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  • Sunitha
  • "Being selected as an honoree, has given me a platform to make the voice of the voiceless known to the world...a space where I am more empowered to continue my mission."
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About Sunitha :
More About MeWhile studying psychiatric social work in college, Sunitha Krishnan, Ph.D., acquired a fervent desire to save and to better the lives of the oppressed children in India. And, fourteen-years-ago, at age twenty, she began to make strides to undo the tight network of sex-offenders that continues to flourish to this day, an industry that enslaves and exploits hundreds of thousands of children. A study of the major cities throughout India revealed that nearly one million children under 18 have been sold, tricked, or kidnapped to work in the dangerous brothels of the red light districts. A majority of women over 18, who had been rescued from prostitution, were trafficked as children. Krishnan decided to take matters into her own hands and created an organization called Prajwala, which means eternal flame. Prajwala's programs account for every aspect of the rescue and rehabilitation of victims of child exploitation. Krishnan works with a complex association of informers who have infiltrated the prostitution industry to detect and identify when children who are being trafficked. Once the children are rescued, Prajwala provides a home for them, where they can be reunited with their parents who often stay to support them during the rehabilitation process. There they are surrounded with everything necessary to reintegrate them into society including therapy, education, vocational training, and practical essentials such as government housing and ration cards. In addition, many who come to Prajwala suffer from HIV and are given medical and psychological treatment. As soon as the children move back out on their own, they are connected to reintegration programs on the local level to prevent them from being victimized again. To date, over 5000 children have been helped through Krishnan's efforts to obliterate the exploitation industry. Her example has impacted other red-light districts throughout South Asia, where the government has begun to facilitate a state rescue policy. She has also spread international awareness, by contributing to numerous documentaries including Anamika-The Nameless, which won the Action Cut International Film Festival award for Best Foreign Film in De Cine Granada. For more information, please visit www.prajwalaindia.org.
Sunitha Krishnan, Ph.D: Health Award
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Last Login: Jun 12, 2008
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2006 World of Children Award Honoree
Prajwala

prajwalaindia.org

"Prajwala is an anti-trafficking organization working for the welfare of women and children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. As prostitution is a form of sexual slavery, Prajwala believes in preventing women and children from entering this trade. Prajwala works with the conviction that, to break the walls of learnt helplessness that a victim of sexual exploitation develops, a multi pronged approach is necessary"


Perdita Huston Human Rights Award

perditahustonaward.com

'Through her organization Prajwala - 'an eternal flame' - Sunitha and her team are raising awareness about human trafficking in India, rescuing and supporting trafficked women and children, and ultimately working to end human trafficking itself.'


http://www.perditahustonaward.com/profiles/sunitha.html
ASHOKA

ashoka.org


'Sunitha Krishnan is making it possible for India's government and citizen organizations to manage jointly a range of protective and rehabilitative services for children who have been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation.'

http://ashoka.org/node/2645