Apne Aap is an NGO working to end sex-trafficking with grassroots initiatives in India, headquartered in New York, and has consultative status with the United Nations. Founded by journalist Ruchira Gupta and 22 women in prostitution with a mission to create a world in which no child is bought or sold, it has helped more than half a million women and girls out of sexual exploitation. Since 2002 it has:
We are excited to share highlights of our eighth annual The Last Girl Awards, an annual recognition of global grassroots action to eradicate sex trafficking, in partnership with Asia Society. The program pays tribute to individuals who work to build a better world by standing up for The Last Girl—women and children made vulnerable to trafficking because of the intersecting inequalities of their lives. We were honored to have a Keynote conversation with Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee and our honorees actor Mira Sorvino, lawyer William Silverman, human rights leader Jessica Neuwirth, activist and survivor Melanie Thompson, activist Yasmin Vafa, and political trailblazer Margaret Alva. This year’s program was MC’d by South African actress Kaneez Surka. Presenters included Leymah Gbowee, Dorchen Leidholdt, Mona Sinha, Reshma Shetty, and Alexi Meyers.
To see photos from the ceremony, click here.
To see videos of the awards, click here.
What would you do today, if you had to fight for your life tomorrow?
Fourteen-year-old Heera knows she is living on borrowed time when she is expelled from school. There is no food at home and her father wants to sell her into the sex trade. She has no means to fight back until a woman’s rights advocate enrolls her in her Kung Fu class. Through it, Heera learns that her body isn’t an object to be preyed upon, but a vessel to free herself.
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