Mental Health

Overview

Survivors of human trafficking, gender-based violence, and other forms of marginalisation often experience complex and long-term mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-harm and suicidal tendencies. These are not isolated conditions, but deeply rooted in experiences of violence, exclusion and systemic inequities.

Access to mental health care remains severely limited. Public systems are overburdened, private care is often unaffordable, and stigma within families, communities and institutions continues to silence survivors. Mental health concerns are further neglected in public discourse and policy, particularly when viewed through an intersectional lens.

Sanjog approaches mental health not as an individual issue alone, but as a socio-structural concern – one that is intrinsically linked to justice, dignity and the right to rehabilitation.

Why Mental Health Advocacy

Despite growing awareness around mental health, most interventions remain focused on awareness and behaviour change, with limited attention to systemic and policy-level transformation. For survivors of violence, this gap is critical.

There is no comprehensive policy framework that integrates mental health support within rehabilitation systems for survivors
Mental health needs of survivors are often overlooked in programmes addressing trafficking, violence and social exclusion
Stigma and discrimination within families and communities deepen trauma, leading to isolation, disrupted relationships and increased vulnerability to re-exploitation
Lack of intersectional research and evidence limits effective advocacy and policy reform
Without mental health support, survivors face significant barriers to reintegration, access to rights and long-term recovery

Mental health advocacy is therefore essential to ensure that rehabilitation is holistic, rights-based and responsive to survivors’ lived realities.

What Does Sanjog Do

Sanjog works to integrate mental health into its broader framework of community-based rehabilitation and social inclusion, recognising it as central to sustainable recovery.

Trauma-informed care: Addressing the psychological impact of violence through structured psycho-social interventions
Therapeutic support: Facilitating individual and group-based therapy processes to address trauma, PTSD, shame, guilt and self-blame
Safe spaces & collectivisation: Creating survivor-led spaces that enable reflection, peer support and collective healing
Capacity building: Working with social workers, community-based organisations (CBOs) and partners to strengthen trauma-informed practices
Access to services: Improving linkages to mental health care, including counselling, therapy and institutional support systems
Multi-level engagement: Intervening at individual, group, family and community levels to build supportive ecosystems for mental well-being

How Does Sanjog Do This

Sanjog’s approach is rooted in community-based, survivor-centred, and systems-oriented strategies:

Building allyship and trust: Strengthening relationships between survivors, practitioners and institutions to create enabling environments for healing
Community collectivisation: Supporting survivor groups and networks to reduce isolation, challenge stigma and build resilience
Integrated care approaches: Facilitating mental health assessments, personalised care plans and trauma-informed interventions
Training and capacity building: Equipping frontline workers and partners with skills in psychological first aid and trauma-responsive care
System linkages: Connecting survivors with government and private mental health services, including diagnostics, therapy and medication
Advocacy for systemic change: Promoting the need for accessible, trauma-informed and survivor-responsive mental health systems
Research and evidence generation: Documenting psychosocial outcomes and resilience pathways to inform programmes and influence policy

Shakti

An initiative by Sanjog, in collaboration with Partners in Anti Trafficking and BBSS in West Bengal, Shakti, is a community-based rehabilitation programme for survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Tafteesh

A consortium-based coalition of survivors, lawyers, social workers, probation officers, psychologists, sociologists, researchers, investigation and rescue specialists, and human rights activists, Tafteesh aims to strengthen the systems of justice delivery to survivors of human trafficking.

Leadership Next

A leadership programme for survivors of human trafficking, Leadership Next seeks to reverse the idea of victimhood, which is self-perpetuating and makes it difficult to restore the survivors’ power, agency and confidence.