1 week Ago By Ardhra Nair
Pune: "There are fights over Aurangzeb's tomb, but where is the outrage when six-month-old girls are raped or five-year-olds are forced into prostitution? We hold candlelight marches and move on. How have we become so tolerant of such crimes?" asked Sunitha Krishnan , social crusader and founder of Prajwala Foundation at an event in the city on Wednesday. She was delivering a lecture apart from discussing her autobiography, I Am What I Am.
The event was jointly organised by Pune International Centre (PIC) and Anjani Mashelkar Foundation. At just four feet six inches, Sunitha Krishnan's legs barely touched the floor when she sat on the dais. Yet, when her speech ended, she seemed to tower over everyone else in the auditorium.
Speaking with striking clarity, purpose, and righteous anger at society's inaction against sex trafficking , Krishnan's voice resonated powerfully through the room. The audience listened to her in rapt attention only to break into thunderous applause from time to time. In a hard-hitting address, Krishnan condemned society's complicity through silence, stressing that abuse thrives when people ignore it within families, institutions, and workplaces.
With the global sex trafficking industry valued at $150 billion, she urged people to stop making excuses and take action, no matter how small. She cited the example of a cycle rickshaw puller who donated Rs 11 daily to Prajwala for 20 years, proving that change is possible regardless of one's means. "Skills, money, attitude — there's always a way to help," she said, urging the audience to spread awareness against sex abuse even in family WhatsApp groups.
Krishnan shared the tragic story of a 13-year-old girl who was trafficked by her brother-in-law, was moved through multiple cities, endured nine abortions by the age of 16, suffered severe cervical damage, multiple sexually transmitted infections, and HIV. "At 19, as she lay dying of AIDS, she made one request: ‘Use my photograph in your speeches. Let my story prevent others from suffering my fate.
' Her plea turned her from a victim to hero," she said. Krishnan was gang raped when she was 15. She faced violent attacks and opposition, including surviving attempts on her life 17 times and losing an eardrum to one such attack.
Through Prajwala, she said she built the world's largest therapeutic community for survivors, rescuing 30,100 victims and preventing 17,000 children from entering prostitution. Her advocacy shaped national policies, led to cybercrime reporting systems, and pushed tech companies to crack down on online exploitation. Half of her 200-person team consists of survivors working under the motto: "I want to be the last girl who has been trafficked.
" She stressed that zero tolerance for sexual crimes is the only way forward. "If you do nothing, you are willingly propagating this crime," she warned. Krishnan's parting message was clear: One person alone cannot change the world, but collective action can.
Silence enables abuse — speaking up can end it..
