About Protsahan
Protsahan works at the intersection of child protection, gender, and systems change. Over the past fifteen years, we have strengthened safety, care, and life outcomes for children growing up in contexts of urban violence, poverty, migration, and structural neglect.
Protsahan’s work is intentionally designed around the lived realities of girls, who face earlier, deeper, and more cumulative risks of abuse, exploitation, violence, conflict, and exclusion. Through long-term direct care with girls and large-scale capacity building of caregivers and institutions, Protsahan contributes to child protection systems that are preventive, trauma-informed, and equitable. Protsahan is committed to data, evidence, iteration, and learning. Our work is rooted in the belief that when child protection systems work for the most vulnerable girls, they become stronger for all children.
Protsahan works with adolescent girls and young women from historically marginalized communities in Delhi’s slums, with a focus on migrant Dalit, Adivasi, Muslim, and Bahujan populations. Over 15 years, Protsahan has developed a globally recognised H.E.A.R.T. model (Health, Education, Art, Rights, and Technology), a trauma-informed framework that supports girls in reclaiming agency, building leadership, and creating systems-level impact through peer-led interventions.
How It All Began
While on a film shoot in 2010, Protsahan founder Sonal Kapoor met a young woman who had six daughters and was pregnant with her 7th child. On being asked about her circumstances, the woman narrated in a matter-of-fact way that she was ready to strangle her newborn if it was a girl once again. She also spoke of sending her 8 year old daughter to an unorganized brothel so that she could feed the rest of her family.
Within the hour, the idea of starting a unique creative school had started taking shape. Three weeks later, after a small feasibility study in the area, Protsahan started as a one room creative arts and design school in one of the darkest slums of the country, in the heart of the capital city New Delhi to rescue that one child, and many more like her from systemic, intergenerational poverty and abuse. Since 2010, Protsahan has supported over 96,000 survivors in Delhi’s urban slums – enabling them to break intergenerational cycles of begging, child marriage, child labour, and child sexual abuse. 97% of Girl Champions have successfully completed Class 12 or higher despite the adversities they have faced.
In the coming decade, 2020-2030, we aim to impact the lives of 1 million at-risk children through strategic on-ground direct impact and collaborations.
Purpose
To stop violence against children in all forms and heal children from the trauma caused by it.
Vision
To impact 1,000,000 children by 2030 and make the world a safe place for them by eradicating all forms of violence and abuse.
Mission
Reimagining futures for girls lost in a cycle of childhood adversity & violence by working on Education, Health & Gender Justice through Art & Technology based innovative approaches.
Team
