The story of Lakshmi

In India, sex trafficking and women exploitation are devastating. Discover today the story of Lakshmi, a tragic story among many others...

Lakshmi* is a ten-year-old girl who lost her mother when she gave birth to her fourth child. Her family lived in extreme poverty in a small village outside of Calcutta in East Bengal, India. There, very few economic and social opportunities were present. Lakshmi’s father was a poor farmer with a significant debt. Limited by cultural norms of patriarchy and social norms of his community, Lakshmi's father had not allowed his wife the freedom to work outside the house. When she was five years old, Lakshmi was already helping her mother in taking care of her two younger sisters. After her mother passed away, she also took the responsibility of her new-born sister. Lakshmi worked hard for her family. She tried her best to manage the household by cooking the meals by herself despite her young age.

Two years ago, her father, who was heavily in debt lost control of their finances and was forced to sell Lakshmi to a man in his fifties. She was only twelve years old and had no idea what would happen to her. After many years of sexual abuse and exploitation, Lakshmi was rescued by a women's empowerment organization, Destiny Foundation.

Destiny to the rescue!

Lakshmi is 18 years old when she arrives at Destiny Foundation. She is welcomed by Smarita Sengupta, an activist and founder of the organization and her team. There, she finds a home where she is housed, fed and accompanied. She and girls of her age attend various training courses such as an introduction to sewing, learning to read, write and count. Although her years of slavery had many psychological repercussions, Lakshmi is fulfilled in her new life. She hopes one day to join Destiny Reflection, the social enterprise attached to the Destiny Foundation. This organization is a fashion house in India that makes and sells a wide range of accessories made from recycled materials. Destiny Foundation/Reflection represents a real opportunity for women who have been victims of sexual trafficking or exposed to the risk of exploitation by reintegrating them into society.

Smarita Sengupta is aware of the many cases similar to Lakshmi. She explains: “Sometimes they lure through fake love relationships or marriages. Other times, girls become vulnerable when they come out of broken families. Since they have no one to go back, they are often trapped by traffickers”.

⚠️Did you like the article? Destiny Foundation is organizing a crowdfunding campaign for the purchase of a computer and the recruitment of a digital trainer in order to develop its activities and allow these women to acquire computer skills that will integrate them into the professional world! You can participate in this project by clicking on the following link: https://www.kisskissbankbank.com/en/projects/destiny-foundation


* Lakshmi is a fictional character. Her story is relatively close to reality.