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Ruchira Gupta is a journalist and activist. [1] She is the founder of Apne Aap, a non-governmental organisation that works for women's rights and the eradication of sex trafficking. [2]
Gupta began her career as a journalist, working for The Telegraph Newspaper (Kolkata, India), The Sunday Observer (Kolkata, India), Business India Magazine (Delhi, India), and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) South Asia (Delhi, India). During her journalism career, she extensively covered women's rights, armed struggles in the north-east of India, caste conflict, and minority issues. She continues to write extensively on sex trafficking and women's rights issues for Open Democracy, Pass Blue, CNN, Times of India, The Hindu, The Guardian, among others.
She then moved on to the United Nations, where she worked with the governments of Iran, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Kosovo, and the Philippines. She supported some of these countries to develop National Action Plans and laws against human trafficking. [3] She has written two manuals on combating trafficking for law enforcement and prosecutors, supported by UNODC and UNIFEM. Gupta also served as a UNICEF contact in October 2000 for the first-ever gathering of Messengers of Peace (Goodwill Ambassadors). [4]
Her publications on trafficking include:
After completing her documentary, The Selling of Innocents, Ruchira founded Apne Aap Women Worldwide, where she has served as President since 2002. Through her work at Apne Aap, Gupta has given voice to the voiceless by organizing victims and survivors from denotified tribes (labeled criminal tribes by the British), who are trapped in inter-generational prostitution, into Self-empowerment groups. [6] Through these groups, women and girls access education, livelihood training, legal protection and safe housing; and also campaign for changes in the Indian Law. Gupta's leadership in organizing women to campaign for legal change resulted in trafficking being made a penal offense for the first time in Indian history, through the Criminal Law Amendment Act. [7]
Her work in organizing denotified tribes has resulted in two red-light areas in Forbesgunge, Bihar shrinking from 72 brothels to 15 brothels, and 17 to one. Gupta continues to ensure women are able to transform their places of exploitation into safe spaces for education, job training, loan access and legal protection. Along with staff from Apne Aap, Gupta petitioned on behalf of survivors of trafficking to the Patna High Court to take action against traffickers and protect victims. On 10 March 2013, a notice was issued by the court to the Bihar government to report back on actions taken against trafficking. Apne Aap has also challenged police corruption and is campaigning for police reform after a staff member from the Nat Denotified Tribe was wrongfully arrested after exposing a trafficking ring. Apne Aap continues to campaign for police reform across India. They also appealed to the National Human Rights Commission of India to challenge police atrocities against Apne Aap staff members who are from denotified tribes.
As part of Gupta's activist career, she also organizes Survivor Conferences and produces the Redlight Dispatch, a newspaper written by and for victims and survivors of prostitution. She has addressed the UN General Assembly two times., [8] [9] the UN Security Council once, and the UN Human Rights Council once to advocate for policies and mechanisms to support victims of trafficking. Her leadership in this area was referenced by feminist activist, Catharine MacKinnon, in her speech: Trafficking, Prostitution and Inequality. [10]
Gupta has testified before the United States Senate, advocating for the passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and lobbied with other activists at the United Nations for the U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. This resulted in the first U.N. effort to address demand for trafficking . [11] [12]
Ruchira Gupta has helped more than 20,000 girls, women and their family members in red-light areas and slums of India in the last 12 years. through her NGO Apne Aap. Her work is featured by Nick Kristof in 21st Century Slavery in New York Times, in his book Half the Sky. Lucy Liu has directed a movie Meena on Ruchira rescuing a girl in Bihar based on Kristof’s report. Gloria Steinem has blogs about Ruchira's Work in a-constant-battle-against-the-sale-of-bodies-in-bihar in the New York Times . You can watch a conversation between Gloria Steinem and Ruchira at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January this year.
Earlier, Ruchira worked with Hillary Clinton and her aides for the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act by testifying to the US Senate and recommending draft language that would positively and realistically help victims and survivors. She was a member of the first Global Advisory Council of Vital Voices set up by Mrs. Clinton.
Later she helped create the first UN Protocol to end sex-trafficking as well as the Trafficking Fund for Survivors at the United Nations by addressing the UN General Assembly on behalf of survivors and taking a panel of survivors to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York alongside Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillai.
She has opened groundbreaking avenues within India for survivors to communicate their ideas by rallying their voices for the successful passage of Section 370 .IP.C India’s first law on trafficking after the infamous bus rape in Dec, 2012.
Apne Aap has embarked on an exciting South-South anti-trafficking partnership with NGOs in South Africa, USA, France and Nepal by exporting its model of community organising and for the "last" girl. She has spoken before the South African, Iceland and French Parliament to put into place stricter mechanisms to prevent trafficking in women and girls.
