Vulnerable girls and the vulnerable heart

I grew up listening to my parents warn me that the heart above all is deceitful. I have seen the devastation of a broken heart in the life of many. What I have seen more in the last 12 years is the devastation of the vulnerable heart of vulnerable girls (socially, economically and politically marginalized).  Some of you may remember the young girl who during the COVID lockdown, looking for love, went on a motorcycle from Kolkata to Pune only to be sold into sex slavery.

We rescued a young girl from a neighbouring country.  She trusted a young man and left home.  What we learned about her is the narrative of many stories, she was brought across the border by the boyfriend and “married off” to his cousin.  The cousin raped her,  abused her and then sold her. When she was finally found (2 years later) and rescued, she had delivered and was raising her little girl.  At her rescue, she clearly named the people involved in her trafficking and narrated the whole story. We thought what a bold statement. Sadly, her boldness did her no good. It just got her booked as an accused under the Foreigner’s Act rather than a victim under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, an act that penalized trafficking.  We are moving the justice department for her justice. A young girl, from a poor family,  alone in an alien country – socially, economically and  politically vulnerable now devastated because she followed  her vulnerable heart.

Another young girl who was rescued a year ago –  already vulnerable owing to her socio-political status, followed her heart and found herself “SOLD”.  Post her rescue, she was bold, stood by her statement and testified against the perpetrators whenever their bail application came up for hearing.   She understood the injustice done to her. On her release to her family (much against our recommendation to the state), she was married to a man who abandoned her.   Now back with her family, she is faced with constant haranguing by the mother of the boyfriend who sold her, she seems to be giving in to pressure. The heart not just once in her love life but also in her married life leaves her more vulnerable.

How do we overcome this vulnerability? Do we keep our hearts closed? That is surely not the solution. It will only make us insensitive, selfish and hard-hearted. We use our hearts and our heads. We need to be aware of what is going on around us. We need to learn to discern what is good and what is not. We need to recognize our weakness so we protect ourselves with counsel from others in those areas. We need to take help from those who are not vulnerable in the areas we are.

Vulnerability in society does not end there. It still requires us to do all the above for those around us who are vulnerable. We need to be there for them in their times of need. We need to look out for them and be that counsel. We need to show them what is going on around them. We need to be the help they need.  Yes, there are organizations like us. However our reach is miniscule in comparison to the need. 

Imagine all our hands coming together to form a circle of protection around vulnerable girls. It will be that village that makes a child grow into a citizen. 

Join the larger civil society in any way you can to form that hedge of protection for girls and keep their vulnerable hearts safe.