Media Articles

Please Contact Asha Jayaraman at asha@apneaap.org or call at +9111-46015940

Letters from the heart
‘Launched on October 2, 2006, Red Light Despatch serves as a mouthpiece for women who are brought together by Apne Aap, an NGO that works for sex workers.’

Indian Express, 05-Jul-09
Film fest on human trafficking kicks off in city
‘To mark Women’s Day, the American Center in collaboration with an NGO Apne Aap Women Worldwide organised a two-day film festival, Of Inhuman Bondage, which kicked off on Thursday.’

Indian Express, 06-Mar-09
Sex in the City: Human Traficking Kathmandu Post – Selling of Innonence
‘During the late 1990s, journalist-turned-activist Ruchira Gupta went to the brothels of Mumbai to make a documentary about sex trafficking, the award winning and extremely harrowing 'Selling of Innocents'. She says she had never before seen anything like the type of human exploitation that she encountered in the city's red light district. In response, she started an initiative called Apne Aap to help women and children who had been sexually exploited

Colin Todhunter, 04-Mar-09
‘Criminalising the client will cause prostitution to drop by 80%’
‘Catharine MacKinnon has been a major influence on the evolution of the law on gender discrimination, as also on pornography and prostitution as forms of violence against women. She was recently in the capital with Ruchira Gupta, president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide which works with women in prostitution. MacKinnon spoke out forcefully in favour of amending the present Indian Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act which, at present, favours the client and criminalises the prostitute.’

Rashme Shegal, InfoChange, Feb-09
Indian sex worker magazine brings community together
‘"Red Light Despatch" is a monthly publication written by and distributed for free to sex workers in the most populous red light districts of India. Health workers and a few journalists have also stepped in to help with the magazine. It is not a pity publication about broken dreams and sadness, but a vehicle of hope with stories and poetry and tools for advocacy. Six months into the project, the success of the publication has encouraged the women to think bigger and has led to talk of a widely distributed multi-lingual magazine.’

Ruslan Valeev, National Sexuality Resource Centre, 27-Feb-09
On The Ground – Your comments on Sunday column
‘One way to help is to support particular groups that are active in this area. I’ve mentioned Somaly Mam’s foundation, which is a leader in Cambodia. I’d also strongly recommend reading Somaly’s memoir, “Road of Lost Innocence.” In India, one of the leaders in this effort is Apne Aap’

Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, 03-Jan-09
Int’l groups say child migrants’ rights ignored worldwide
‘Ruchira Gupta of Apne Aap Women Worldwide said that undocumented child migrants are in danger of being kidnapped, robbed, abandoned, sexually abused, exploited, and trafficked.’

Webmaster, HatNews, 06-Nov-08
Keynote address to the United Nations General Assembly
‘Listen, for example, to the indomitable Ruchira Gupta. A woman who managed the exceedingly difficult undertaking of escaping a brothel found Ms Gupta and her anti trafficking NGO, Apne Aap: This woman needed help getting out her 9 year old daughter, born in the brothel and already put to work in sex. Ms Gupta pulled off a successful raid, only to have a judge put the little girl in a truant home, deem the mother unfit due to her life as victim of human trafficking, and declare the pimp the girl’s father. Ms Gupta used all her smarts and resources to reverse this abomination. Mother and child are reunited and safe, thanks to Apne Aap’s dedication and brilliance. Hear the success stories, study how they succeeded, and share best practices, and measurably reverse human trafficking of all types. How dare you now.’

Ashley Judd, Nov-08
Indian activist bemoans modern-day slavery at US conference
‘Noted anti-trafficking activist Ruchira Gupta, the founder president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide--a grassroots Indian organization--of women and children involved in the flesh trade, told a White House conference on October 28 that thousands of young girls continue to languish as slaves and prostitutes in India but that her organization offers hope for these children through a model that can serve as a template for other cultures as well.’

Rediff News, 30-Oct-08
Indian Activist Speaks on Slavery at Whithehouse
‘Gupta, who won an Emmy for 'The Selling of Innocents,' her documentary film on human trafficking, has worked with UN agencies in various capacities to develop international standards to combat trafficking and assist countries to develop national action plans against trafficking.’

