We enroll the Last girl in an Apne Aap network with the expectation that she gains her Ten Assets over a period of three to five years. The Ten Assets include both personal development and government recognition. They are:
The Assets either reduce her risk of being trafficked or create an exit strategy from prostitution by reducing her dependency on the brothel system by offering avenues other than prostitution. Once a girl gains all Ten Assets, she gets “ten on ten”. This has a multiplier effect – she will then influence and enroll other girls to gain the Ten Assets. Moreover, as part of the Apne Aap network and of the smaller self-empowerment groups, she scales up our work by campaigning individually and collectively for changes in laws and policies that affect hundreds of thousands of her sisters. We call this the 10 X 10 approach. 20% of our work is to create exit strategies for girls and women who are victims of prostitution. This is traditionally achieved through rehabilitation and reintegration. 80% of our work strives to prevent inter-generational prostitution among the daughters of women trapped in the sex industry, as well as the girls and young women trapped in caste communities. [Many of these caste communities were former nomadic groups labeled as “Criminal Tribes” by British colonizers. Some examples are the Nats, Bediyas, Sansis, and Kanjars. Read more about our Organizing for Independence Concept.]
