“Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand.” ― Confucius
We all want to be loved. We all long to be pursued and accepted. This basic human need is exploited time and time again in the lives of children who are trafficked. Searching for true love, they find counterfeit versions.
While many girls are sold by relatives to brothel keepers, a good percentage fall for the lies of traffickers and are tricked. If a young girl grows up in poverty and an abusive family situation, the promise of love or marriage is alluring. Traffickers are experts in manipulation, offering attention, gifts and fake love for their own gain. Sometimes a trafficker will even stage a wedding to keep a girl fully cooperative. When she finds out the truth, the pain of betrayal is unimaginable.
After a girl is rescued, Freedom Firm social workers have a brief window of time to help girls begin to process the past. Anjana, one of social workers in Uttar Pradesh, involves survivors in drama therapy to explore the concepts of false and true love.
“Playing out a role as an actor can serve as a bridge to mobilizing inner resources in actual life” – Theodore Isaac Rubin, MD
Anjana shares about her experience with 10 survivors living in the Faizabad shelter home: “I told girls to prepare a drama on fake love and real love...many girls are confused and don't understand the difference.” They acted out a story about a deceptive relationship, showing how a boy could gain a girl's trust and then make unhealthy demands. By acting in the drama, the girls learned: “Real love has no conditions, he will always respect the girl. He will care and love her without expecting anything in return.”
The skit stirred memories and prompted sharing. Girls told stories about the different kinds of love they had experienced. Together, they processed memories in safety and made little steps towards separating lies from truth.
Thank you for partnering with Freedom Firm to offer true love to girls. Your support enables social workers like Anjana to continue supporting survivors as they stay in shelter homes and start a new life.
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