Her Ted Talk and a PBS documentary, Adventure Divas, explain how and why she reaches the "last" girl who is poor, female, a teenager and person of low-caste/colour, marginalized ethnicity who cannot take any decision for herself-to be married or go to school, to play or help with chores, to be prostituted or be a domestic workers, to have a baby or not…
Gupta strives to educate the next generation of activists on best practices in combating trafficking. In this respect, she has designed modules on understanding, and tackling, human trafficking for Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.[ citation needed ] Since 2012, she has designed and taught courses at New York University's Center for Global Affairs on "Movement Building around Sex Trafficking".[ citation needed ] Ruchira also teaches courses on modern day slavery at Seton Hall University.[ citation needed ]
In 2009, Gupta was the recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen Award for Commitment to Leadership in Civil Society by the Clinton Foundation, established by Bill Clinton, former President of the United States. [13] In 2010, she was chosen to serve as a member of the organization's leadership program, known as CGI Lead. President Clinton created the program to recognize and educate the next generation of global leaders and prepare them to effectively address and take action on the world's most pressing issues. Young leaders chosen from throughout the world include corporate executives, public servants, social entrepreneurs, and NGO managers from among the public, private, and civil sectors.
In 2007, Gupta was honored with the Abolitionist Award by the House of Lords, which is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. [14] Her documentary The Selling of Innocents, on sex-trafficking in Nepal and India, won a News & Documentary Emmy Award in 1996.
Gupta sat on the Steering Committee for the Planning Commission of the Government of India for the Eleventh and Twelfth Five-Year Plans, once for Women and Children and once for Social Welfare. She was also on the working group of the Ministry of Women and Children. She has served on the advisory boards of Asia Society, New York, Cents for Relief, US, Nomi Network, US, Ricky Martin Foundation, and Vital Voices, Washington DC. Gupta has been honored at the White House for her work to combat sex trafficking.
In 2011 Lucy Liu released her 20-minute directorial debut on human trafficking, Meena, which tells the story of a rescue mission to help a young woman save her daughter from the cycle of the sex trade. [15] Meena Haseena was sold to the sex trade by her uncle at the age of 8 years old, and this film portrays her alliance with Ruchira Gupta and their effort to rescue her daughter from the brothel she only recently escaped herself. Her fight to save her daughter Naina, who had been taken from her at birth, and forced into prostitution is the heart of this film and is based on the first chapter of the book Half the Sky, written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
In 2012 Ruchira Gupta was featured in the documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide premiering on PBS October 1 and 2. The series highlights women and girls living in oppression who are bravely fighting to challenge it. The Half the Sky PBS TV series is produced by Show of Force along with Fugitive Films.
On 25 September 2014, Ruchira Gupta was honored among 35 other women by the All Ladies League (ALL) in Delhi for their various achievements. The ALL is the country's first all-women chamber which held its Grassroots Women of the Decade Achievers Awards. [16]
On 8 March 2015, Gupta gave the keynote speech at the NGO Committee on the Status of Women New York (NGOCSW/NY) Forum at the Apollo, [17] to commence the start of the UN CSW 59 Consultation Day. On the following day, she was awarded the 2015 NGOCSW/NY Woman of Distinction Award [18] for her tireless efforts to end sex trafficking by emphasizing the link between trafficking and prostitution laws and lobbying policy makers to shift blame from victims to perpetrators.
Documentaries that Gupta has worked on include:
She also contributed to the scripted film Meena: Based On A True Story, Lucy Liu, Colin K. Gray, and Megan Raney, 2011.
Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery.
Rachel Elizabeth Lloyd is a British anti-trafficking advocate, author and the founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. She is known for her work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking and has been a leader in helping shift the perception of trafficked girls from criminals to victims and now to survivors and leaders. She immigrated to the US in 1997 and began working to end domestic sex trafficking, primarily focusing on addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women. In 1998, she established the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, which is based in Harlem, New York.
Prostitution in Paraguay is legal for persons over the age of 18, but related activities such as brothel keeping are prohibited. Prostitution is common in the country. Brothels are also common, even some rural villages have a small bar/brothel on the outskirts.
Prostitution in the State of Palestine is illegal, under Palestinian law.
Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or other forms of commercial sexual exploitation. It is considered a serious violation of human rights and a form of modern slavery. Efforts to combat human trafficking involve international laws, national policies, and non-governmental organizations.
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is a nonfiction book by husband and wife team Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, published by Knopf in September 2009. It is also a 2012 PBS documentary based on the book. The book argues that the oppression of women worldwide is "the paramount moral challenge" of the present era, much as the fight against slavery was in the past. The title comes from a famous Mao Zedong quote "women hold up half the sky", although the authors cite it only as a "Chinese proverb".
Afghanistan is one of the source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Trafficking within Afghanistan is more prevalent than transnational trafficking, and the majority of victims are children. In 2005 the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) reported 150 child trafficking cases to other states. Afghan boys and girls are trafficked within the country and into Iran, Pakistan and India as well as Persian gulf Arab states, where they live as slaves and are forced to prostitution and forced labor in brick kilns, carpet-making factories, and domestic service. In some cases the boys and girls were used for organ trafficking. Forced begging is a growing problem in Afghanistan; Mafia groups organize professional begging rings. Afghan boys are subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor in the drug smuggling industry in Pakistan and Iran. Afghan women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution, arranged and forced marriages—including those in which husbands force their wives into prostitution—and involuntary domestic servitude in Pakistan and Iran, and possibly India. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) report that over the past year, increasing numbers of boys were trafficked internally. Some families knowingly sell their children for forced prostitution, including for bacha bazi - a practice combining sexual slavery and child prostitution, through which wealthy men use harems of young boys for social and sexual entertainment. Other families send their children with brokers to gain employment. Many of these children end up in forced labor, particularly in Pakistani carpet factories. NGOs indicate that families sometimes make cost-benefit analyses regarding how much debt they can incur based on their tradable family members.
