Shreya* becomes a hope for family’s better future
Through the lights from a door leading to a dimly lit 10x10 feet narrow room, we can see 18-year-old Shreya getting ready to go for work – the job that she worked hard to get, the job that’s entirely different from her bloodline, the job that she beli
Shreya lives with her parents and three siblings at Indira Camp No. 5 in West Delhi. Her father works as a rickshaw puller who earns a meagre amount every day and her mother picks up odd jobs to support the family of six.
The deep-rooted gender divide and financial constraints forced Shreya and her sisters to drop out of school. Despite this, Shreya managed to convince her parents and completed Standard 12. However, her sisters dropped out before they finished high school. Her little brother is in Standard 8 now. Along with their mother, Sherya and her sisters also picked up some jobs to support the family’s earnings.
With many families struggling to make their needs meet, Indira Camp is prone to trafficking of women and girls. Parents often get their daughters married early while adolescent girls are lured with promises of jobs and marriages outside the state. Girls like Shreya have limited awareness, education, resources and access to employment opportunities; these vulnerabilities often become an entry point for traffickers and once they fall into the trap of traffickers, they are forced to wait tables at restaurants, clean the houses, beg at the streets, perform sexual services at massage parlours or engage in sex trade.
A few months back, VIHAAN opened a Centre for Community Empowerment near Indira Camp to enable vulnerable girls like Shreya access to foundation, transferable and technical skills training, and support them in gaining real and meaningful employment.
Our social workers guide them in picking the right choice amongst varied training opportunities that include fashion designing, embroidery, tailoring, hospitality management, and customer service. Once they complete the training, VIHAAN ensures the involvement of major employers in the locality for internships/apprenticeships which acts as an avenue for the vulnerable girls to enter the labour market. This helps them to get proper employment, achieve economic independence, prevent them from being trafficked and reduce the risk of relapsing into a trafficking situation.
Shreya was extremely happy when she learnt about VIHAAN’s Centre for Community Empowerment from her friend which offers free courses and also helps them to get a job for girls like her.
At the Centre, Sherya learnt vital basic employability skills such as functional, financial management, communication, problem-solving, self-management, time-management and adaptability skills in a month-long course.
Recognising Shreya’s skills and determination, our social worker encouraged her to attend an interview at one of the renowned Cafés in the metropolitan area.
On 18 February 2025, when Shreya got ready for their first day at work as a Post Development Training Officer, her eyes were fierce with determination, her siblings’ faces were filled with hope and her parents’ hearts were bursting with pride.
Shreya earns INR 18,000 per month and she is eligible for other benefits such as a Provident Fund, Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) and Gratuity from her employer.
Shreya is a source of hope for her family’s better future.
*Name has been changed to protect the survivor's identity.
