By Priyanka Singh & the Seva Mandir team | Project Associate
Women are often at the receiving end in societies of age-old patriarchy. When Seema’s family (name changed); a 21-year-old girl from a remote village in Kotra, Rajasthan; whose family fell afoul of loan sharks, what came to Seema was the stark reality of letting go of all her life plans, while her father pressured her to work in a brothel to earn quick money for the family.
Seema suffered severe pressure, blackmail and mental harassment over months. She was kept at an unknown place with her father’s strict vigilance on her and was raped for three days by a boy known to the father.
When she learnt, her father was planning to sell her, she realized she needed to flee her home. Fortunately, she was found by the police who brought her to Seva Mandir’s Shelter Home.
When Seema reached Shelter home she looked completely devastated. She was mentally disturbed, physically ill and emotionally wounded. She stayed in the Shelter Home for a period of five months, where she was counselled, and her health was revived and brought to a stable mind space. Furthermore, at Shelter Home, Seema found the company of other women who came from similar experiences. At Shelter home she was also given the confidence that she would be protected and legal assistance as well if she decides to take legal action against her preparators.
While Seema refused to take any legal action, she has begun her healing journey and continues to stay at the Shelter Home, which she considers as her safe space. She wants to continue her studies and she is trying to enroll herself in a vocational course while she is also making a a meagre earning by doing ad-hoc jobs.
Since 2004, Seva Mandir has been running shelter home to support women and their children in distress. The Shelter home offers support and rehabilitation, legal and financial counselling, legal aid, medical and psychological care, skills development, and take care of education of their children during their stay.
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