One great lady who deserve a salute, Dr. Sunitha Krishnan.
Sunitha was born in Bangalore, India. She has committed her life as a full-time volunteer in a Non Profit Organisation called Prajwala. She co-founded Prajwala (eternal flame) in 1996 with Brother Jose Vetticatil, a Catholic missionary who died in 2005. The journey began by converting a brothel in India’s southern city of Hyderabad into a school for the children of sex workers. Prajwala's work ranges from anti human trafficking operations, rescuing minors from the claw of forced sex trade, rehabilitating them, educating sex workers and their children, and spreading awareness.
Coming to her own personal life, at the age of 15, Sunitha was gang-raped by eight men.
Though violated, she refused to be broken and she gave birth to an institution that assists trafficked women and girls in finding shelter.
Measuring no more than four feet and six inches (140cm), Krishnan today is perhaps one of the tallest figures of hope in contemporary India.
Since then, she has braved threats and physical assaults - one particular attack left her with an irreparably damaged ear - but an undaunted Krishnan has managed to rescue some 8,000 girls. Those rescued are rehabilitated through vocational training, jobs and marriage.
Sunitha decided when she was young that she wanted to help the poor children of her village, so she went to college to become a social worker. One day as she was organizing the village so that she could teach them, a gang of 8 men did not like that a woman was interfering with what they claimed as "man's society." Sunitha then explains that the rape did not cause her to become a victim but rather has released this anger. Not just any anger but pure fury. She dedicated her life after that to being an activist to fight against the same thing that happened to her.
In "Half the Sky" she says, "What affected me more was the way society treated me, the way people looked at me. Nobody questioned why those guys did it. They questioned why I went there, why my parents gave me freedom. And I realized that what happened to me was a one-time thing. But for many people it was a daily thing"
In India alone, over 200 thousand women and children are inducted into the flesh trade every year. Economic hardships coupled with the prevailing status of women in society, and changing public attitudes towards sex and morality creates the context for the flourishing of this modern-day form of slavery. A disturbing fact is that the age of the children is progressively declining to meet the male demand for younger prostitutes. There is a widely held belief that sex with children, especially virgins, will cure sexually transmitted diseases and prevent one from contracting HIV/AIDS. One of every four victims rescued from prostitution is a child, and 60% of these children are HIV positive.
In her own words:
Half of you will not even accept a rape victim as a domestic help! How do I talk about any rehabilitation?
In this patriarchal society, women are stereotyped. We are used as objects to satisfy men. There has been a need of one class (men) to be more powerful over women. This is where the problem begins.
Let us write about men who commit such heinous crimes. Let us be curious to know who the rapist is and what his background is, instead (of finding out about the victim).
How can we celebrate sex among children?(India’s western state of Rajasthan is witness to a ritual "Akha Teej", considered to be the most auspicious day for marriages.Allegedly, on this day, child marriages are solemnised to protect the chastity of a girl upon the attainment of puberty.)
With this story of Sonu, let's hope that some day, the society would see sex workers as victims not criminals.
**PRAJWALA INDIA**
Sunitha was born in Bangalore, India. She has committed her life as a full-time volunteer in a Non Profit Organisation called Prajwala. She co-founded Prajwala (eternal flame) in 1996 with Brother Jose Vetticatil, a Catholic missionary who died in 2005. The journey began by converting a brothel in India’s southern city of Hyderabad into a school for the children of sex workers. Prajwala's work ranges from anti human trafficking operations, rescuing minors from the claw of forced sex trade, rehabilitating them, educating sex workers and their children, and spreading awareness.
Coming to her own personal life, at the age of 15, Sunitha was gang-raped by eight men.
Though violated, she refused to be broken and she gave birth to an institution that assists trafficked women and girls in finding shelter.
Measuring no more than four feet and six inches (140cm), Krishnan today is perhaps one of the tallest figures of hope in contemporary India.
Since then, she has braved threats and physical assaults - one particular attack left her with an irreparably damaged ear - but an undaunted Krishnan has managed to rescue some 8,000 girls. Those rescued are rehabilitated through vocational training, jobs and marriage.
Sunitha decided when she was young that she wanted to help the poor children of her village, so she went to college to become a social worker. One day as she was organizing the village so that she could teach them, a gang of 8 men did not like that a woman was interfering with what they claimed as "man's society." Sunitha then explains that the rape did not cause her to become a victim but rather has released this anger. Not just any anger but pure fury. She dedicated her life after that to being an activist to fight against the same thing that happened to her.
In "Half the Sky" she says, "What affected me more was the way society treated me, the way people looked at me. Nobody questioned why those guys did it. They questioned why I went there, why my parents gave me freedom. And I realized that what happened to me was a one-time thing. But for many people it was a daily thing"
In India alone, over 200 thousand women and children are inducted into the flesh trade every year. Economic hardships coupled with the prevailing status of women in society, and changing public attitudes towards sex and morality creates the context for the flourishing of this modern-day form of slavery. A disturbing fact is that the age of the children is progressively declining to meet the male demand for younger prostitutes. There is a widely held belief that sex with children, especially virgins, will cure sexually transmitted diseases and prevent one from contracting HIV/AIDS. One of every four victims rescued from prostitution is a child, and 60% of these children are HIV positive.
In her own words:
Half of you will not even accept a rape victim as a domestic help! How do I talk about any rehabilitation?
In this patriarchal society, women are stereotyped. We are used as objects to satisfy men. There has been a need of one class (men) to be more powerful over women. This is where the problem begins.
Let us write about men who commit such heinous crimes. Let us be curious to know who the rapist is and what his background is, instead (of finding out about the victim).
How can we celebrate sex among children?(India’s western state of Rajasthan is witness to a ritual "Akha Teej", considered to be the most auspicious day for marriages.Allegedly, on this day, child marriages are solemnised to protect the chastity of a girl upon the attainment of puberty.)
With this story of Sonu, let's hope that some day, the society would see sex workers as victims not criminals.
Sonu’s family condition was poor, as her parents were daily wage earners. Seeing their daily struggles for survival, she often felt like helping her family. One day she met a lady who offered her a garment factory job in Pune. Without giving a second’s thought, she travelled with her to the city, hoping to earn money for her parents. To her shock, upon arrival Sonu was handed over to a brothel where she was forced to do prostitution. Although she was rescued two months later and kept in a government home, she escaped to continue helping her family and returned to prostitution by her own will. She also brought her sister to join her in Pune. Finally they were caught in a raid at a hotel and were sent through court order to Prajwala.
**PRAJWALA INDIA**
