Projects: Other Projects

Chilla- A Roosting Place for Sex Workers' Children

Subhash from Sex Workers' Forum Kerala (SWFK) will be visiting our
chapter on September 6, 2003. Among other things, he is involved with
a project in Trivandrum, Kerala, called Chilla- a home for children of
sex workers. I have invited him to submit a funding proposal for Chilla.
Meanwhile, he has sent us a note explaining the background and purpose
of Chilla. Please find it below.
-Manoj

CHILLA:


A ROOSTING PLACE FOR SEX WORKERS CHILDREN


(A Project of Foundation for Integrated Research in Mental Health)



I.A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHILLA


The first state level meeting of the Sex Workers of Kerala was on
February 20 and 21 of 1999 at Hassan Marakkar Hall, Trivandrum. It
was organized by FIRM (Foundation for Integrated Research in
Mental Health). Around 350 sex workers from all over Kerala
participated in this meeting. People from other state of the
society like poets, writers, social activists, cultural and
political activists, members of Womens movements; Womens
commission etc. also came for this meeting. At this meeting issues
and problems of sex workers were seriously discussed.



On March 4, 1999 a supporting team formation meeting was held at
Anasooya, Perunthanni, Trivandrum. The main objective of this
meeting was to understand the problems of sex workers and to help
them in tackling their problems. Ten supporting teams were formed
in the meeting. They are:


(1) Legal Aid

(2) Media

(3) Net Work

(4) Employment

(5) Child Care

(6) Night Shelter

(7) Housing

(8) Publication

(9) Souvenir

(10) Drop in Shelter.




Supporting Team for Child Care


Concept of this group was total rehabilitation of children of sex
workers. We (Ten Team) wanted to change the existing notion that
the children of sex workers or criminals. So we started our work
with the assumption that heredity did not inherently and
essentially determine who a person is going to be, whereas social
situation often does. Hence we wanted to provide children of sex
workers with facilities and resources that will enable them in
resisting the stereotyping stigma and succumbing to it.



We conducted a need Assessment study. Through this study 187
children (Trivandrum) were identified. Since our resources were
limited we select only 37 children who required immediate
assistance of these 37 children, those who have own houses are
given educational grants allowing them to remain in their houses
itself. Those without their own houses, but who are staying in the
houses of their relatives and friends are allows to stay in their
present residence itself and are provided with educational
assistance 17 children without housing and other facilities were
decided to be placed in orphanages of 12 orphanages identified
only four were ready to take in these children. They are:



1. Divine Centre, Thrichur - 4 children



2. Mercy Home, Chalakkudy - 2 children



3. Asha Bhavan, Ernakulam - 2 children



4. Navajeevan, Kuttichal, TVM - 9 children



The rest 150 children were provided with uniforms and other study
materials




Calendar of other Activities


11.06.1999

Uniforms and study materials were distributed to 174 children
Venue: Trivandrum Hotel



20.06.2000

Uniforms and study materials were distributed 97 children

Venue: joint Council Hall, Press Club Road, TVM

One boy was placed in a Govt. job



12.06.2001

Uniforms and study materials were distributed to 112 children.

Venue: Joint Council Hall, Press Club Road, TVM

Two girls were married off with our support.



2002

One girl who is studying for IInd years Degree course in
University of Kerala has to be placed in the hostel for her
educational convenience.






II.SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEW PROJECT-CHILLA?



All the existing centers in Kerala are orphanages. The children
staying in these centers are considered as the centers children.
Because, in their concept, they are orphans. But our children are
not orphans. They have their own mothers but sex workers. Most of
the time, these mothers are in the streets for the livelihood.
They have no home even shelter. So their children are also in the
streets with them. They wish to send their children to school, but
they are not ready to give up their basic human right as another.
But the treatment of the present orphanages is entirely different.
These centers are not ready to admit these children as sex workers
children. Even it some orphanages are ready to admit these
children, they put forward some conditions like prohibition of
visit of their mothers. Sometimes they cant get back their
children when they are in need. In other words admitting a sex
workers child in an orphanage simply means losing other
motherhood.



As social activists who are working for the welfare of these
children, we have been done a lot of things in this field. When we
find a child who needs a shelter these orphanages under our
guardianship. After a few days the mother goes to this orphanage
and brings back her child. Then the center informs us and simply
says that the child is lost. There a search begins for this mother
and child. At last we find them and the mother goes to the center
and the above process repeats. There of four times this repeats.
Then the center comes is not affordable and should be avoided.



