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Prevent Under-Age Prostitution with Skill Building
Winner
2003-0283
Mongolian Youth Development Centre (MYDC)
Mongolia
$ 121530
Services for the Poor
Social Development
2003
Mongolia's transition to a market economy has experienced dramatic societal changes. Fleeing abuse, an alcoholic parent, or neglect, many girls run away from home and end up the streets, only to encounter crime, violence and exploitation. Girls living on the street are especially vulnerable to unwanted sexual relations, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Moreover, they are often forced into prostitution. Prostitution is not tolerated in Mongolian society, and national legislation prohibits it. However, the problem persists.
Objectives:
To keep poor, young girls from becoming sex workers by teaching them gardening skills that will enable them to provide for themselves.
Rationale:
Mongolia's transition to a market economy has experienced dramatic societal changes. Fleeing abuse, an alcoholic parent, or neglect, many girls run away from home and end up the streets, only to encounter crime, violence and exploitation. Girls living on the street are especially vulnerable to unwanted sexual relations, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Moreover, they are often forced into prostitution. Prostitution is not tolerated in Mongolian society, and national legislation prohibits it. However, the problem persists.
Innovation / Expected Results:
The project will teach some 100 low-income families how to grow, conserve, and cook uncommon vegetables. Each family is expected to harvest 800 kg of vegetables in favorable weather and soil conditions. As a result, these families will improve their health and overall nutrition, develop a new attitude toward work, and achieve a certain degree of self-reliance and confidence through their achievements. In each family, girls who are at-risk of leaving home and falling into a life of prostitution, will receive life skills training as well as health services and education. Thirty girls will be mainstreamed into public school. There are no programs like this in Mongolia, which address the problem of prostitution of under-aged girls within poor families.