Sunitha Krishnan and Prajwala

[contemplative]

Sunitha Krishnan

The number of people who are trafficked into the sex trade across international borders is estimated to range from 700,000 to two million each year. And that doesn’t include those tricked or kidnapped within large countries like India. Most victims are inducted into the trade at age 10 or earlier, and many are young girls who are sold into prostitution and sent to brothels in big cities and tourist areas. Those lucky enough to be rescued take months to unlearn the sexualized behaviors and demeanor they’ve acquired, and a significant number are also infected with AIDS as a result of rape or incest.

Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on one woman’s activist efforts – Dr. Sunitha Krishnan, co-founder of the anti-trafficking organization Prajwala — to combat sexual violence and slavery in India and throughout Asia. “The sense that thousands, millions of children have been sexually violated and there’s this huge silence about it, angers me,” Dr. Krishnan explains. “There’s so much desensitization, normalization of exploitation, internalization of trauma … I don’t know what their future is. We just take one day at a time. My effort is to see that their smile is restored every day.”

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Krishnan began working to combat sexual violence in what she says is its most pervasive form – prostitution. After getting a doctorate in social work, she and a Catholic brother, who died in 2005, founded Prajwala, which means “eternal flame.” It is dedicated to removing – she says rescuing – women from brothels. It begins with helping their children. In 1995 she started a school with five children. Today, aside from this boarding school for HIV positive kids, Prajwala runs 17 schools across the city of Hyderabad with 5,000 children.

This story is very inspiring. I wonder about the Catholic brother who helped her found Prajwala.

 

[contemplative]

I’ve found the brother’s name at prajwalaindia.org . I’m guessing that Bro. Vetticatil has died since the founders page was last updated

Bro Jose Vetticatil is an engineer by training. As a brother belonging to the order of Montfort Brothers of St.Gabriel, Bro Jose has been committed to the cause of the deprived for the last 28 years. He has been involved in post-earthquake rehabilitation efforts in Latur. His main contribution has been in the field of technical training for deprived boys. As the Director of Boys Town, a reputed technical training institute for 9 yrs Bro Jose was instrumental in creating a self -sustaining production cum training center.

**As the president of Prajwala, Bro Jose is not only the guiding force behind all interventions but is also the master mind behind all the economic rehabilitation programs. **