Educate the leaders of tomorrow, change the system today. That is why we founded The School for Justice.
“We are building an army of confident women who are going to change the system in their own country.” – Free a Girl
That is why we founded The School for Justice.
School for Justice is an award-winning program for survivors of sexual exploitation who become change agents to change the system from within. In the School for Justice program, survivors become human rights professionals like lawyers, paralegals, prosecutors, journalists, counselors, and police officers.
Within Free a Girl’s School for Justice program, survivors of sexual exploitation acquire skills in various professions. The program offers them motivational and empowering activities, in addition to their educational path. Strengthened by their knowledge and determination, the students emerge as advocates and change agents to prevent sexual exploitation of young girls in similar situations. We see girls who have been sexually exploited transformed into change agents and powerful women who can make a difference in their society. Women fighting for their rights and those of their peers.
To address impunity and provide access to justice in different countries around the world, Free a Girl launched the School for Justice program in India in 2017. In 2019, we opened a school in Nepal and in 2022, we launched the program in Brazil.
Survivors enroll in formal education in various fields of human rights, including law, journalism, social work, cybercrime, and so on.
Survivors participate in additional empowerment courses to prepare them to become change agents. This support includes psycho-socio counseling, life skills development sessions, digital storytelling, computer science learning, motivational team-building activities, and inspirational sessions.
Survivors participate in legal awareness training sessions covering rights of children, cybercrime, international law, victims’ rights, and filing charges. Survivors can also undertake internships to gain practical experience and insight into the legal system.
Survivors and their families receive family counseling services, with a focus on active involvement to ensure wholehearted support for the survivors as they embark on their transformative journey towards becoming change agents.
The School for Justice change agents will raise awareness on national and local platforms, among law enforcement and within communities about the problem of sexual exploitation and human trafficking and play an active role in the fight and the access to justice. We see survivors becoming change agents by being board members of NGOs, lawyers in the fight against sexual exploitation, activist leaders or teachers in communities.
Survivors participate in additional empowerment courses. This support includes psycho-socio counseling, life skills development sessions, and inspirational sessions.
School for justice India
Deepika completed the Para Professional certificate course in Social Work in 2020. She now works with the law enforcement agencies in India. Her role is to identify high-risk children from railway stations who are used for child labor or trafficked for, for instance, child sexual exploitation. She works with a special police force that is working on trafficking cases. Deepika has intercepted approximately 55 children including 12 girls and 43 boys who were being trafficked or who were expected to be sexually exploited. She is also organizing human trafficking awareness training for police, NGOs and passengers at railway stations. She is thankful to SFJ that the program shaped her to build confidence to conduct awareness sessions. She is changing systems from within, and working as a very focused change agent. We are so very proud of Deepika! She feels happy as today she is in a position to help and guide other children to be in a safe environment.
School for justice Nepal
Sabita’s father left the family when she was a little girl. Her mother moved with Sabita and her sister to Pokhara, where it was hard to survive. When their mother remarried, she sent her daughters money for the rent, but Sabita and her sister also had to find a job to make ends meet. Sabita finished 10th grade in school and started working in a hotel. After a while, the owner started selling and sexually exploiting Sabita. She was sold to different men every day for more than 5 months. It was still hard to pay all the bills because the owner did not pay her and threatened her daily. didn’t pay her and threatened her daily. Eventually, Sabita and her sister bravely informed an NGO, and they were rescued. Sabita is now studying at the School for Justice. We are so proud of her!
Sabita: “I want to assist survivors of sexual exploitation in their struggle against violence and for justice, as well as those who are raising their voices in order to receive justice. Now I can confidently raise my voice and defend myself. I am going to study social work so I can assist survivors of sexual exploitation and human trafficking in the future.”
School for justice Nepal
Nadina’s father was an alcoholic who used to fight with her mother and often scolded Nadina. At the age of 16, with the help of her mother’s friend, she was taken to Kathmandu to work as a maid in the house of a businessman. She worked there without any salary for a year and three months. The businessman often exploited her sexually and sold her to other men, including his brother-in-law. One day, Nadina was strong and brave enough to ran away with the help of a ‘friend’, that helped her find a job as a waitress. But again, this was not what it seemed, in this bar she was forced to have sexual contact with the customers. She was sexually exploited for well over a year again, day in day out. Nadina managed to study up to the 12th grade and is now studying at the School for Justice to become a lawyer.
Nadina: “The most important thing is that I found my identity here. My life was really terrible until I came here. I stopped thinking about the future, but here I can dream and make plans for it again. I am participating in the School for Justice program and experiencing the warmth and love within the School for Justice that inspired me to make great changes in my life. School for Justice provides me with a second home and a second family, as well as quality education and empowerment activities. I want to be a lawyer so that I can help all victims and survivors to achieve justice for free and I want to share what I learned about human trafficking with others.
