In 2005, Soma home became the first residential facility New Light established for girls at risk.
Soma Home is located in a fully residential area of South Kolkata and is home to 38 girls, aged 9-18, who have been removed from the red light district of Kalighat with the consent and cooperation of their mothers. The young women at Soma Home come from incredibly challenging backgrounds, some suffering years of abuse and violence. Some of the girls were trafficked themselves before New Light found them. Many of the girls were born in the slums and red-light backstreets of Kolkata, the children of female sex workers who were exploited or trafficked.
At puberty, around ages 9-15 is when girls are at increased risk of being abused and forced into prostitution, which is why the existence of Soma home is so essential.
These girls are too young to have experienced so much. I was able to speak with Urmi Ray, one of the New Light staff, before coming about these young women and each of their stories.
One young woman, her parents died when she was 9 and at 10 she was trafficked and forced to work as a sex worker. At 10. At 10 young girls should be worried about their grades, about making friends… not about being trafficked. This experience leaves deep, deep scars that never go away.
It physically hurts knowing what she endured and knowing how common her story is, how many young girls are forced into the sex trade and how many girls and women are still trapped in that world.
I always want to be mindful of what these girls have experienced and treat them with as much kindness and warmth as possible. I want to be mindful of what they’ve endured because you can’t always see it, but it’s still always there, just below the surface. And I know the smallest thing can bring it up and be a trigger for these young women.
Every shelter New Light has established has a counselor on staff. They’re here to help these women heal after what they’ve experienced. They’re here to help these women recover from their pasts. I wanted to help these women not look back but focus on their futures and recognize their potential. Recognize that no matter where they’ve come from, what they’ve experienced, they have so much to offer each other and this world.
We discussed how each of them have amazing traits and abilities they should embrace and be proud of.
We had the girls write down 5 things they were proud of about themselves and what they hoped to become. And we did as well. We wanted them to understand who we are before asking them to share about themselves and know this was a safe place to share. We wanted them to know we genuinely wanted to hear what they had to say.
These girls are proud to be sisters, daughters, proud of their dancing, their empathy, their ability to make the other girls laugh. They hope to become dancers, teachers, doctors, fashion designers, veterinarians, architects, mothers… They have such big dreams and we simply wanted to boost their confidence and help them recognize they’re capable of achieving them.
It really was a gift and honor to witness the girls opening up.