Kind Words

Here is what people around the world say about Ruchira. Thank You!

Ashley Judd

On her blog, India journal, March 2007.
http://www.one.org/blog/2007/03/22/ashley-judds-journal-from-india-day-10-790/

“Ruchira is well versed in the reciprocal cycles of poverty and exploitation, and how gender inequality sets the stage. Her NGO is based on two Gandhian principles:  Antodaya ( power to the last wo/man) and Ahimsa( non-violence), and which says so eloquently that the destruction which happens in the soul of an abuser is absolutely equal to the victimization of the abused.She operates the NGO right in the ‘hood,’ inviting anyone to join. They teach their members (who pay 10 rupees to join) self reliance, self efficacy, self respect, self love. It’s capacity building of the most essential sort.” 

Lord David Alton

At House of Lords luncheon ceremony to honour Heroes in the Fight Against Modern Slavery along  hosted by Geneva Global, along with the Templeton Foundation. May 1, 2007,

“The heroes honoured are leaders in their own community. They have personally seen the horrible toll of modern slavery and have taken courageous action to liberate the enslaved and end this scourge that traps as many as 27 million people around the world. Ruchira Gupta founded Apne Aap after winning an Emmy for her documentary “The Selling of Innocents,” which highlighted the trafficking of Nepali girls to brothels in Mumbai.” 

Alex Crawford

Sky News India correspondent in
“Battle for Her Daughter,” Tuesday, April 10, 2007

“Gupta is ferociously tenacious in her commitment to help women caught in the web of trafficking.” 

Sam Brownback

United States Senator, April 19, 2002“

"From the time you testified before a hearing I chaired at the Subcommittee on Near East and South Asian Affairs I have admired your struggle to stop the exploitation of women and children.  The presentation of your documentary The Selling of Innocents and your testimony instilled in the mind of my fellow Senators the pressing battle to protect the 700,000 women and children worldwide, if not more, who are forced into the sex trade every year.  As a result, I introduced legislation that would become the first law in the United States seeking to combat the forcible trafficking of persons for purposes of forced prostitution or other forms of slavery, including trafficking into the United States as well as other countries worldwide.”  

Girija Vyas

Chairperson, National Commission for Women

“Ms Gupta was one of the first activists to expose the link between prostitution and trafficking through her documentary, The Selling of Innocents, on the trafficking of women and girls from the villages of Nepal to the brothels of Mumbai. Ruchira followed-up the story by setting up Apne Aap Women Worldwide in Mumbai with 22 trafficked women. Today it stretches from east to west and has a membership of over 1300 women and children affected by trafficking. Her wealth of experience has made her solutions to tackling trafficking become more innovative. She has helped to shift the anti-trafficking paradigm from one of singly addressing supply to targeting the demand for trafficked sex.” 

Dr Janice Raymond

Co-Executive Director, CATW, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“Ruchira is one of the world’s experts on trafficking in women and children, and her groundbreaking work has had an enormous influence on public awareness about the issue. I think that what has impressed me most about Ruchira’s work against trafficking is that for several years, Ruchira has used her own funds to support many of Apne Ap’s projects.  She is a dedicated activist who, as the saying goes, “puts her money where her mouth is.”  Ruchira Gupta’s work has contributed significantly to placing the issue of trafficking and sexual exploitation on the international agenda.” 

Nicholas Kristoff

Half the Sky, September, 2009

“Ruchira is a hearty, loquacious woman with brown skin, black hair and an infectious manner. She grew up in Kolkata, India – the raucous city formerly known as Calcutta – and worked for many years as a journalist for the BBC, the Telegraph and the Sunday Observer of London, as well as for the U.N. Ruchira came from a prosperous middle-class family with a social conscience and a reverence for Mahatma Gandhi. …Ruchira had strong connections with national police officials and knew the law far better than the police themselves. And Ruchira can be every bit as intimidating as any brothel-owner. …Ruchira Gupta and her staff at Apne Aap are part of a growing abolitionist movement that is forming around the world and having a real impact on sex slavery.” 

Holly Morris

Director, Adventure Divas, PBS.

“Ruchira and the women of the district have been making change against pretty devastating odds.” 

Shirin Ebadi

Nobel Laureate

“It is Ruchira’s tiny NGO that is making a difference in the world. I visited India on the invitation of her NGO, Apne Aap, which works with women and their children who live in red light districts. No government can limit or repress such small organisations.” 

Gloria Steinem

Feminist, November, 2008.

“Ruchira is one of those this-generation feminists who crosses all national boundaries --  She is the daughter of Gandhian parents who started and runs Apne Aap, a series of shelters and job training centers for sex trafficked girls and women in New Delhi, Kolkata, Bihar and Bombay. She also has worked on the Hill in Washington. What is unique about her work is the small group structure that allows women to support and rescue each other. To rescue one prostituted woman is to improve her circumstances and survival, but it is also to leave her shame and feeling of helplessness within her. As with every example of profound transformation from Gandhi's expeiments in living to the civil rights movement in the United States, they help prostituted women to create their own small and continuing groups, and do the same for their children. These groups are the difference between being rescued from the outside, which leaves a conviction of helplessness, and transformed from within oneself through sharing, speaking and supporting strength within each other,”