Sify News, 29-Oct-08
Indian sex workers pen their thoughts
‘A monthly magazine by and for sex workers, Red Light Despatch is a mouthpiece of Indian women trapped in prostitution. Started by an NGO working on human trafficking, the publication covers an array of topics from torture and harassment to poetry to advocacy related articles.’

Chandana Banerjee, OneWorld South Asia, 29-Oct-08
Diwali: Spotting the Festival in the U.S
‘Ruchira Gupta, president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a New Delhi-based NGO that fights prostitution, talked about Diwali, among other issues at a White House non-Diwali ceremony.’

Saja Forum, 28-Oct-08
Stories from sex workers
‘It was Red Light Despatch, a monthly magazine by and for sex workers, which sliced through the drudgery and despair and offered her a sliver of hope. “When I spoke about everything that had happened to me, I felt a sense of healing. It gave me the confidence and courage to escape from the place,” she says.’

Chandana Banerjee, The Hoot, Media and Gender, 26-Oct-08
Prostitutes don’t have the right to say no to unprotected sex
‘The Ministry of Women and Child Development will raise issues surrounding women trafficking at the Lok Sabha this month, but for Ruchira Gupta, it’s an issue that she has long been campaigning for. The president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, Gupta feels that Indian laws have double standards.’

Poulome Goshi, Kolkata Mirror, 16-Oct-08
NGO demands trafficking law be amended
“Section 8 of the ITPA makes soliciting at a public place a punishable offence. But prostitutes are forced to do so by the pimps. As a result, the women are arrested by the police and punished for a crime that they never committed,” said Ruchira Gupta, Executive Director, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a group working for distressed women.’

Express India, 17-Aug-08
Launch of Apne Aap’s Resource Book
‘Remarks by Mr. Gary Lewis, Representative, UNODC South Asia, at the launch of Apne Aap's Resource Book "Confronting the Demand for Sex - Trafficking" on 1 August 2007, New Delhi, India’

UNODC, 02-Aug-08
An inside story of trafficking in women
’Authors Ruchira Gupta and Ruchi Sinha, in a handbook titled ‘Confronting the Demand for Sex Trafficking: A Handbook for Law Enforcement’ point out that while victims of sex trafficking are put though the criminal justice system, the perpetrators are allowed to go scot-free.’

The Hindu, 01-Aug-08
Rahul Commiserates with Bihar’s trafficked women
‘At his first stop at Araria Wednesday during his two-day visit to the state, Gandhi interacted with the women and girls of the maginalised Nutt community in a programme organised by self-help group Apne Aap Women Worldwide.’

Sulekha News Hopper, Indo Asian News Service, Jul-08
Girl power confronts the demand for sex-trafficking in India’s red-light areas
‘Over the course of Apne Aap's existence, it has created a community for victims and survivors of sex trafficking. This community has been able to stand up to local police and demand more fair treatment because of its organization.’

Eileen Suffian, Changemakers, 17-Jun-08
All the world’s her stage
‘Bobbi Ausubel, a drama therapist, artistic director of the TTO organization and contributor to 'That Takes Ovaries!', has joined TTO efforts in India. She works with Mira Kakkar and Apne Aap Women Worldwide (A2W2), an NGO with community centres in Mumbai, Forbesgunge (Bihar), Kolkata and Delhi. The A2W2 was founded by Emmy award-winning journalist Ruchira Gupta whose film 'The Selling of Innocents' documents the lives of women in prostitution. Ausubel has travelled twice to India at Gupta's invitation to work in centers where sex trafficking and prostitution take place and where women are particularly vulnerable.’

Elayne Clift, Boloji.com, 01-Jun-08
India: The Demand for Sex Trafficking: Holding Commercial Sex Buyers Accountable
‘Groups including Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a survivor-led organization that began in 1998 as a community-based initiative of women in prostitution in the red light area of Mumbai, have been advocating for the proposed changes’

Women’s Action 30.1, Equality Now, May-08
US Consulate in pact with NGO to stop women trafficking
‘The consulate is collaborating with Apne Aap Women Worldwide to launch this anti-trafficking campaign among prospective migrants.’

The Financial Express, 01-May-08
Campaign against women trafficking launched
‘The US consulate in Kolkata in collaboration with Apne Aap Women Worldwide is planning to launch an anti-trafficking campaign among prospective migrants to United States.’

