Every year, millions of children across the globe face sexual abuse and exploitation. Children may be subjected to sexual abuse at home, at school, in their community, or their neighbourhoods. The increasing use of digital technologies can also put them at a higher risk of being sexually abused online.

To address this widespread issue, Ms Pooja Taparia, Founder & CEO at Arpan, commenced her journey, 15 years ago, towards eliminating Child Sexual Abuse in India. With a small team of 2 members, Arpan began conducting awareness sessions with parents, teachers, and adults on Child Sexual Abuse. 2 years onto this journey, in 2008, Arpan was registered as a trust and has been unstoppable ever since. Arpan has received numerous national and international awards and accolades for our qualitative work in a difficult area of Child Sexual Abuse through these years.

Although the initial few years were all about building a strong foundation, in 2013, we went digital by launching our website and also published several resources like a research report on ‘An Analysis of Media Reportage on Child Sexual Abuse’, a handbook called “My Personal Safety Workbook”, a book on “Understanding Child Sexual Abuse: Frequently Asked Questions”, and an instructional manual for “Teaching Personal Safety Education for Grade 5”.

While everything was moving digital, in 2018 we launched our digital learning platform www.arpanelearn.com to reach out to millions of children and adults and engage with them to create a safe, abuse-free environment for children. 2018 indeed was a year of significant achievements when celebrated actress Vidya Balan joined as Arpan’s Goodwill Ambassador. While we received great support, appreciation and love from external stakeholders, Arpan Warriors voted Arpan as a Great Place to Work. 

The year 2019, was that of innovation. We launched the first Child Safety Week campaign, a people-led movement to raise awareness and encourage collective action towards addressing the issue of Child Sexual Abuse.

Year on year, we grew not only as an organisation but also in the impact we have been able to make on millions of individuals. So far, Arpan has impacted 1.6 million lives through programmes and catalysed thousands of heart-warming stories of change. We also had a reach of 27 million or 2.7 crores through varied media. 

We would like to thank all our co-travellers, current and past employees, board members, advisors, partners, supporters and donors who have helped us achieve these milestones. And most importantly to all the thousands of children who have humbled us and motivated us. We hope to reach and impact 300 million more in India and globally in the next 15 years and to help create a world that is free from Child Sexual Abuse. 

Here’s a playlist of 6 videos from our CEO, Board Members, Advisors, Donors, Partners and Employees to celebrate 15 years of Arpan. Come let’s take a trip down memory lane.