{"id":5729,"date":"2012-11-28T06:43:09","date_gmt":"2012-11-28T13:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/?p=5729"},"modified":"2018-10-05T09:18:45","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T15:18:45","slug":"christians-workers-save-trafficked-girls-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/2012\/11\/christians-workers-save-trafficked-girls-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Workers Save Trafficked Girls in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>


\n<\/a>Christianity in India is growing most rapidly among the Dalits, or the so-called Untouchables.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though caste discrimination is illegal in India, Dalits are, according to a July CNA article, still viewed as \u201cimpure and essentially worthless.\u201d Dalit women suffer the worst, since they are discriminated against both as Untouchables and also for being women.\u00a0Dalit girls are often victims of prostitution and human trafficking.<\/p>\n

The radical message of Christianity that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God has the power to transform people who have been treated like human garbage all their lives. According to the article, it is doing that now among the Untouchables of India.<\/p>\n

The CNA article describing one Christian mission to Dalit girls says in part:<\/p>\n

Bangalore, India, Jul 12, 2012 \/ 04:07 am (CNA<\/a>).- A human rights group in India says Christianity has brought slow but lasting change to the country\u2019s Dalits or \u201cuntouchables,\u201d especially for the community\u2019s women who are often victims of prostitution and human trafficking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dalits are told that they are less than animals and we tell them they are not,\u201d non-profit director Jeevaline Kumar told CNA, \u201cbecause they are made in the likeness of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kumar \u2013 who heads up Operation Mobilisation\u2019s Anti-Human Trafficking Project in Bangalore, Karnataka \u2013 explained that the simple message that every person created in God\u2019s image has transformed the lives of India\u2019s Dalits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are crying out for a change now that they know they can live differently,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

At roughly 250 million people, Dalits make up close to one quarter of the country\u2019s 1.2 billion member population but, according to the caste system, are seen as inherently impure and worthless.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not normal in our world for how these people are treated,\u201d Kumar said.<\/p>\n

Although caste discrimination, not the caste system itself, was technically outlawed in 1950 after India won its independence from Great Britain, law enforcement is still lacking.<\/p>\n

Dalit women bear the brunt of caste discrimination, Kumar added, since women are looked upon even more unfavorably in Indian culture as they will need to be married off at the expense of their parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe women are the Dalits of the Dalits,\u201d Kumar said, explaining that many of them are forced into lives of prostitution, cleaning human waste or being aborted as soon as their gender is learned.<\/p>\n

Prostitution, either in a brothel or as a temple \u201cdevadasi,\u201d is among one of the greatest risks that threaten Dalit girls and women.<\/p>\n

Even though the caste system teaches that they are impure, Kumar said that \u201cwhen it comes to sex, no one thinks of them as untouchable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three million people in India are forced into lives of sex-trafficking, 1.2 million of whom are children and 250,000 of whom are enslaved for \u201critualized temple prostitution,\u201dAccording to the Dalit Freedom Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little help can change the lives of these girls,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her organization, which is just \u201cone of many that works towards the same goal,\u201d is striving to promote the message that \u201cthere is value in every human being\u201d by responding to \u201cJesus\u2019 mandate\u201d to \u201clove thy neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her work with the Tarika Institute, a school that trains women who have rescued from prostitution in tailoring, spoken English and computer skills, has been especially inspiring, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have known God like never before after I got involved in acts of justice,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really brings meaning and fulfillment in anyone\u2019s life.\u201d (Read more here<\/a>.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christianity in India is growing most rapidly among the Dalits, or the so-called Untouchables.\u00a0 Even though caste discrimination is illegal in India, Dalits are, according to a July CNA article, still viewed as \u201cimpure and essentially worthless.\u201d Dalit women suffer the worst, since they are discriminated against both as Untouchables and also for being women.\u00a0Dalit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,900,726,752,868,1,50,46],"tags":[1464,1462,7848,874,1379,801,1463,421],"class_list":["post-5729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity-2","category-economics","category-following-christ","category-misogyny-2","category-the-war-on-girls","category-uncategorized","category-violence-against-women","category-feminism","tag-christian-rescuers","tag-dalit","tag-human-trafficking","tag-india","tag-missionary","tag-sex-trafficking","tag-temple-prostitutes","tag-untouchables"],"yoast_head":"\nChristian Workers Save Trafficked Girls in India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christianity in India is growing most rapidly among the Dalits, or the so-called Untouchables.\u00a0 Even though caste discrimination is illegal in India,\" 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