A Survivor-Driven Campaign for Inclusive, Empowered and Resilient Communities
Introduction
Across India, survivors of human trafficking, gender-based violence, domestic abuse, child exploitation, and other forms of marginalisation continue to face systemic exclusion. Rehabilitation systems remain fragmented and largely institutional, often reinforcing dependency rather than enabling long-term reintegration.
At Sanjog, our work over the past decade – particularly through the Shakti projects in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh – has demonstrated that community-based rehabilitation (CBR) offers a more sustainable, rights-based alternative. When survivors are supported within their communities and equipped with agency, they rebuild not only their own lives but also strengthen families and local systems.
Count Us In builds on these learnings to catalyse a national movement that places survivor leadership, evidence, and policy reform at the centre of rehabilitation and social inclusion.
Why Count Us In?
India currently lacks a comprehensive national framework for rehabilitation and social inclusion across different forms of marginalisation. Existing responses are scheme-based, siloed and largely custodial, failing to address the long-term, intersectional needs of survivors.
Despite multiple NGO-led efforts, rehabilitation models remain fragmented, heavily dependent on private funding, and disconnected from policy systems, limiting their scale and sustainability.
At the same time, there is a growing policy window. The C20 Declaration has recognised community-based integration as a critical priority – not just for survivors of trafficking, but also for people affected by mental health institutionalisation, domestic violence and other forms of exclusion.
Count Us In seeks to bridge this gap by transforming emerging recognition into concrete policy action, ensuring that rehabilitation is understood as a right grounded in dignity, equity and inclusion.
What We Aim to Achieve
By 2028, Count Us In aims to drive systemic change by:
- Influencing at least three key government ministries or departments to engage with and integrate CBR into rehabilitation and social inclusion policies
- Building a national survivor-led advocacy platform through ILFAT, with trained fellows leading research and policy engagement
- Generating robust, survivor-led evidence on the limitations of institutional care and the effectiveness of community-based approaches
- Producing policy briefs and facilitating policy dialogues to shape a comprehensive rehabilitation framework
- Strengthening public discourse through sustained media engagement that centres survivor voices and lived realities
- Building a national coalition of civil society organisations, survivor networks, and media actors to advocate for CBR as a systemic priority
How We Work
- Count Us In adopts a multi-pronged, survivor-centred approach:
- Survivor-Led Research & Advocacy: Ten fellows from ILFAT will be trained as community researchers and advocates, generating primary evidence from their own communities and leading advocacy efforts.
- Evidence-Based Policy Engagement: Research findings will directly inform policy briefs and advocacy strategies. Partnerships with organisations like Chase India will enable structured engagement with policymakers and government stakeholders.
- Coalition Building: The programme will bring together civil society organisations, survivor collectives, and media professionals to create a unified voice for rehabilitation reform and social inclusion.
- Media & Narrative Change: Strategic media engagement will amplify survivor voices, challenge dominant institutional narratives, and build public support for community-based models.
- Phased Implementation & National Reach: Operating at a national level with community-based research across multiple states, the programme will build momentum through fellowships, advocacy labs, policy dialogues, and national campaigns over three years.
Why This Matters
Rehabilitation is not a welfare measure – it is a question of rights, justice and social equity. Systems that exclude survivors from decision-making perpetuate cycles of marginalisation and dependency.
Count Us In challenges this paradigm by asserting that survivors must be recognised as leaders, researchers, and advocates – not passive beneficiaries. By advancing community-based rehabilitation as a policy priority, the initiative seeks to create inclusive systems that enable long-term reintegration, dignity and agency for all marginalised communities.
At its core, Count Us In is a call to reimagine rehabilitation – not as institutional care, but as a pathway to belonging, participation and justice.