Kashi* was only 5 years old when strangers took her from her parents and sold her into domestic servitude to a wealthy family in Mumbai. For the next ten years, she cooked and cleaned around the clock while facing disturbing physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Later, the family took 15-year-old Kashi to Kolkata and began exploiting her for sex in a massive red-light district. IJM investigators found and rescued Kashi in April 2013, but it took years for her to rebuild confidence and learn to trust again. As she began to open up, Kashi was able to go to school for the first time and—with IJM’s support—discovered her talents for leadership and public speaking. Today, she’s passionate about using her experiences to help change India, saying, “This is my identity, where I won’t have to shy my eyes from anyone. I will not have to be scared because of my past. I will hold my head high. Always. I will not let it come down.
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