Nobel Peace Laureate, Shri Kailash Satyarthi, has embarked on a historic Bharat Yatra to spearhead the fight against child trafficking and child sexual abuse across the country. The Yatra will pass through 22 states covering 15,000 km and union territories over 35 days. The Yatra was flagged off from Kanyakumari in the south on September 11, from the Vivekananda Memorial, commemorating the anniversary of the great leader's address in Chicago in 1893. The Yatra would stretch across western India. In the eastern part of the country, the yatra would be lead from Guwahati, while the northern stretch would be flagged off in Srinagar. The culmination of the Yatra will be in the national capital New Delhi on October 15-16, 2017.

Kailash Satyarthi has been campaigning for the freedom, safety, and security for children across the globe for the past 36 years. He has led the historic 'Global March Against Child Labour' in 1998 that prompted the International Labour Organization (ILO) to pass international conventions against the worst form of child labour, in addition to the Shiksha yatra in 2001, after which the Right to Education was included as a fundamental right in the Constitution of India. As a prolific thought leader, he has been playing a catalytic role in influencing social and political policies of India. He won the Nobel Peace Prize (2014) for his continuous efforts and struggle for the rights of children. Announcing the Bharat Yatra with the parents of the survivors, Shri Kailash Satyarthi said, "Today, I declare a war on child sexual abuse and trafficking. Today I am announcing Bharat Yatra, the biggest movement in history to make India safe again for children. I refuse to accept that the innocence, smiles, and freedom of our children can keep getting stripped and raped. These are not ordinary crimes. This is a moral epidemic haunting our nation and the world. I refuse to accept and let perpetrators go free and fearless while the victims continue to live in fear. We cannot accept this. We have to break our silence as a nation. We have to raise our voice, unite as a nation, to stop this menace. We should create a society where daughters and sons feel free to walk, talk, feel free to share with their parents if anything goes wrong in their life. If relatives and family members are committing a crime against the child, it should be brought to light. We should not leave any stone unturned. This is a war I want to fight."

As the architect of some of the largest civil body movements for a cause in the last four decades, Mr Satyarthi's lifelong mission is to eradicate all forms of violence against children. Mr Satyarthi and his foundation Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF) have been preparing the ground for several months to launch the Yatra in September 2017. As part of this groundwork, Mr Satyarthi has travelled the length and breadth of country meeting citizens, faith leaders, employees and corporates, parliamentarians, social organizations, among others, all of whom have pledged their wholehearted support to the Bharat Yatra, terming it as a necessary fight for our country to embark on and a noble cause to work towards.

He met parliamentarians in Delhi to apprise them of the issue of child trafficking and child sexual abuse and seek their support in spreading the awareness against the menace. He has been meeting with several faith heads in New Delhi and across the country to ensure that the fight permeates all sections of society, pan-India. Bharat Yatra is the launch of the three-year campaign against child rape and child sexual abuse which is aimed at increasing awareness and reporting of the cases, strengthening intuitional response, including medical health and compensations, ensuring protection for victims and witnesses during trials, and increasing convictions of child sexual abuse in a time bound manner.

The launch also saw families of victims of trafficking and abuse who narrated the emotional and physical trauma they had to endure because of the misdeeds of a few. The families pledged their support hoping that it would bring about the revolution the country needs to sustain its fight against the exploitation of children.

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