Sunitha Krishnan literally rescues girls from sex slavery.
She is the founder of the Indian NGO Prajwala which both physically removes girls from sexual bondage and provides social, medical and psychological support for their rehabilitation.
She’s been beaten. She’s been jailed. But nevertheless she persists.
And as she tells me in our conversation what motivates her in this dangerous work is anger. And that anger stems from her own experience with sexual assault at the age of 15, when she was the victim of a gang rape.
I met Sunitha Krishnan in June in Yerevan, Armenia where she was being recognized for her heroic work by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. She was one of three finalists for the 2018 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. And though she did not end up winning that award (it went to a Rohingya human rights lawyer named Kyaw Hla Aung) her work in the slums of India certainly gained wider attention.
Sunitha Krishnan is a true hero and it was an honor to get to know her.
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