Dayita* realized she was pregnant at age 14, shortly after being sold to a brothel in India — by her husband. Yet even in this condition, she was forced to service men day and night. Countless Nepali girls have been pushed along the same path as Dayita — trafficked into the brothels of India. In some rural communities, this has been the fate of every girl over age 12 for generations. In India’s red-light districts, they are stripped of their dignity as they are drugged, abused and repeatedly raped. Some, like Dayita, give birth in the very room where they work.
When Dayita’s daughter, Ridhi, was born, Dayita felt she had a reason to live. In a brothel outreach visit, workers at the She Is Safe-sponsored Girls’ Restoration Home met Dayita and Ridhi when Ridhi was five years old. They were both still living in the brothel in miserable conditions – and at extreme risk of sexual abuse. Dayita welcomed the opportunity to have her daughter live at the Restoration Home so she would be safe from abusive men and experience a caring environment.
Today, Ridhi is about to turn 18. Rather than enduring the same fate as her mother in a life of slavery, she has grown up in the Restoration Home, where she was nurtured with the love of Jesus, attended school and discovered her passion for playing guitar. Her prayers for her mother have been answered: Dayita was able to escape the brothel and earn a living she can feel good about. Soon mother and daughter will be reunited, and together they will be able to grow in God’s healing love.
