our approach

is modelled around creating an atmosphere of safety and growth through sustainable solutions.

Girls and women can only fully thrive when they feel protected from any kind of harassment, violence and exploitation. Prakruthi works on a multi-stakeholder approach at the beneficiary level by empowering girls and their families to be able to come out of situations of vulnerability but also with duty bearers who play a role in ensuring their safety.

Prakruthi works on empowerment of girls and women with sustainable behaviour change interventions, providing the girls with the right tools to be able to be independent and make correct decisions for themselves and also working towards aftercare and reintegration of the girls and women who have already faced exploitation, violence or trauma of any form through programs that socially, culturally, and economically empower them to contribute to society and their own lives in a positive, independent, and impactful way.

research

We first define the problems we solve by conducting innovative grassroots research in a holistic manner which helps us build out custom and high-impact solutions. We combine our expertise in field research with critical analysis and have created over 15 in-depth publications. Our high quality research has provided the government, companies, and the social sector with an understanding of important issues and paved the way for life changing solutions. Today, we are doing research on how to best support the safety and development of the girl child. We provide actionable insights to stakeholders and design our programs through evidence based approaches.

social emotional interventions

With our founder Linsy being a trained Bharatnatyam teacher, we started exploring expressive arts as a tool to empower and heal which has led to various projects over the years to rehabilitate and empower children leading to a comprehensive socio-emotional program for the complete development of the children we support.

collective action

Through the years, we have achieved the unthinkable by working within communities - we broke caste barriers by teaching young girls from lower castes (as considered by some) Bharatnatyam - a dance form which is reserved for the higher castes. We also gave them computer literacy so that they could have equal standing with their peers. Today, we have community vigilance groups, multi stakeholder consultations and engagements with opinion leaders and child leaders within communities. COVID relief, engagement with stakeholders for the garment sector, playing a neutral role and facilitating communities and systems within them to come together through collective efforts

stakeholder engagement

through this we engage with a wide range of traditional, community, civil society and opinion leaders to to solve complex social problems. We build alliances and partnerships and motivate various partners at national and local levels to raise awareness of and create dialogue around a particular development objective leading to sustainable, multi-faceted solutions to broad social problems.

technology

We brought computer labs to children living in slums back in 1992 when only the privileged had access to them, in 2012, we created and took a custom elearning solution to Kargil for children impacted by extremism and conflict. We have continued the legacy of prioritizing technology as an enabler for equity with gamified visual learning platforms and innovation for the digital classrooms of the future.

children's safety and security

We have always focused on working with the most vulnerable children including runaways, street children, missing children at railway stations, trafficking victims, and children in dysfunctional and potentially dangerous situations who are vulnerable to trafficking, abuse and exploitation. We work at the grassroots to ensure that children in need of care and protection return to a place of safety by taking them to shelter homes, rescuing them from potentially dangerous situations, rehabilitating them through counselling & case work, and where possible reuniting them back with their families.

amplifying childrens’ voices

Children should have a say in policies which impact them and we have always tried through every program to weave in children’s voices at every step. We assembled a mass meeting where 1200 children worked together with the system towards transformative action for their rights, we are giving survivors a platform to share their experiences and provide recommendations for change through the Survivor Leadership Program and students are coming together in colleges as part of to raise awareness about this heinous crime. We believe that when the youth are engaged in community work, only then real change is possible.

legal

We provide pro bono legal support and services to beneficiaries who have cases related to exploitation. Through this, our beneficiaries become aware of their rights and move through these cases with our support system. This support is critical for their social development as these cases have a significant impact on their lives and lead to their ability to feel safe, secure, and be able to develop into their fullest potential. Prakruthi also conducts legal research regarding how it’s own legal efforts can be designed to have the greatest outcomes.