Gita: when innocence is shattered into a thousand pieces

Gita had a humble life with her family in West Bengal. But the truth is that things were not easy, so her parents decided that the girl, at the age of thirteen, would emigrate to Mumbai with her uncle in search of a better future.

And so it was, they organized their things in a suitcase and set out on the journey. The truth is that Gita at that time was not very aware of what all this meant. Soon she realized. For days they had to live and sleep on the street. Those days weren’t easy at all. They lived in hopes of finding a job which never happened.  So one day, Gita’s uncle decided to sell his niece to a brothel.

Seeing all those women so groomed and made up, Gita was amazed and in fact they tried to deceive her by telling her that they were in the mecca of cinema, in Bollywood, and that all those girls and women were actresses.

But soon Gita’s innocence was shattered into a thousand pieces. Although for her, everything was strange, she got used to being there. For months no one forced her but when she had her period for the first time, a client broke into her room and forced her to have sex with him. She refused and it was then when she experienced the first beating and mistreatment which continued for six days, until she accessed her first client. That’s what her life became: beatings; physical and mental harassment; and sexual exploitation. Se spent more than ten years in the Kamathipura area, one of the biggest red light area in Asia.

A few months ago, and after several weeks of contact and conversations with our team, Gita managed to take the step of leaving the brothel and going to live in the shelter that we opened a year ago for survivors of human trafficking. It was not easy, but the road traveled has been worth it.

Gita feels calm and safe. Slowly she is leaving her past behind, building a new confidence and discovering many aspects of herself that we hope will lead her to a free and independent future, with opportunities to live a decent life.

Last week we have shared with you  how this first year in Udaan has been, full of hopes and effort. Gita is one of the valuable people who has made it possible. We will continue working so that more women join this project.