Rashmi Anand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Occupation | writer and activist |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Genre | prose and poetry |
| Subject | domestic violence |
| Notable awards | Nari Shakti Puraskar (2015). |
Rashmi Anand is an Indian activist and writer concerned about domestic violence. The President of India awarded her the Nari Shakti Puraskar. This is the highest award for women in India. She founded the "Woman of the Elements Trust" which supplies support to victims of domestic abuse in Delhi.
Anand was brought up in Kolkata and her work took her to Delhi where her parents arranged a marriage with a successful lawyer in the city. Her parents wanted her to stick at the language despite having to go to hospital due to injuries her husband had caused. [1]
Anand suffered physical abuse from her husband for ten years. They had two children together and when she finally decided to leave the marriage she left with her six year old child who was not speaking due to the stress. [2] She did not press charges against her husband due to the threats that he made but she did win the custody of their children. This story was the basis of her first book. [1]
The 2010 Delhi Police Calendar was based on her first book. [3]
She founded the "Woman of the Elements Trust '' which supplies free legal and emotional support to victims of domestic abuse [2] at the Crime Against Women Cell in Delhi. [4]
In 2014 she received the Neerja Bhanot Award for her courage from Shabana Azmi for "her courage and bravery". The award is given with 150,000 rupees annually in memory of the heroic flight attendant Neerja Bhanot. [4]
She was awarded one of the first eight Nari Shakti Awards for her leadership and achievement in 2015. [5] The award was made on International Women's Day from the then Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. [6]
Anand has written thirteen books. Her life story has been covered by the Indian TV show Satyamev Jayate . An issue of Chicken Soup for the Soul, includes her life story under the title "Awakening". [3]
The Neerja Bhanot Award is an award of recognition conferred up to once a year by the Neerja Bhanot-Pan Am Trust in India to a woman of that country subjected to social injustice, who faces the situation with grit and determination and extends help to other women in similar distress. The annual Neerja Bhanot Award was instituted in 1990 and named in honour of Senior Flight Purser, Neerja Bhanot, who saved hundreds of lives while sacrificing her own, during the Pan Am Flight 73 hijack at Karachi Airport (Pakistan), in September 1986. It carries a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh, a citation and a trophy.
The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is the highest civilian honour for women in India, and is presented by the president of India on International Women's Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The award was instituted in 1999 under the title of Stree Shakti Puraskar, renamed and reorganised in 2015. It is awarded in six institutional and two individual categories, which carry a cash prize of 200,000 and 100,000 rupees, respectively.
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