WARNING! This story contains sensitive information about sexual abuse.

Our World Is Made Up Of Stories

I write stories for a living so, it’s true, I am inclined to tell it that way . . . But before you dismiss this article as the ramblings of yet another overly verbose writer suffering her first existential crisis, consider:

There are stories everywhere.

We tell stories about our weekends to our workmates as we huddle in the staff kitchen, jostling for use of the microwave. We roll our eyes as we listen to the worn out tales spun by our fathers, which somehow, beyond all comprehension, have wormed their way into family folklore. And, from the plot line of the greatest story ever told, we are given life, grace and redemption.

The world is made up of stories.

We learn from them as we tell them and live them. And once in a while we will hear a story so powerful, so impacting, that it crosses some intangible boundary between storyteller and listener and becomes a story of our own. Savita* was just 12 years old when she was taken from her family. Encouraged by an aunt to accept work in a nearby city, she left her rural life behind her in the hope of being able to help her poverty stricken parents. But within a week, Savita had been trafficked far away to Delhi and handed over to a labour hire firm for domestic workers.

No One To Come Rescue Her

Her father and mother had no idea where she was.

That first month in Delhi was horrific for Savita. Locked in her room she had no escape from the man at the labour hire firm who kept her there. Only a child, she was vulnerable to his advances. He began sexually abusing her and raping her repeatedly.

Can you imagine the hopelessness of Savita’s situation?

The inescapable terror she must have felt when she realised that no one was coming to rescue her; that her parents probably still believed her to be safe and happy. Savita was trapped in her nightmare for a month before she finally saw a glimmer of hope. She was hired by a family who offered her a regular wage as a domestic servant and safety from the man who had abused her. Somehow, she had managed to escape his clutches.

But her new job wasn’t all it was promised to be.

While the family treated her well enough and protected her from the man at the labour hire firm whenever he tried to see her, Savita was required to work very long days. Each day, every day, she would work for 16 hours. It was a backbreaking way to earn a living but she continued to work tirelessly because her wages were her ticket home. And all Savita wanted to do was to go home. But in 14 months with the family, she was never paid a single rupee.

Savita’s Parents Won’t Give Up

After three months, with no contact from Savita, her parents realised something was amiss; but by that stage she had well and truly vanished. They confronted her aunt but she flatly refused to give them any information.

Savita’s parents would not give up.

It was almost a year before the relentless questioning of Savita’s parents wore her aunt down. She arranged to have Savita brought back from Delhi. Savita was left on the side of the road, five kilometres from her family home.

She is safe now. But Savita has endured something that no child should ever have to endure. She has been trafficked, exploited and abused and now, she deserves justice.

Savita and her family are working with our Christian partner in India, Emmanuel Hospital Association, to hold those responsible for her nightmare accountable. With their assistance, Savita and her family have reported the aunt who trafficked her to the police. While her aunt has been prosecuted and sent to prison, the police have never been able to find the man who raped Savita. To this day, he remains free.

Acclaimed writer Maya Angelou once said, ‘There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.’

Children Shouldn’t Be Trafficked

While Savita (understandably) struggles to relive her experience as a trafficked child, she has bravely shared her story with us anyway. Why? Because she hopes that by telling it, she can stop this happening to other children.

Savita’s is an unfinished story.

Although those terrible 14 months are now in the past, her future is yet to be written. But she doesn’t have to write it alone.

Our Christian partner is working with Savita to help her rehabilitate to life in her community. This is just one aspect of the important work that Emmanuel Hospital Association is doing in India. Perhaps more crucial still is the work which they do towards preventing these abuses from happening to vulnerable children in the first place.

Emmanuel Hospital Association is one of our many Christian partners whose valuable protection and rehabilitation work is made possible by the generous support for our Vulnerable Children Fund.

Every child deserves to be loved and cherished. We can make it possible for Savita, and vulnerable children like her, to start writing stories full of life and hope.

*Name changed for privacy and child protection reasons.