Express India, 01-May-08
Reporting back from Rajasthan
‘Ruchira Gupta, and her organization Apne Aap – which combats sex trafficking and the exploitation inside prostitution – welcomed us to the opening of a school in a red-light district on the outskirts of Delhi’

Adventure Divas, 25-Mar-08
By the community, for the community
‘‘Gloria Steinem, the celebrated feminist writer who was in Kolkata recently for an anti-trafficking programme with the NGO Apne Aap Women Worldwide, said: “In my experience they (trafficked girls) are there even in Sonagachi; you can see from their faces that they are underage though they claim to be adults.” She also objected to the term ‘sex worker’ as it is “dangerous” to regard prostitution as “work.” Ruchira Gupta, director, Apne Aap, and maker of the award-winning film Human Trafficking also feels that DMSC’s claim of stopping underage or unwilling girls in sex work is not correct.

HIV/AIDS Information Gateway, Info Change, Feb-08
Exclusive: Girls Sold Into Sex slavery
‘At meeting to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the UK's slave trade, campaign group Apne Aap warned that the problem is alive and well in India. Ruchira Gupta, the group's founder and director, told Sky News: "The numbers are growing every year and the ages of the victims are going down each year.’

Alex Crawford, Sky News, 27-Feb-08
Ruchira Gupta - Muckraker
‘Typically, when a journalist digs up that ultra-compelling story, she takes a year off, writes a book and moves on. Instead, Ruchira Gupta rolled up her sleeves and stuck around to help the women and children enslaved in Mumbai’s brothels. And that’s where you’ll find her today, embroiled in the spirited chaos that is Apne Aap (On Our Own).’

Adventure Divas, 13-Jan-08
Gloria Steinham slams government for shunting out Taslima
‘At a programme held at American Centre today, organised jointly by Apne Aap Women Worldwide, the firebrand feminist also said that 20 per cent of the “clients” of the Indian sex market are from the USA…’

Statesman News Service, 18-Dec-07
Decriminalise women and children to end trafficking: Steinmen
‘Steinem, who is the founder of Ms. Magazine, and a member of National Women's Political Caucus, was speaking at a seminar on 'How Women Confront the Demand for Human Trafficking: Insights into Slavery and Emancipation' organised by anti-human trafficking organisation, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, at the American Centre here Monday.’

Indo Asian News Service, 18-Dec-07
It’s easier to get girls than drugs
‘Ruchira Gupta, founder of anti-trafficking NGO 'Apne Aap' which co-hosted Steinem, advocated that the proposed amendment to the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act should include provisions for charging criminal cases against pimps and penalization and rehabilitation of sex buyers…Gupta, who had played a direct role in the passage of the UN protocol on Trafficking, said that although there was a worldwide movement against trafficked sex, the only way to address the problem was to create deterrents to the demand.’

Express India, 17-Dec-07
Trafficked women now have a happy tale to tell
‘The organisation has now spread to Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar and West Bengal, reaching out to almost 4,800 women, girls and children, and has set up five anti-trafficking units in red light areas and slums. Apne Aap Women Worldwide, which employs 100 people has a community centre in the red light areas and slums of these states.’

Business Standard, Corporate Social Responsibility, 04-Dec-07
Paper Shines Bright Light Into India’s Brothels
‘In 1997 she started Apne Aap Women Worldwide to organize them, opening an office in Kamathipura. Apne Aap--"By Myself" in Hindi--started with 22 members and today boasts 5,200 members in six centers of prostitution across four states and is now headquartered in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. The advocacy group is supported by United Nations agencies and receives national and state government assistance, providing a small budget for the Red Light Despatch.’

Swati Saxena, Women’s eNews, 30-Nov-07
Human Trafficking Biggest After Arms and Drugs
‘At a recent seminar organised by an NGO Apne Aap Women Worldwide (A2W2), Supreme Court lawyer Aparna Bhatt said…’

Express India, 14-0ct-07
Red Light Despatch is India’s first magazine produced by prostitutes for prostitutes
‘The magazine is the freshly-minted Red Light Despatch, India’s first monthly publication exclusively by and for sex workers.’

