A grassroots movement
to end sex trafficking
Hard Facts
Female literacy rate in India is 53.67%
National Literacy Mission, Government of India
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Our work
- 150 self empowerment groups of women survivors of trafficking in Delhi, Bihar and West Bengal. These self empowerment groups are small social and economic cooperatives that run cooperatives that run canteens, sell groceries and manufacture craft...
- 854 children from red-light areas accessing education through community classrooms, girls's hostels and high schools and leaning art, mime, karate...
- 1,909 police officers have been trained to investigate buyers and traffickers and protect victims...
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Our approach
We work to end sex trafficking altogether and not just to mitigate its circumstances . We do this by enabling women and girls to form small self empowerment groups that help that rescue themselves and transform their communities. We do not accept that slavery and prostitution are inevitable. -
Discussion in Focus
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A Call to India to End Demand for Sex-Trafficking...
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Apne Aap aims for both societal and legal change. Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex is a campaign that enlist both men and women to put pressure on the Indian Government for the enactment of the proposed Section 5C of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA). This amendment will shift the burden of criminalization from women and girls in prostitution to the men who buy sex and the pimps who profit from violent exploitation.
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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...
News
- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joins our "Cool Men Don't Buy Sex" campaign by wearing a wristband in Kolkata, India
- Apne Aap organizes rally for Araria's sex workers to demand security for women
- 11-member team led by feminist icon Gloria Steinem and including philanthropy icons Peter and Jennifer Buffet spent time learning about Apne Aap approaches
- To mark the tenth anniversary of Apne Aap, Gloria Steinem – activist and writer, speaks on “Feminist Approaches to Combating Sex-trafficking and Prostitution” at the Social Sciences Auditorium ,JNU, New Delhi on 2nd April.
- Ruchira was awarded the Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award for Social Lifetime Achievement
- Ruchira felicitated by Loreto School, Kolkata
- Ruchira honoured with Times Now & Mahindra Rise’s Amazing Indian Award under Stree Shakti Category
- Apne Aap launches Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex campaign in Kolkata
- Ruchira honoured by the consortium of NGOs with Karmaveer Purashkar
- Ruchira Addresses Students at IIT Delhi
- Apne Aap Women Worldwide Celebrates National Girl’s Rights Day
- Apne Aap and Equality Now launch new short film
- "Symbiosis college students in India take Shapath-Pedge to work with Apne Aap to end human trafficking."
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Testimonials
- Ashley Judd, Actress/Activist:
"Ruchira Gupta 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 self reliance, self efficacy, self respect, self love. It’s capacity building of the most essential sort."
- Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn, Authors,"
Half the Sky":
"Ruchira is a hearty, loquacious woman with brown skin, black hair and an infectious manner… 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."
- 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."
