Children Empowerment of the Devadasi System

In socio-economically disadvantaged Devadasi communities from North Karnataka, harmful norms force adolescent girls into sexual exploitation. We fight for the rights of these girls and enrol them in schools. We provide them opportunities for alternative means of livelihood and teach them to speak up against injustice.

In Noord-Karnataka, India, zijn kinderen uit achtergestelde Devadasi-gemeenschappen kwetsbaar voor seksuele uitbuiting.

Thangam Ponpandi

Country Manager India

Donate now

Background

Historically, the Devadasi practice involved young girls being consecrated as performing artists in temples. With time, exploitation seeped into this system in a few socio-economically vulnerable communities where the girls forced into sexual exploitation. In these Devadasi communities, the practice of dedicating a child as a Devadasi continues where harmful norms perpetrate their role as sex workers in society. These dedication ceremonies are done in secret. Children from this community face violence, abuse and even those not dedicated face a lot of stigma and hardship.

It is estimated that there are about 80,000 Devadasi women in North Karnataka, twenty percent of whom are under the age of 18. In many cases, the girls are even younger than 14 years old when they enter the system. Dedication means dropping out of school and becoming isolated. The girls are mistreated by the men who exploit them. They run all kinds of risks, for example contracting STDs such as HIV, or ending up with an unwanted pregnancy, leading to health complications.

Generations of women in the same family undergo these challenges.

Sexual and gender-based violence

The Devadasi System in disadvantaged communities exploits young girls and women in the name of harmful tradition. After a ceremony, they are forced into a life of sex work. The children and young girls from the community are isolated, face stigma, and drop out of school. Generations of women in the same family undergo these challenges: the daughter of a mother in the Devadasi system often faces the same fate. Due to a lack of vocational skills, education, and alternative livelihood opportunities, they are highly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence. Hence, they remain socio-economically oppressed.

Objective

We combat child sexual exploitation in the Devadasi community through child participation and provision of services that make the empowerment of children possible.

Download the 'Tales of girlpower'

We enroll the girls in school and provide academic support.

Approach

With the GOOD project, Terre des Hommes Netherlands works in five districts in 163 villages in North Karnataka to protect children against sexual exploitation. What we do:

We host girls and boys from the Devadasi communities in children's clubs, where we educate them about their rights and support them to fight for change.
We make sure they can go back to school.
We train them in job-oriented vocational skills so that they can develop alternative livelihoods.
Within the community, we create awareness about the harmful effects of the Devadasi system.
We advocate for changes at the policy level.
We set up child protection committees in the communities.

Child model representing Manasa in school

Results

The results we achieved in 2023 include the following:

3,105 girls were taken care of in our children's clubs
517 girls were supported with school fees, materials and uniforms; 28 girls were re-enrolled in school; 2554 children accessed digital learning, 586 girls wrote their secondary school exams.
127 girls followed vocational training
The project's advocacy contributed to the State Government of Karnataka issuing an order to make the father's name optional in all registration forms, a significant advocacy milestone.
Girls from 198 children's clubs actively advocate for better facilities in their respective villages.