FROM PROSTITUTION TO PROSECUTION: INDIA’S SCHOOL FOR JUSTICE
We developed the PR strategy for the world’s first School for Justice - empowering survivors of child sex trafficking in India to become lawyers and prosecutors to hold their abusers to account.
In partnership with NGO Free a Girl and the brilliant creative leaders at J. Walter Thompson (now VML), we helped launch a landmark initiative: The School for Justice. Built to confront the horrific realities of child sex trafficking and shockingly low conviction rates in India, this ambitious project involved not only an intricate PR and advocacy campaign, but also the creation of an actual school.
A school to turn victims into justice fighters.
India has the world’s highest number of underage girls in prostitution, an estimated 1.2 million children. Yet, in 2015, only 55 convictions were made. The School for Justice set out to change that: by giving rescued girls a legal education, the initiative empowered them to prosecute the traffickers who once exploited them. This radical, real-world solution not only raises awareness but drives systemic change.
Watch the campaign film here
Launched in Mumbai in 2017, the School for Justice partnered with one of India’s top law universities to offer survivors the support, tuition, and mentorship needed to reach a university. Over five years, these young women study law, with the ultimate goal of becoming public prosecutors - determined to challenge India’s legal system from within.
The School for Justice broke the silence around child prostitution, sparking national debate and drawing global attention.
The campaign achieved extraordinary impact:
Reached over 1 billion people on social media
Generated extensive media coverage in India and around the world
Won the D&AD Black Pencil, Cannes Lions Gold, and the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice, a prize previously awarded to the Dalai Lama and Malala Yousafzai
Changed real lives and brought a taboo subject out of the shadows of Indian society