Barbados is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Some children in Barbados were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in “transactional sex” wherein a third party such as a parent received a benefit from the child's participation in sexual activity. Researchers identified patterns of transactional sex within families, most often by adult male caretakers such as step-fathers, as well as child prostitution outside the home. Women from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Jamaica voluntarily entered Barbados as illegal migrants, and some expected to engage in prostitution. Some of these women were exploited in forced prostitution subsequent to their arrival. Some other foreign women who entered the country illegally were exploited in involuntary domestic servitude in private homes. Foreign men have been transported to Barbados for the purpose of labor exploitation in construction and other sectors. Sex traffickers, primarily organized criminals from Guyana, formed partnerships with pimps and brothel owners from Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, and lured women to Barbados with offers of legitimate work. Trafficking victims tend to enter the country through legal means, usually by air; traffickers later used force and coercion to obtain and maintained the victims' work in strip clubs, massage parlors, some private residences, and “entertainment clubs” which operate as brothels. Traffickers used methods such as threats of physical harm or deportation, debt bondage, false contracts, psychological abuse, and confinement to force victims to work in construction, the garment industry, agriculture, or private households.
In 2009, Papua New Guinea was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Women and children were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude; trafficked men were forced to provide labor in logging and mining camps. Children, especially young girls from tribal areas, were most vulnerable to being pushed into commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe. Families traditionally sold girls into forced marriages to settle their debts, leaving them vulnerable to involuntary domestic servitude, and tribal leaders trade the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage. Young girls sold into marriage were often forced into domestic servitude for the husband's extended family. In more urban areas, some children from poorer families were prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels. Migrant women and teenage girls from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines were subjected to forced prostitution, and men from China were transported to the country for forced labor.
Human trafficking in Nepal is a growing criminal industry affecting multiple other countries beyond Nepal, primarily across Asia and the Middle East. Nepal is mainly a source country for men, women and children subjected to the forced labor and sex trafficking. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.
In 2009 Mozambique was a source and, to a much lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. The use of forced and bonded child laborers was common in rural areas of the country, often with the complicity of family members. Women and girls from these rural areas were also lured to cities with promises of employment or education, as well as to South Africa for involuntary domestic servitude and forced prostitution. NGO's reported that Mozambican victims of sex traffickers were taken by traffickers to "training centers" in Eswatini and South Africa in preparation for an expected increase in demand for prostitution during the 2010 World Cup. Young Mozambican men and boys were subjected to conditions of forced labor in South African farms and mines; they often labored for months in South Africa without pay and under coercive conditions before being turned over to police for deportation as illegal migrants. Mozambican adults were subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution in Portugal. Women and girls from Rhodesia and Malawi who voluntarily migrate to Mozambique continued to be manipulated by traffickers into forced prostitution and domestic servitude subsequent to their arrival. There were an estimated 145,600 people living in slavery in Mozambique and countless more being taken unwillingly into South Africa.
Ecuador ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2002.
Prostitution in Kyrgyzstan has been legal since 1998, but the operation of brothels, pimping, and recruiting persons into prostitution are illegal, with penalties of up to five years There are estimated to be 7,100 sex workers in the country. Prostitution occurs on the streets, in bars, hotels and brothels.
Natasha Falle is a Canadian professor at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who was forcibly prostituted from the ages of 15 to 27 and now opposes prostitution in Canada. Falle grew up in a middle-class home and, when her parents divorced, her new single-parent home became unsafe, and Falle ran away from home. At the age of 15, Falle became involved in the sex industry in Calgary, Alberta.
Priya's Shakti is a graphic novel by Ram Devineni and Dan Goldman, Illustrated by Sid Fini, Melanconnie and Faebian Ceruleo, whose heroine, Priya, is a "modern-day female superhero", a rape survivor. Who rides a flying tiger. Issued in 2014, it was followed by Priya's Mirror (2016), Priya and the Lost Girls (2019), “Priya and the Wolves” (2020), “Priya and the Swarm” (2021), “Priya and the Twirling Wind” (2022), and “Priya and Sahas” (2023).
Missing Link Trust is a nonprofit organization that uses art and educational campaigns to raise awareness and prevent child sex trafficking. Their work includes public sculpture installations, stencil campaigns, the interactive video game Missing: Game for a Cause, and the interactive online comic Web of Deceit - A missing and trafficking casefile. The organization was awarded the 2021 Stop Slavery Campaigns Award from the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Sex trafficking in Cambodia is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Cambodia is a country of origin, destination and transit for sex trafficked persons.
Sex trafficking in Japan is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the country. Japan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.
Sex trafficking in East Timor is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
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