Notebook on Sexwork, 11-Sep-07
Demand and Supply Principle Applies to Sex Trade: Study
‘Between 100,000 to 200,000 women and children are trafficked in India every year for sexual exploitation, says Ruchira Gupta, Executive Director, Apne Aap worldwide that has been reaching out to children and women in prostitution’

Nath Tripti, Tribune, 05-Aug-07
Apne Aap Women’s Collective
‘‘Addressing their problems and supporting them to get proper health care and to manage their money in microsavings accounts, Apne Aap chooses to attack the problem from a much wider angle. It provides a creche facility for the toddlers of the women and educational faciltites like after schooltuitions and vocational training for their older daughters. This way they try to ensure that second generation prostitution is prevented...and so far... this "Sparrow' Programme with the young girls has been 100% successful.’

Ridhi D’Cruz, Humans for Humanity Blog Spot, 05-Aug-07
A New Voice from India’s Red Light Districts
‘Once again a project spearheaded by Indian diva Ruchira Gupta has made international news. This time, it's not just her red-light district non-profit Apne Aap that's getting the attention, but the organization's publication, The Red Light Despatch.’

Adventure Divas, 02-Aug-07
Police told to see prostitutes as victims
‘“Hundreds of thousands of victims are invisible and are kept in captivity and have no access to any justice system whatsoever," said Ruchira Gupta, director of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a local charity working against human trafficking.’

Reuters, India, 01-Aug-07
Magazine for prostitutes sheds red light on ‘frightening world’
‘An exclusive magazine for prostitutes is offering a snapshot of life in some of India’s biggest brothels, reporting on the murky world of pimps and violent customers and showcasing the dreams and talents of sex workers. Red Light Despatch, a monthly publication, is full of the stories of women sold to brothels as children, personal accounts of harassment, poems and essays by prostitutes, book and film reviews and advocacy articles.’

Irish Examiner, 31-Jul-07
Magazine for Indian prostitutes
‘There have been sex worker 'zines in the United States, but Red Light Despatch is a new prostitution monthly published in Mumbai, India. Edited by sex workers, health officials, and two former journalists, the Despatch runs personal stories about life as a prostitute, poetry and essays, reviews, and advocacy articles. The newsroom is inside a brothel.’

BoingBoing, 30-Jul-07
New magazine targets prostitutes
‘"Red Light Despatch," a monthly publication, is full of emotional outpourings of women sold to brothels as children, personal accounts of torture and harassment, poems and essays by prostitutes, book and film reviews and advocacy articles.’

CNN, 30-Jul-07
The Red Light Despatch
‘every self-respecting community in this world communicate with his members and with the rest of the people through a piece of paper… Why shouldn’t it be the same, then, for the people who run the world oldest business, the prostitutes? They probably have a lot to exchange, a couple of crazy and tragic stories to tell and the pressing need to share their experience with someone else. In India the “Red Light Despatch” is putting this idea into practice…’

Biagio Rampante, Bennetton Talk, 30-Jul-07
Sex slavery crisis with India too
‘"This is a challenge to India's contention that it is both democratic and modern," said Ruchira Gupta, founder of the anti-trafficking group Apne Aap Women Worldwide. "In this day and age, when democracy is supposed to exist in India.’

Katherine Sayre, Los Angeles Times, 24-Jul-07
Sex Trafficking in India
‘So here’s an update. Ruchira Gupta, head of a first-rate anti-trafficking group called Apne Aap, helped Meena rescue Naina and has been trying to keep her alive. Ruchira is now visiting New York, and she says that Naina has finally gotten out of the hospital and is getting counselling. Lots of Times readers sent checks to Ruchira for Apne Aap…’

Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, 11-May-07
UK award for anti trafficking activist Ruchira Gupta
‘Gupta sits on the Indian Planning Commission's steering committee and is part of a working group of the women and children ministry. She was even honoured at the White House for her work to combat human trafficking. Gupta was one of the "five heroes" to be honoured Tuesday in the fight against modern-day slavery, human trafficking and its effects. The awards were presented at a parliamentary luncheon hosted by its presenters Geneva Global, Lord Alton of Liverpool and the John Templeton Foundation.’

Web India, 03-May-07
World Cannot Sit By And Watch
‘At meeting to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the UK's slave trade, campaign group Apne Aap warned that the problem is alive and well in India. Ruchira Gupta, the group's founder and director, told Sky News…’

Alex Crawford, Sky News, 02-May-07
The 21st century slave trade
‘They received help from a terrific anti-trafficking organization called Apne Aap (http://www.apneaap.org/), run by a former journalist named Ruchira Gupta. Ms. Gupta covered trafficking and was so horrified by what she found that she quit her job and devoted her life to fighting the brothel owners.’

Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times, 22-Apr-07
Day 16
‘We traced our steps back and entered Apne Aap Worldwide, a very grassroots anti-trafficking NGO (non-governmental organization). 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: Ahimsa, and the one that says so eloquently that the destruction which happens in the soul of an abuser is absolutely equal to the victimization of the abused.’

Ashley Judd’s journal from India, One vote, 16-Apr-07
Battling For Her Daughter
‘Gupta is ferociously tenacious in her commitment to help women caught in the web of trafficking’

Alex Crawford, Sky News India, 10-Apr-07
Girl Rescued from brothel
‘‘A desperate Gupta, who heads "Apne Aap Women Worldwide"(A2W2) — an NGO working in red-light areas — called up advocate general P K Shahi to seek his intervention in the matter.’

Times of India, 16-Mar-07
The long arch of traffick menace
‘The Immoral Traffick Prevention Amendment Bill is pending in Parliament. “The women and children welfare department is under pressure from the health ministry, which in turn is under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry,” says Ruchira Gupta, whose documentary on the trafficking of Nepali women into Mumbai brothels was path-breaking and who now runs Apne Aap Foundation, one of the NGOs in the march. The result, says Gupta, is a system that is putting more money into condom sales and shelters, rather than prevention of trafficking.’

The Telegraph, Calcutta, 11-Mar-07
Activist, journalist, feminist and woman – Gloria Steinham
‘“The worldwide human trafficking network is bigger than what existed during slavery," said Ms. Steinem, who is in the country to see some of the initiatives of "Apne Aap" that works for women involved in prostitution.’

P Anima, The Hindu, 01-Mar-07
Blog
“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.”

Ashley Judd, India Journal, Mar-07
Despatches from the trafficked
‘NGO newsletters often come to a dead end. They remain a “discourse” within the NGO circuit, hardly reaching out to the people they are about. Red Light Despatch, says Gupta, is translated into Hindi and Bengali, to ensure that it is read in the community of its contributors. “It’s often read out. That’s why the Hindi and Bengali translations.”

The Telegraph, Calcutta, 11-Dec-06
Fighting for the ‘right not to be a prostitute’
‘I used to be a journalist and during one assignment when I was travelling in Nepal I came across rows of villages that did not have women aged between 14 and 45. So I began to ask 'Where are the girls?'…’

Kathambi Kinoti, Women’s News Network, 26-Sep-06
Film on trafficking and lost childhood
‘The field producer of the documentary, first aired on Channel 4 in the UK a few months ago, is Emmy award winner Ruchira Gupta… The premiere coincided with the launch of a book, The Place Where we Live in is Called a Red-light..’

The Telegraph, 25-Sep-06
Film on trafficking and lost childhood
‘This real-life case and hundreds of others like it is the subject of an eye-opening documentary, Land of Missing Children, which had its all-India premiere here today. The 23-minute film focuses on the trafficking of underage girls from villages near Siliguri to red-light areas of Mumbai and Calcutta. The field producer of the documentary, first aired on Channel 4 in the UK a few months ago, is Emmy award winner Ruchira Gupta. Its reporter is Sam Kiley and its director Claudio von Planta, both associated with Channel 4.’

The Telegraph, 25-Sept-06
West Bengal Minister Releases Book At Anti-Trafficking Program Siliguri
‘The book, The Place Where We Live Is Called a Red-Light Area was written by children of prostituted women living in Calcutta’s red-light areas. The book launch was given a further impetus with the premier of a documentary, Land of Missing Children, produced by Emmy-award winning filmmaker and founder of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, Ruchira Gupta.’

U.S. Departent of State, Kokata, India, 24-Sept-06
Reality is a brutal picture
‘The speaker is a 14-year-old girl in a workshop, one of a series organized by Apne Aap Women Worldwide for children living in the red-light areas of Kalighat and Sonagachchi.... Their essays, stories and mercilessly vivid drawings, put together in The Place Where We Live is called A Red-Light Area (Apne Aap Women Worldwide, 2005), have an indefinable power to enchant and disturb’

The telegraph, 18-Jul-06
Children of a lesser god
‘‘This is the headquarters of Apne Aap, the NGO set up in 1998 by Emmy award-winning journalist Ruchira Gupta and two Nepali sex workers who later died of AIDS. Apne Aap helps registered members — 650 sex workers — open bank accounts, obtain ration cards and visit hospitals. Most of these women suffer from sexually transmitted diseases, and Apne Aap loses, on an average, two members every month to AIDS.’

