Children Empowerment for Getting Out of the Devadasi System
Tackling harmful norms, empowering children from Devadasi communities
In socio-economically marginalised Devadasi communities from North Karnataka, harmful norms force adolescent girls into sexual exploitation. We fight for the rights of these girls and enrol them in schools. We provide them opportunities for alternative means of livelihood and teach them to speak up against injustice.
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Thangaperumal Ponpandi
Country Manager India“Children of Devadasis are a very vulnerable group who are exploited on the basis of a harmful tradition. We work to ensure that they lead a life filled with dignity and possibilities”
Background
Historically, the Devadasi practice involved young girls being consecrated as performing artists in temples. However, with time exploitation seeped into the system forceing girls into sexual exploitation in certain marginalised Devadasi communities. Clandestine dedication ceremonies perpetuate this abuse, and all children in these communities face violence, stigma, and hardship.
It is estimated that there are about 80,000 Devadasi women in North Karnataka, twenty percent of whom are under the age of 18. In many cases, the girls are even younger than 14 years old when they enter the system. Dedication means dropping out of school and becoming isolated. Often children drop out of schools because their father’s identities are unknown to them, making them face ridicule by peers.
The girls are mistreated by the men who exploit them. They run all kinds of risks, for example contracting STDs such as HIV, or ending up with an unwanted pregnancy, leading to health complications.
Generations of women in the same family undergo these challenges: the daughter of a mother in the Devadasi system often faces the same fate. Due to a lack of vocational skills, education, and alternative livelihood opportunities, they are highly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence. Hence, they remain socio-economically oppressed.
Our Goals
Our Approach
Children as Change Agents
Children from these communities are empowered to claim their basic rights through children’s clubs or Kishori groups. Children are equipped to take action against violence and abuse, both for themselves and their peers.
Community Awareness
Families of Devadasis become more aware of the negative impacts of the dedication practice and actively work to prevent its continuation. This includes street theatre, door-to-door sensitisation, community meetings and others.
Lobby and Advocacy
Strengthening legal frameworks by amending existing laws, and implementing child protection policies.
Capacity Building
Strengthening the capacity of government officials, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and the media to prevent and respond to exploitation in the Devadasi system.
Access to social support
Children and their families are able to access government welfare schemes and essential services related to education, health, social security, and legal aid.
Our Results in 2025
- A total of 1,339 girls received education assistance ranging from high school to professional courses, ensuring uninterrupted learning and improved academic retention.
- 122 adolescent girls from the Devadasi community completed livelihood skill training, enhancing confidence, self-reliance, and income-generation potential.
- 386 Kishori leaders were trained through district- and state-level child-led research and leadership programmes, strengthening evidence-based advocacy and civic engagement.
- The State-level Kishori leaders Network was launched, engaging 298 Kishoris, 41 Kishoras, staff members, and parents, fostering peer learning and collective advocacy. Kishori leaders represented grassroots concerns at district, state, and national platforms.
- 258 Change Agents were trained on online safety, cyber risks, and responsible digital use. These interventions strengthened adolescents’ understanding of sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), consent, and safe help-seeking behaviours, enabling informed and protective decision-making.
- 142 male caregivers and siblings from the Devadasi community were engaged to strengthen understanding of the importance of girls’ education and to encourage continued family support for girls to complete their schooling.
- After nearly two decades without a resurvey (since 2007–’08), sustained advocacy by the GOOD Project led to the initiation of a state-led resurvey by the Department of Women and Child Welfare, enabling over 1,000 Devadasi women to enrol and access long-pending government entitlements and rehabilitation benefits.
Our partners
Implementing Partners