• She is HIV positive and lives in a shelter home

• She was rescued from a brothel when she was just nine

• She lived in Sonagachi and witnessed all kinds of abuse around her

Calcutta: All three have got a new life through dance and now they want to add a spring to others' steps.

Survivors of abuse, gender violence and trafficking showed how dance movement therapy (DMT) has helped them travel from self -loathing to self-love at an event hosted by Kolkata Sanved on Saturday. For some, it is also a means of livelihood.

Showing them the way is dancer-activist Sohini Chakraborty who, with a few survivors, has been helping victims recuperate through dance since 2004.

"I believe dance can change lives. I have been experimenting with different victims and community members since 1996. I formed Kolkata Sanved in 2004. We don't teach but facilitate. We help victims express their pain through movement and music. They create their own dance that helps them love their bodies again. The steps don't have to be perfect," said Sohini, the founder-director of Kolkata Sanved.

Many of Sohini's students are now trainers themselves. "I was rescued from a brothel in Mumbai when I was nine, only to be rejected by my own family. I had nothing to look forward to. I could not sleep at night for months. Images of pornographic films we were forced watch at the brothel kept coming back. I hated myself and men too," said the 27-year-old survivor who healed through dance.

A six-month routine that combines music, movements and a chance to share one's pain can help victims regain confidence and start valuing themselves, said a founder member and senior practitioner at Kolkata Sanved.

Dance and empowerment have also helped her work on trust issues, opt for marriage and start a new life.

The organisation works with various support partners in shelter homes, red-light areas, slums, government and NGO-run child care institutions, mental health homes and vulnerable areas in the state and beyond.

"Through dance therapy, we help a victim handle trauma and gain the strength to start afresh. They, in turn, help others heal. Most victims keep their emotions bottled up. The first stage of therapy is assessment of pain, followed by planning. Healing requires around 12 sessions which we design according to the requirement of participants," Sohini said.

Her sessions comprise warm-up, therapeutic movement, relaxation, healing and fun movements besides interactive sessions.

"In the shelter home where I grew up, none could express our feelings. Not even when we were happy. We felt caged. We did not realise our self-worth. I liked to dance. So when didi came to teach us dance movement therapy, I joined in. Soon I found a new vocation and was teaching others," said a Class XII student detected as HIV positive in her childhood.

She is one of the nearly 200 practitioners the organisation has trained over the years. "We are building a community of healers. We hope to give vulnerable women strength," Sohini said.