Anjali Doshi, Hindustan Times, 08-Feb-06
Young Eyes on Calcutta
‘Ruchira Gupta, an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker who in 1997 founded Calcutta-based Apne Aap Women Worldwide to help Indian prostitutes. Gupta says brothel owners and pimps often press young women to have babies, making them more financially dependent on the brothel. "When mothers die of AIDS or other diseases," Gupta adds, "their daughters are immediately brought in."’

Andrew Curry, Smithsoiam magazine, May-05
Cents bring relief to brothel girls in India and Nepal
‘As they collected information and planned programs to help the victims of trafficking in India, Rina Patel and her fellow workers heard about Ruchira Gupta. Ruchira Gupta has helped various organizations including the United Nations implement measures to eliminate the selling of women and children across the world. She produced and directed the Emmy award-winning documentary film "Selling of Innocence" that details the trading of women and children between India and Nepal. Gupta, now one of the advisory board members of Cents of Relief is also instrumental in establishing "Apne Aap (On Our Own)" an organization…’

India New England, 15-May-05
“Lost Voices: Human Trafficking Around the World” to be topic of Amnesty International symposium
‘After making her film, Gupta was moved by the plight of the many prostitutes she had met and, in 1998, founded India-based Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a nonprofit organization that works to end sex trafficking of women and children. All symposium events are free and open to the public.’

Sarah Ray, Middlebury University, 04-Nov-04
Corporate Social Responsibility: Addressing Trafficking In Persons US Ambassador David Mulford To Address Workshop on Marck 19
‘Apne Aap (On our Own) Women Worldwide was founded in 1998 by Ms Ruchira Gupta. Gupta, who produced an award-winning documentary on the sex trafficking of girls from Nepal to the brothels of Mumbai, started Apne Aap to help exploited women and children regain their independence. Since its inception, Apne Aap has organized anti-trafficking youth programs, development support programs for HIV+ mothers and their children, and multi-media initiatives. Apne Aap is headquartered in Calcutta with chapters in New Delhi and in New York.’

Consulate General of the US, Kolkata, India, 16-Mar-04
UNI News Release
Gupta's film, “The Selling of Innocents,” exposes the trafficking of young women and children from villages in Nepal to the brothels of Mumbai (Bombay), India. Gupta discovered the situation while she was working on a project on villages in Nepal.

University of Northern Iowa, 27-Feb-04
Tuning into a new town
‘We are meeting to enjoy meal and visit with Ruchira Gupta, Executive Director of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an NGO that among other things rescues women and young girls sold into prostitution by their families.’

Lee-Alison Sibley, The Telegraph, 20-Jun-03
AIDS epidemic increasingly turning into gender issue
“Statistics increasingly prove that both the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS is not random. It disproportionately affects women and adolescent girls who are socially, culturally, biologically and economically more vulnerable”, says Ruchira Gupta of Mumbai-based 'Apne Aap Women Worldwide', co-organisers of the meet 'Positive Lives' along with Action Aid, India.’

Times of India, 06-Apr-03
Media insensitive to HIV patients: NGO members
‘“We are undertaking a unique exercise to make the exhibition as interactive as possible,” said Apne Aap Worldwide executive director Ruchira Gupta. The exhibition has been brought to India by Apne Aap which seeks to end sex trafficking and Drik India, a network of photographers.’

Times of India, 03-Apr-03
Times hasn’t dimmed her Babi valour
‘It was the morning of December 6, 1992. Emmy award winning filmmaker Ruchira Gupta, then a reporter with Business India, was standing atop a nearby roof watching the Babri mosque… In New York, she founded Apne Aap International, a NGO which seeks to end sex-trafficking. She working with NGOs in India and Nepal’

Times of India, 24-Dec-02
Film maker in dispute with uncle over trust
‘THE Malabar Hill police station has taken note of this high-profile uncle-niece fight. She is a 1997 Emmy award winner and former UNIFEM information specialist, Ruchira Gupta, and her uncle is Sudarshan V Loyalka, a resident of Napeansea Raod, an established businessman and former prime minister V P Singh acolyte.’

