Leveraging Digital Tools to Monitor and Prevent Climate-Induced Migration and Human Trafficking

South Asia is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, with millions of people displaced annually by floods, cyclones, riverbank erosion, and drought. These climate-induced migrants often move under duress, lacking legal protections, financial security, and social support. In this vacuum, organized trafficking networks exploit displaced populations particularly women, children, and marginalized caste or ethnic groups for forced labor, sex trafficking, and domestic servitude. Climate migration contributes to trafficking risks in several ways: lack of economic options, breakdown or lack of social protections, weak regulatory oversight and prevalence of fake jobs recruitment.

SAICJS in collaboration with its partners, is developing an evidence-based intervention that leverages digital tools to identify early warning signs of human trafficking in climate-affected regions across South Asia. This initiative aims to enhance prevention efforts by proactively addressing emerging risks linked to climate displacement and vulnerability.

Strengthening Goa’s Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Systems

Since 2023, Ntasha Bhardwaj has been leading a collaborative initiative with the Government of Goa’s Directorate of Women and Child Development to strengthen the state’s systems for preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV). This initiative reflects our strategic focus on policy-relevant engagement, institutional capacity-building, and sustainable impact at the intersection of gender and justice.

As part of this effort, a series of capacity-building workshops were conducted with officials from 14 government departments, aimed at deepening their understanding of gender, gender laws, and gender budgeting. These multi-departmental engagements represent a foundational step toward a more coordinated and gender-responsive public service.

In April 2024, needs assessments were conducted with key institutions, including the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the Women’s Police Station, the Directorate of Prosecution, and staff from One Stop Centres (OSCs) in North and South Goa. These consultations surfaced critical gaps and opportunities—specifically, the need for:

• Department-specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Targeted capacity-building workshops

• Improved inter-agency coordination mechanisms

Based on these findings, a comprehensive strategy to enhance Goa’s GBV prevention and response framework is currently being developed, with a focus on institutional alignment, survivor-centered approaches, and systems-level integration.

Integrating a Gender Lens into India’s G20 Presidency

In 2022, Ntasha Bhardwaj served as a Technical Consultant to UN Women, working closely with the Ministry of Women and Child Development to embed a gender perspective into India’s G20 Presidency. Through strategic inputs and coordination, her work supported the Government of India in securing strong commitments to gender equality from G20 member states—countries that collectively account for the majority of the world’s GDP, trade, and population.

This initiative marked a pivotal moment in positioning gender equality as a global policy priority, ensuring that conversations on economic recovery, climate resilience, and digital transformation also reflect the needs and rights of women and marginalized genders.

Understanding the Journey of Domestic Violence Survivors in North India

Aanchal Modani’s current research seeks to qualitatively explore and map the experiences of domestic violence survivors in North India. Despite the enactment of the National Commission for Women Act (1990) and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005), women survivors in India continue to face significant barriers in accessing support and rebuilding their lives. While there have been ongoing efforts to prevent and address violence against women, there is a lack of qualitative research that centers on the real-life experiences of those who navigate these services. This study addresses this gap by examining the socioecological factors that shape survivors’ journeys within and beyond the shelter system—insights that are crucial for informing policy and program development.

Focus Areas:

The study examines three critical stages of care and reintegration:

1. Accessing Formal Help: Understanding the barriers and facilitators that impact survivors' ability to seek and access support.

2. Experiencing Shelter Services: Exploring survivors’ perspectives on the services offered, their utility, and effectiveness.

3. Planning for Reintegration: Identifying processes that facilitate or hinder successful reintegration into chosen communities.

Through multiple case study analysis and semi-structured interviews, the research delves into the lived realities of survivors, offering an in-depth, holistic perspective on the challenges they face and the support systems they utilize. By capturing these nuanced experiences, the study aims to inform more responsive and context-specific interventions for survivors of domestic violence in India.