive of earning their own dowry at the end of a three-year apprenticeship. Instead these young girls end up working in deplorable conditions, returning to their families years later empty-handed due to a lack of legal or regulatory protection.
This important three year project, beginning in January 2010, will lobby government leaders and institutions to put an end to ‘bonded labour’ schemes and educate parents and local community leaders about the exploitative working conditions that these children are subjected to - particularly raising awareness within the remote rural communities where these children are often recruited. The project will also provide vital support to girls working in the textile mills, including healthcare, legal advice and skills training to enable them to find alternative employment opportunities.
Ultimately, this project is about preventing children from joining these schemes in the first place, by improving education, providing alternative livelihood options and raising awareness about the reality of this work – enabling them to grow up in a safe, secure and nurturing environment.
TRAID will update the website regularly with project developments. To find out more about ICT visit www.ict-uk.org
