Making the Child Rape Survivors Self-reliant
Tharuni also runs an exclusive “Tharuni Swalambana Rehabilitation and Skill centre for Child Rape Victims” in Hyderabad helping them to start a new life.
This centre is probably the first of its kind in India, catering exclusively to the needs of sexually abused girls who are below 18 years and offers a wide variety of services under one roof including Counseling and Therapy, Free Boarding and Lodging for one year, Special classes to continue their education, Skill enhancement trainings, Special medical care for pregnant girls, etc. It is a 50 bedded facility.
Most of them are abandoned by their families because of the stigma they face. That’s why in Swalambana healing is done with motherly warmth, supporting like a sister, Assuring as a Father, ensuring Safety like a Brother and they find their family members in us.
Context
Victims of Child Sexual Abuse who have undergone a traumatic experience in their lives, need careful support and nurturing. They need professional support to enable them to come out of not only their trauma, but build their skills and confidence adequately so that they can live their lives with a positive frame of mind.
In Telangana, the setting up of one-stop crisis centres under Bharosa initiative of Telangana Police with technical support from Tharuni NGO is the first step in this process, which aims at avoiding re-victimisation of victims, by providing counselling, medical and legal support under one roof. However, there is no exclusive centre to cater to the unique needs of child sexual abuse victims, some of whom also have to deal with their pregnancy at such a tender age. There are 34 Child Care Institutions running in Telangana under Department of Women and Child Welfare along with many other homes being run by Non-profit organisations. The current child care institutions cater to all children who are in need of care and protection which includes orphans, semi-orphans, child labour, etc. They are not able to address the unique requirement of the CSA victims.
It is in this context that Tharuni Swalambana, an exclusive rehabilitation centre for the CSA victims has been set up. Tharuni Swalambana is a Rehabilitation and Skill centre started on 29th August 2025 in Chaitanyapuri, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Healing
The child rape victims face lot of Trauma and it takes years for them to come to normalcy. The healing can be made quicker by using Art and Craft therapy. In Swalambana the girls are given these two therapies initially for one month so that their trauma can be managed.Professional medical services to the pregnant girls is provided through experts from Fernandez hospital, while a wide range of skill enhancement initiatives are taken up to build up the capacity and self confidence of the Child Sexual Victims. They are provided with a healthy environment for their boarding and lodging, apart from facilities for their all round development during their stay at Tharuni Swalambana.