Choosing a new name
Shashi's* life started out better than most in India, where those who live below the poverty line make up 80% of the total population...
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Jun 21, 20112 min read
Meera's Empowerment
After seven long years, Meera was rescued from the red-light area in Pune by Freedom Firm and the local police on 30th May, 2011.
May 31, 20112 min read
Pragati's Desire for Freedom
In regional aftercare, working with girls like Pragati* convinces us that God is at work. It would not be an exaggeration to say that...
Oct 19, 20103 min read
Swathi's Story: Prostituting to Provide for a Family
Swathi* and her younger sister, Bhavya,* were rescued from the same brothel on the 28th of March 2008. Swathi was tall and thin, tough,...
Sep 6, 20101 min read
Unsafe at Home
The following “re-rescue” occurred during a home visit in West Bengal. Two Freedom Firm Social Workers were meeting rescued girls for a...
Aug 26, 20102 min read
Rebecca comes back to Ooty Aftercare
Rebecca, once known as Karishma*, was Freedom Firm’s first rescue. The twelve-year-old had been forced into prostitution by her...
Mar 31, 20102 min read
Priya, Enslaved at 5 Years Old
“I was sold when I was 5 years old because my parents could not afford to feed my sister and me..."
Dec 21, 20081 min read
Horse Therapy: The ponies move to the countryside
In 2008, Freedom Firm’s Horse Therapy Program (Leg Up) moved onto firmer territory. For two years our ponies lived in the Director’s...
Nov 18, 20081 min read
A New Day Center
In 2008, Freedom Firm’s school and micro-enterprise business moved to a new day center, a rented three-room building on the beautiful...
Nov 4, 20081 min read
A Story of Reintegration
After living in the aftercare home for 2 years, Freedom Firm staff felt that Onima was ready to begin reintegrating back into society....
Sep 16, 20083 min read
Horses and Rescued Girls: Does It Work?
When I first met Hira, the oldest of Freedom Firm's ponies, he greeted me with pinned back ears and a half-hearted attempt at a bite.
Jul 29, 20083 min read
Riti Returns Home
The following account was written by a member of staff following Riti's* rescue in Pune in June 2008. I never know how long we will have...
Jun 4, 20081 min read
Freedom Firm owns its very first house!
The Freedom Firm aftercare home opened in late 2006 and we called it Roja, the Tamil word for rose. At first, we rented a large bungalow,...
Feb 11, 20083 min read
Divya's Story
Divya's* mother suffered from severe mental illness and had to be put away. Her father remarried another woman and Divya lived with her...
Nov 19, 20072 min read
The Ride of Her Life: Horse Therapy, Leg Up
The possibility of animals having feelings and emotions has not occurred to them before. They are thinking of the horse, not of their fear.
Sep 14, 20072 min read
12-year-old Karishma's first day with Freedom Firm Aftercare
Her past has taught her to resist all things, good or bad, I realized.
Jul 12, 20073 min read
Laxmi's Story
Laxmi is from West Bengal, in the North-East of India. When she was twelve years old, her mother died. Her father was chronically ill and...
Sep 29, 20062 min read
Recovery from the past, skills for the future
In September 2006, Freedom Firm established a rehabilitation home for survivors of sex trafficking in an effort to provide aftercare.
Sep 20, 20062 min read
Torn in Two
My first thought was, who did this? Who tore the photograph into two pieces? As I looked closer, I saw that it was a slow thoughtful tear.
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