This is the reality what the sex workers in Kerala are facing now.
Here we come with a new project. Our concept is to provide a place
for sex workers children where they can live together as sex
workers children. Here there will be no violation of basic human
rights of women as sex workers. Basically our proposed center will
be a roosting place for sex workerschildren unlike other centers,
there will be no restriction to mothers in our centre.



We had planned to by some lend and set up a new building to run
this project. As the expense for this is very high we had to give
up this idea temporarily. But the need of this project is very
urgent. So we are planning to hire




III.THE NEED ASSESSMENT FINDINGS




1)Why Sex Workers Children Need Care and Support?



We need to address the habitat position of sex workers. Where do
they stay? We earlier decided to address the most marginalized of
the sex workers who are street based whose percentage may come
10-20 of the total sex workers population. We found them staying
at

a)slums

b) Paying guest at the homes of similar people

c) Purely street based



2)Why the Children Need Care



a) Mothers go to clients

b) Arrest ,police custody and imprisonment(They are caught to
fill-up the monthly quota of petty cases even when they go to
shops, hospitals and religious institutions

c) Custody of clients





3)What happens to the children when their mother is Absent?



That depends on how long the mother is absent and where is the
child allowed to stay. They might stay with beggars, institutions,
and street and there is more chance they to become criminals and
other anti-social habits were found developing in them.



Mothers found unwilling with emotional blocks to send their
chidren to so called child care centres whre mothers lose their
children.The staff stigmatised mothers and they tried to separate
children from mothers.Therev were incidences of children running
away from the centres and no body responsible to their loss.



4)Problems Posed ?



1) Absence of Mother

2) Limitations of existing Support Systems

3) Absence of Continuous flow of funds

4) Absence of basic services like Nutritious Food, Clothes,
Shelter, Education, Health,

5) Absence of Recreation and Emotional Support

6) Criminalizing children

7) No social support system to care










IV.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES


The Chilla proposes to be a roosting place for sex workers
children to become a productive and responsible citizen who can
function as active partners of social development process



Objectives

1)To provide a home to the sex workers children

2)To deliver nutritious food

3)To provide educational services

4)To provide emotional and counseling services

5)To provide recreational facilities

6)To provide avenues to develop all the innate potentialities




V.MODUS OPERANDI




This can function in different levels according to the need

1) Day care centre

2) Night shelter

3) Short- stays home

4) and permanent home


We'll facilitate the process. Mother can decide.



1) Education

a.Regular

b.Open system

c.Private

Make it sure that they take exams. We may go for a government
order, court order towards this



2) Recreation

a) basic Recreational facilities

b) Computer with internet


3) Library


4) Sports and avenues for cultural and aesthetic ex-pressions

5) Interaction with public figures, film stars etc.


6) Net working sex workers children all over the world.
International Festival for Sex Workers Children could be
initiated


7) Advocacy with various social support systems and like minded
groups and agencies


The proposed project will thus have a physical structure and a
mother and a father. The children will get nutritious food,
quality education and emotional and recreational services. Support
system will include home care, food, clothes and other essentials,
appropriate education as per the need and time consideration being
taken into consideration. Services like counseling Public
Relations, Recreation and sports.

The chairperson of FIRM will be the director of the project. There
will be two co-ordinators who will function as parent the services
are extended to 100 children in the first year




VI.UNIQUENESS OF THIS PROJECT



Its roosting place for children. Its neither a shelter nor an
orphanage but chilla (Branch of a tree) is a support system which
facilitate as branch of a tree does to birds. We address their
right to have decent and human life. Theyre no longer orphans.
They have mothers and so are different from the rest.



We keep their identity alive. We do not take it away as in other
orphanages.

We value the human rights of a mother whether she is sex worker or
criminal

We give prominence to the rights of children. Our centre will be
one the mothers keep them without any anxiety and resistance. They
might show this initially due to previous experience in the
shelters but can be changed. She can come there at any time and we
will initiate a networking with the different groups.



We provide all facilities as any normal child gets under average
families.

We'll address to defuse the stigma attached to it. We will evolve a
strategy that on how the children could be allowed to grow?, how
they be treted? What will be their response to being and living as
the child of a sex worker? What identity should they hold? We find
even mothers find it difficult to reveal their identity and it
could be even difficult to the children to face this problem. Now
mothers find that there is nothing in social status and a very
good future of their children matters most to every sex worker.