Mumbai Newsline, 04-Sep-02
NGO trust charged with misuse of fund
‘The Apne Aap Women's Collective, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working to empower sex workers in Kamathipura, is under investigation after the founder lodged a police complaint saying the trust has misappropriated funds, both foreign and domestic.’

Manoj Nair, Mid-Day, 03-Sep-02
The Longest War: Women Under Siege
"It’s total bondage," Ruchira Gupta says of sexual slavery. "The girls are aged thirteen and they’re locked up, made to service twenty clients a day, raped and beaten. By age 35, they’re ready to die because they’re disease-ridden, they have HIV, two children, no old-age savings. Some places are sending countries and some are receiving countries. So no country is pure."

Women Under Siege, 06-Jul-02
World’s women get – a bit – safer
‘"These [commissions] have become a very big lobbying tool for NGOs and a pressure point for governments," says Ruchira Gupta, who runs the nonprofit On Our Own in India. "It's a very big step forward." But, she adds, these commissions lack teeth

The Christian Science Monitor, 06-Feb-02
Escape from prostitution, Apne Aap turns destroyed lives around Kamathipura
‘Apne Aap was born when Ruchira Gupta, a journalist now working for UNIFEM, made a documentary entitled 'The trafficking of innocents'….Ruchira realized that she couldn't just walk away. An informal group of women had given her information, advice, protection and help, both physically and emotionally, during the making of the film. They continued to meet in parks and on street benches. As group dynamics emerged, the organization was institutionalized as an NGO with a Board of Directors and staff.’

Sudha Nagavarapu, India Together, Jan-02
Filming For A Cause
‘What started as a career in journalism 15 years ago for Ruchira Gupta, has today turned into a quest for social justice and a fight for women's rights. So while she works at UNICEF in New York as Communications Officer, she also spends time at 'Apne Aap', her NGO for sex workers in Mumbai. Coping with several jobs simultaneously, is second nature to this upright woman.’

Sita Gita
Film resources, India –Nepal
‘Selling of Innocents wastes no time on gimmicks. It goes straight to the heart of the matter by showing the pain and the horror of the innocent victims of a system which has long been there. Winner of the 1997 Emmy in News and Journalism.’

Captive Daughters
Girls For Sale, Sex Slave Trade in India
‘"They are not given enough to eat. There are no beds. They have to sleep on the floor. Sometimes they are raped," says Ruchira Gupta, a social worker and documentary filmmaker who spent months investigating the horrors of Bombay's brothels for her film The Selling of Innocents.

ABC News
General Anti-Violence Resources
‘Apne Aap (“self-help” in Hindi) is an initiative to end sex trafficking. The organization was begun by women in prostitution in the Khetwadi/ Kamatipura red light area of Mumbai in 1998, who had worked with Emmy award-winning journalist Ruchira Gupta on the documentary “The Selling of Innocents.” The aim of Apne Aap is to end their own exploitation and prevent their sisters from being exploited through sex trafficking.’

Anti-Violence Resource Guide, Feminist.com
Friendship weighs more with Rahul
‘The Nehru- Gandhi family scion spent the night at Ruchira Gupta's house at Forbesganj, a sub-divisional town in the district instead of the state guest house at Purnia. Ruchira, who runs an NGO ' Apne Aap Worldwide', is the niece of late Bal Krishna Gupta, a socialist leader and Rajya Sabha MP.’

