Anti-trafficking award for NGO-Apne Aap

“Indian government, International Foundations, pharmaceutical industry spend funds on protection of sex buyers from AIDS rather than the protection of women and children from sex buyers”

Kolkata, 14 June 2009:  

Aap Women Worldwide, a Kolkata-based organisation, was presented the Bharat Nirman award 2009 in recognition of its outstanding contribution against human trafficking. The organization, Apne Aap Women Worldwide has supported more than 10,000 women and children who are victims and survivors of trafficking through easily accessible community centres in red light areas and slums all over India by providing legal protection, education and livelihood options for the last six years. In Kolkata, it works in the Munshigunge/Watgunge red-light area of Kidderpore and the slums of Topsia.

Criticized the current Indian AIDS control strategy, when receiving the award, founder President of Apne Aap, Ruchira Gupta said: “The biggest impediment to our work in ending sex-trafficking is the Indian’s government’s unholy alliance with International Foundations and the pharmaceutical industry. The Indian government has chosen to entrench the system of prostitution further in the name of AIDS management. It has worked with international foundations whose funds are given for the supposed protection of sex buyers from AIDS rather than the protection of women and children from sex buyers. They have concentrated on social marketing projects for the sale and distribution of condoms in red-light areas by hiring brothel-owners, brothel-managers and pimps as “peer educators” while little girls continue to line the streets controlled by the same “peer educators”. The Sonagacchi red-light area in Kolkata is a prime example.

The vested interest in the preservation of the brothel system for the convenient procurement and distribution of condoms has created a strong lobby, which is now trying to disrupt our campaign to amend the Indian trafficking law to punish buyers and traffickers and not the victims. The increased convictions of the profiteers of human trafficking will act as a deterrent against the powerful who exploit the powerless. Prostitution is rape for profit and the single largest cause for trafficking of women and girls in India. Ms Gupta appealed to members in the audience to join their campaign for the amendment by signing the petition to be submitted to Parliament. “We have to take a stand against the commodification of human being. “

Ms. Gupta has won an Emmy her documentary film on human trafficking “The Selling of Innocents”. She founded Apne Aap along with fellow trustees, Vinita Saraf and Namrata Surekha.  Bharat Nirman is an organization patronised by film-maker Gautam Ghosh , Artist Wasim Kapoor and  Ashok Kalanuaria, instituted to honour and felicitates women achievers and institutions in all walks of life.

For more information contact: 

Kolkata: 22812955/2284352;

Delhi: 24110056

Email: apneaap2003@rediffmail.com,