Bringing hope to marginalised communities in India

Our five-year campaign amplified the voices of Dalits, cruelly ostracised by the country's caste system

We are seeing amazing things happen in terms of healthcare, human rights and the hand of justice among the Dalit community.

Dr Beryl D’Souza, Operation Mercy India

HART supports people who face the most profound forms of disadvantage, in places that are hard-to-access and within marginalised communities.

2007-12

Dalits are labelled as ‘untouchable’ and suffer from extreme social isolation. Many women and girls are dedicated to a deity, forced to have sex with upper-castes, and auctioned off to urban brothels.

Exploited women are known as Devadasi, which translates to ‘female slave of God’. Those who contract HIV are deemed ‘doubly untouchable’ because HIV adds its own stigma of untouchability to their outcast status.

We partnered with Operation Mercy India and the Trusthouse Foundation to support the rescue and rehabilitation of survivors. We provided counselling and support for medical clinics to treat patients with HIV. We championed legal initiatives to end sexual slavery.

After many years of suffering, I now have the chance to tell my story.

Survivor, Bangalore

We ladies were treated like rubbish, but you have honoured us.

Survivor, Bangalore

The people here reject us but you have come from the other side of the world to comfort and love us.

Survivor, Ghataprabha

Bring hope to forgotten conflicts

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