The Esther Benjamins Trust or EBT is a charitable organization registered in the United Kingdom. It promotes the rights of children, particularly those from and in Nepal. It is through the work of the Trust that the imprisonment of Nepali children and their parents, as well as forcing them to work in Indian circuses, illegalized. Currently, it aims to end the use of large scale institutions to care for the children, promoting that care should start with the home where rescued children from their first two projects are staying.

Established in 1999 by Philip Holmes in memory of his first wife Esther, the charity’s first projects in Nepal involved the rescue of children from prison. The Prison Children Project rescued innocent kids who have been imprisoned alongside their parents upon whom they were dependent, particularly in the absence of other family members and relatives to look after them. The children were rescued with the consent of their parents and were cared for in the community-based refuges where they were able to acquire education and mingle with their peers. The project inspired major articles in prominent publications such as The Daily Telegraph, The Mirror, The Boston Globe, and The Mail on Sunday, among several others.

Another project that the Trust has become known for is the Circus Children Project. In 2002, one of its partners heard about the trafficking of Nepalese children, forcing them to work in Indian circuses as performers. The Trust revealed the reality behind the ordeal: slavery and extreme abuse inside the circuses which were basically seen as de-factor prisons. In partnership with the Indian and Nepalese authorities, EBT launched a rescue program which became instrumental in the release of about 700 children and youth, with half freed through raids and the other half released by the circuses to avoid negative publicity. About 20 of the traffickers were tracked down and imprisoned.