Indopia
Ruchira Gupta gets Global Citizen Award
In a glittering ceremony, former United States president Bill Clinton Thursday evening presented six individuals, including New Delhi-based Ruchira Gupta -- journalist, activist and policymaker, who for the past 25 years has worked relentlessly for women's and girl's rights, especially the ending of their sex trafficking -- with the 2009 Clinton Global Citizen Awards.
Ruchira Gupta wins Clinton Global Citizen Award
Former President Bill Clinton on Saturday awarded Ruchira Gupta, President, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, the Third Annual Clinton Global Citizen Award for her work against human trafficking.
Indian activist Ruchira Gupta wins Clinton Global Citizen Award
An Indian journatrst and activist Ruchira Gupta has been awarded the Third Annual Ctrnton Global Citizen Award for her work against human trafficking in four Indian states.
Ruchira Gupta Wins Clinton Global Citizen Award
Former US President Bill Clinton yesterday awarded Ruchira Gupta, President, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, the Third Annual Clinton Global Citizen Award for her work against human trafficking. The award recognizes remarkable individuals for their leadership in improving the lives of people around the globe.
Activist Ruchira Gupta gets Clinton Global Citiz
Ruchira Gupta of ‘Apne Aap Women Worldwide’ has won the third annual Clinton Global Citizen Award for her work against human trafficking.
The award was presented to her at a function held here during the fifth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).
The award was in recognition of her efforts in improving the lives of women who were forced into prostitution.
Indian Social Worker Ruchira Gupta awarded Clinton Global Citizen Award
Mr.Clinton remarked that Ms.Gupta’s heroic efforts to assist and empower women has made her a global leader. Ms.Gupta’s talents as a journalist and activist have led her to make a lasting change in the social and governmental arenas. Her determination, creativity and strong leadership serve as an inspiration to all others.
Indian activist wins Clinton Global Citizen Award
“Gupta’s heroic efforts to assist and empower women make her a global leader,” Clinton said.
“Her talents as a journalist and activist have led her to make a lasting change in the social and governmental arenas. Her determination, creativity and strong leadership serve as an inspiration to all of us.”
“With the Global Citizen Awards, we highlight individuals who have demonstrated exceptional service to humanity.” He said that each one of this year’s winners was a model of service.
President Clinton Announces Winners of the Third Annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards
President Paul Kagame, Asha Hagi Elmi Amin, Peter Bakker, Dr. Rola Dashti, Ruchira Gupta, and Quincy Jones to be honored in a special ceremony at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
Ben Stiller will host the awards ceremony, which will also feature General Wesley Clark, Lisa Ling, Demi Moore, Usher Raymond, Juanes, and Alicia Keys
President Clinton Announces Winners of the Third Annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards
President Paul Kagame, Asha Hagi Elmi Amin, Peter Bakker, Dr. Rola Dashti, Ruchira Gupta, and Quincy Jones to be honored in a special ceremony at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
2009 Clinton Global Initiative - Clinton Global Citizen Awards, September 24, 2009 - Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers New York, NY United States
Indian activist Ruchira Gupta wins Clinton Global Citizen Award
“Their innovation, dedication and determination have changed lives, and their actions serve as models for what each of us can do to make a difference in the world,” the former president said.
Jennifer Buffett's Guide To Clinton Global Initiative
In just five years, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting has become a hallmark of September. Business leaders, heads of state, and philanthropists – led by Bill Clinton – get together to commit to solving the world's worst social issues. Poverty, education ills, environmental issues and access to health care are all fair game.
Can Clinton Award-Winner Ruchira Gupta Change the World?
Ruchira Gupta found it impossible to walk away from the women.
She had spent 18 months hanging around the Bombay brothels where they lived, posting up at a dingy café nearby as she tried to catch on tape the horrors she had discovered in this dirty corner of the world’s economy. Ominous men had pulled knives on her. Some of her informants had disappeared. She had begun to call the café "Hotel California."
Trafficking Highlights from 2009 Clinton Global Initiative
All this week, the 2009 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative has been meeting to discuss some of the most significant and challenging problems facing the world. One of the focuses has been the empowerment of women and girls, and with those discussions has come a lot of activity around the issue of human trafficking.
Indian activist Ruchira Gupta wins Clinton Global Citizen Award
An Indian journalist and activist Ruchira Gupta has been awarded the Third Annual Clinton Global Citizen Award for her work against human trafficking in four Indian states.Former president Bill Clinton presented the award to Gupta, president of the organisation Apne Aap Women Worldwide, during the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) here Thursday.The award recognises remarkable...
Indian among 6 honoured with global citizen award
Ruchira Gupta, journalist, activist and policymaker, who for the past 25 years has worked relentlessly for women's and girl's rights -- especially the ending of their sex trafficking -- was among the six individuals honoured by former US President Bill Clinton with the 2009 Clinton Global Citizen Awards.
Ricky Martin Fights Human Trafficking at Clinton Summit
"I feel that my heart is going to come out of my mouth," he said, recounting his sadness for the "millions of children that didn't make it." Martin was followed by testimony from a woman who, along with her two children, was kidnapped and held for four years of forced labor.
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