SERVICE SPOTLIGHT
Photo by Bernard Henin
Sayuri is 17 years old.
She was born into a family of the Nat community, whose women are forced into intergenerational prostitution.
Her mother died when Sayuri was just 13 years old. Her sister and aunt have been prostituted. She said it seemed inevitable for them, and for her.
Sayuri was sold into prostitution when she was fourteen. Since then, was sold and re-sold three times to different pimps. Every day, she was prostituted to three different men. On top of this, Sayuri was regularly sexually assaulted by her pimp and his friends. He controlled her with extreme violence.
This would have continued for years, even decades. But Sayuri got lucky. Sayuri was rescued from her abusers by Apne Aap.
They gave her food and safe shelter in the girl’s hostel. With Apne Aap’s help, Sayuri enrolled in school.
The teachers say she is a fast learner.
When she is not studying, she takes Karate classes, which are offered as part of Apne Aap’s after school programming. Sayuri wants to earn her black belt, and become a Karate instructor.
She wants to help other girls protect themselves, and become strong, just as she is doing.
SPRING 2019:
Apne Aap children enjoying their new Mobile Library Van
WINTER 2018:
In preparation for the harsh winter, Apne Aap donated over 300 blankets to
Rohingya refugees in camps around New Delhi.
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE NOW:
SIGN THIS PETITION: ENSURE FAIR TRIAL FOR KATHUA RAPE CASE
Lawyer Deepika Rajawat on her way to court
Witnesses and lawyers representing the 8-year-old Muslim girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Kathua, India, this year, are being attacked and intimidated, as the trial unfolds.
We need to put a stop to this!
Join Apne Aap and Equality Now to ask Prime Minister Modi to ensure that justice is not denied in this case!
Despite the brutal nature of the crime committed by powerful men against an innocent child, some groups are running media campaigns and holding rallies in support of the perpetrators and attacking the lawyers and witnesses. They have politicized the case by presenting it falsely as a case against the Hindu community. They are even hounding the entire nomadic community of Bakarwals that the little girl belonged to.
Some police officers (who are now co-accused in the case) also tried to destroy evidence of the crime. Attempts have been made to physically prevent the charges against the accused rapists being filed in court.
Despite an increasing number of rape cases being reported every day, survivors of sexual violence struggle to get justice within the Indian legal system. Between 2015 and 2016 alone there was an 82% spike in reported rapes of children. Another 133,000 rape cases were pending trial in the same year.
Please sign the petition and raise your voice to demand a fair and impartial trial in the Kathua case, so that the family of the 8-year-old gets justice. Insist that the Modi government take immediate action to stop the intimidation and to address the larger systemic problem of sexual violence within the country.
Thank you.
Ensure justice for the victim by signing here
Ask India to include “Sexual Exploitation” in Trafficking Law
We end sex-trafficking by preventing
inter-generational prostitution.
Apne Aap provides education, legal support, gov’t IDs and access to welfare as well as to income generating programs to at-risk and prostituted women and children.
