Actor Priya Anand announces support for Save the Children

Chennai, June 20: Actor Priya Anand, whose movie 180 is coming out in cinemas later this week, has announced that she will lend her support to Save the Children, a leading child rights organisation working in 12 States in India and in over 120 countries around the world.

The young actor said the decision to support child rights issues came after a recent visit to a Save the Children project area in Villupuram where she interacted with children who had been rescued from child domestic work.

Listening to the stories of how some of the children were trafficked into child labour was a moving experience for Priya Anand. “My memories of childhood are very different from those of the children I met. I learnt first-hand how children as young as 10 or 11 are exploited for work, abused, not paid or paid very little,” the actor said. “These children deserve to enjoy their childhood just as I did. I will raise my voice to ensure that children do not go to work but instead get a chance to go to school. Children must work hard but at school.”

“I applaud the work that Save the Children does in Tamil Nadu and it is a privilege to support their work in the State,” the actor said.

“It is extremely heartening that a youth symbol like Priya Anand has come forward to strengthen Save the Children’s work in Tamil Nadu,” Thomas Chandy, CEO, Save the Children, said.

“Child domestic work is extremely dangerous as it is an invisible form of child labour. It takes place within the home of another person, the employer. The invisible nature of child domestic work makes it difficult to take it out in the public domain as an issue for public debate,” Chandy said.

There are hundreds of thousands of child domestic workers across India without a voice, subject to exploitation and part of a growing breed of full-time child workers in this age of nuclear families and working urban families. They are either paid minimum wages or not paid at all, and as they with the employer are largely 'invisible' to the outside world. This invisibility is a key  reason of exploitation and abuse.

In Tamil Nadu, Save the Children works to create awareness about child labour among children, parents, employers and the community at large to put an end to the practice of employing children for domestic work.

Save the Children works in 15 villages across Villupuram district to address the issue of child domestic labour and trafficking.  

Save the Children is the leading, independent child rights organisation that works in India and in over 120 countries around the world. In India, Save the Children works in 12 States focusing on strengthening child rights in the key areas of inclusive education, child protection, health and nutrition and emergencies. Through our programmes so far, we have brought positive change to the lives of over 3 million children and their families in India.