Education

Strategy

Children of Sex Workers

Children of sex workers are another group of left-out children that AIF is working with. In the Education context, they suffer in multiple ways. They are subjected to processes of social exclusion, that makes it difficult for them to be admitted in schools. Those in schools try to keep their parentage hidden, or suffer severe psychological humiliation at the hands of teachers and children. The lifestyle of their mothers prevents them from being able to keep up with a normal routine. As a result, many of these children are out of school, either because they have never enrolled, or because they had to drop out. Due to reduced possibilities for education and alternative vocations, many of them find themselves forced back into sex work.

Most of the work done by NGOs with children of sex workers has been on issues around trafficking, human rights violations etc. The interventions around education, which helps expand choices and opportunities for such children, appear to be few and rather isolated. In view of this and the fact that such children are extremely marginalized, AIF decided to support interventions in this area.