Prince Andrew is working to save vulnerable women in India.

After allegations he slept with a ‘sex slave’ were struck from court records.

Prince Andrew recently denied allegations that he slept with a ‘sex slave’ in America and has had the accusation wiped from court records. Now, he has launched an organisation that help women in slavery in Calcutta, India.

The organisation is called Key to Freedom and its aim is to give women from brothels, or affected by sex work, child labour and human trafficking a new life. The Duke’s work has helped over 100 women already. The women are taught how to make handmade garments and with the sale of each item a payment is made directly to the woman who made it.

He was inspired to launch the initiative straight after visiting a girls refuge when he was in India. It took him less than an hour to come up with the idea. As soon as he visited a home run by the Women’s Interlink Foundation he donated  £10,000 for the first bale of silk the women would work with.

His initiative comes just months after allegations emerged about the Duke being involved in an inappropriate relationship with American ‘sex slave’ Virginia Roberts. She had been working for an American billionaire (known to Prince Andrew), Jeffrey Epstein when she alleges she was forced to have sex with him at 17 years old. The allegations have now been wiped from court records.

The Duke spoke exclusively to The Daily Mail and told them, “I was incredibly impressed with the work of the Women’s Interlink Foundation during my Diamond Jubilee visit to India in May 2012.”

He continued to explain that he’s proud to have helped the organisation bring their products to the United Kingdom.

“I could see that it would be possible to complement [founder and chairman] Aloka Mitra’s important work in supporting vulnerable young women to develop a skill to become economically active by helping find a route to market for their products. It is incredible to see what the team has achieved,” he told The Mail.

His work is relevant as India has the 5^th biggest modern slavery population in the world according to the Global Slavery Index. The index says that around the world there are an estimated 35.8 million men, women and children trapped in modern slavery. Gina Dafalia, Head of Communications for the Walk Free Foundation told iVillage that India accounts for almost half of these people.

“The problem there is also really diverse. You’ve got many people in all the traditional forms of slavery. These tend to be people from the lower class,” she says. “They’re born in to slavery effectively.”

Dafalia told me that there are entire villages in India that live this way, and they just don’t know anything different.

“There’s every form of slavery found in India, it’s a huge problem. We would welcome any efforts from anyone tackling these initiatives,” she says.

At the Walk Free Foundation, Dafalia says, “we do quite a lot of things.” Ultimately what they try to do is put the issue of slavery on the political agendas and business agendas of the world.

What is so interesting is people’s perception of slavery today. Dafalia tells me that people think it is something that was abolished years ago and it’s a historical problem (not a current problem), which is absolutely not the case. So awareness is vital.

She says celebrities have had a big influence on shining light on these issues and have a very important role to play.

“It depends on the situation and the person, as long as they are doing it to benefit the people who need it most and not for personal benefit then it’s really vital,” she says.

So the work that Prince Andrew is doing is extremely relevant, and will make a big difference to the lives of women in India. Many are hailing him a hero.

What do you think of Prince Andrew's work in India?

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