Arpan, a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the field of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) prevention and intervention, stepped into its 20th year, it used its Annual Review event in the city to reflect on two decades of work aimed at creating safer environments for children while outlining an ambitious roadmap for expanding its reach through government-led systems.
Themed "Dare to Dream," brought together the NGO's funders, partners, board members and advisors to review its impact over the past year and discuss the next phase of its journey. Since its inception, Arpan has reached over 20 million individuals through direct programme delivery, training initiatives and systemic interventions, making it India's largest NGO exclusively working on child sexual abuse prevention and healing.
Pooja Taparia, founder and CEO of Arpan speaking at the event |
A major focus during 2025-26 was strengthening its cascading training model through government teachers. During the year, the organisation has trained over 47,000 individuals, who in turn trained 9.98 lakh children and adults in personal safety education. The organisation noted that every teacher trained over the past three years has, on average, carried personal safety messages to 13 children and parents, creating a tenfold cascade that significantly expands the impact of a single intervention.
Apart from the cascading model, Arpan directly delivered Personal Safety Education (PSE) sessions to 24,659 children and adults. It also expanded its reach through digital learning platforms, making its curriculum accessible beyond areas where it has a physical presence. The organisation also reported progress on the policy front. Its PSE content has been integrated into the grade 5 NCERT Urdu textbook, while Arpan has been invited to serve as a National Resource Person for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's updated Peer Educator Module. Its safety messages have also been incorporated into Telangana's Adolescent Safety and Empowerment Programme and shared with parents across hundreds of schools through Andhra Pradesh's Mega PTM 3.0 initiative.
Beyond prevention, Arpan continued to provide support to survivors of child sexual abuse through psychotherapeutic services, working with 1,276 cases involving children and adults with lived experiences of abuse. In partnership with the Juvenile Justice Board, the organisation also worked with 267 Children in Conflict with Law, focusing on building empathy, accountability and respect in an effort to interrupt cycles of harm.
Public awareness remained another key pillar of its work. During the year, Arpan spearheaded the seventh edition of Child Safety Week under the theme #POCSOPakadLega, a campaign that directly addressed offenders with the message that those who sexually abuse children will face legal consequences. Supported by government bodies, corporate partners, schools and NGOs, the campaign reached an estimated 165 million people.
Speaking at the event, Pooja Taparia, founder and CEO of Arpan, said the organisation's experience over the past two decades has strengthened its belief that CSA can be prevented through awareness and education. "Over the last two decades, our journey has reinforced a simple but powerful belief: CSA is preventable. The scale we have achieved, coupled with evidence from our independent evaluation, shows that when children, parents, teachers and institutions are equipped with the right knowledge and skills, they can play a transformative role in prevention and early response," she said.
Taparia added that Arpan now aims to move "from scale to systems" by partnering with governments and institutions to embed PSE into structures that touch every child's life, with the long-term goal of creating an ecosystem that is informed, responsive and equipped to keep children safe.
The annual review also featured speakers including Sangeeta Mehrotra, Principal of Shri Inderadepsingh International School; Ashish Samarth, Principal of Sheth Babanrao M. Padwal Vidyalay (English Medium Secondary Section); Akshay Bangera, Key Accounts Group Owner for Maharashtra and Goa at TCSion; and Jean D'Mello, lawyer at Majlis, who shared their experiences of partnering with the organisation.
Looking ahead, the organisation said it plans to strengthen a government-led model for child sexual abuse prevention and first-line response by working through government cluster coordinators to take personal safety education to children in the remotest parts of the country.
Twenty years after beginning with a single awareness session and the conviction that child sexual abuse is preventable, Arpan believes the evidence gathered through its work has reinforced that belief. As it enters its third decade, the organisation says its focus is on ensuring that every child grows up in an environment that is informed, responsive and equipped to keep them safe.
