The story
Notes to My Father
The story
Notes to My Father
Notes to my father
From Kadiri, the so-called “trafficker’s stalking grounds” of Andhra Pradesh, Ramadevi was trafficked to a brothel in Maharashtra.
She had been married off by her father, Kullayappa at the age of just 13. Kullayappa felt that marriage was the only way to keep his daughter safe from the environment of the brick kiln where they lived and worked.
Though they are close now, Ramadevi and her father have never spoken about what happened to her as a teenager. “The truth would kill him”, Ramadevi says.
Kullayappa, like most fathers whose daughters are trafficked in India, didn’t know that his decisions could lead to his daughter being trafficked. Once she was gone, he did everything he could to get her back.
Notes to My Father explores the love, pain and reconciliation between a father and his trafficked daughter. In coming to terms with the role her father played in her perennial story, Ramadevi points to very real solutions for preventing sex trafficking of her daughter and of the next generation.
Preventing Sex Trafficking
Every 3 minutes an Indian girl is sold into sexual slavery. My Choices Foundation is leading the movement to prevent this.
Preventing Sex Trafficking
Every 3 minutes an Indian girl is sold into sexual slavery. My Choices Foundation is leading the movement to prevent this.
This story tells the truth about trafficking, but casts hope for how we can find solutions in prevention. Like most fathers, Kullayappa just wanted the best for his daughter. If he had known that keeping his daughter safe meant keeping her at home, in school, and investing in her future, she would not have been trafficked.
Together, Ramadevi and Kullayappa’s story does more than just make us aware of the horrors of trafficking - it teaches us what we can do to prevent it. We can help girls stay safe and shape their futures. My Choices Foundation is leading the movement in India to end sex-trafficking through prevention.
The Film
A VR film with a purpose, Notes to My Father is the result of a passion for research combined with a passion for story telling.
The Film
A VR film with a purpose, Notes to My Father is the result of a passion for research combined with a passion for story telling.
The Research
Understanding Trafficking
My Choices Foundation has conducted award winning research into the compulsions of male behavior that drives the supply and demand of sex trafficking. Close to 90% of Indian parents have no idea what fate awaits their daughter when a trafficker makes promises of a bright future in the city. In almost every case of sex trafficking, the father makes the decision to let his daughter go because he is trying to live up to expectations of his community, his family, and his pride. Our research won the ESOMAR Paper of the Year award.
+ive messaging
How to get results
The father’s perspective is of critical importance when addressing sex trafficking, but how do you speak to fathers? Our research indicates that the most powerful motivator to encourage behavior in fathers that benefits their daughters is the aspiration of being a “good” father. By affirming the innate good in fathers, their desire to do good for their families and villages, and encouraging them to make choices - even in difficult circumstances - that benefit their daughters equally, we believe we can mitigate his vulnerability to being tricked by traffickers.
A real father
The power of a real story
There is no better way to speak to fathers than by telling the story of another real father and daughter, torn apart by trafficking. By showing understanding for the predicaments rural fathers are in - the poverty and vulnerability, the expectations on him, the lack of awareness of danger - and acknowledging his perspective, we include the decision maker in the conversation, rather than alienating him.
To educate India and the world on trafficking, a real survivor’s story must be shared.