Recently, an @officialhumansofbombay post on Instagram, featuring Triveni Acharya — a social worker from Mumbai — who rescues girls trafficked for sex work, went viral. People were touched and amazed by the story of this gusty woman and her late husband, who had been instrumental in rescuing thousands of girls from Mumbai’s brothels, and reuniting them with their families.
Originally a journalist, Acharya’s foray on to the murky world of sex trafficking was by chance. “One day, I had to cover a celebrity who was going to be in a red light area for an event. When I got there I saw a young girl who was only 13. When I asked her where her mom was, she said was from Nepal and had come here to work, but was sold instead. Before I could do or say anything, I was asked to get out,” says Acharya in the post.
While many others would have put this incident behind them and forgotten about the plight of women and girls bonded into sexual labour, Acharya was deeply affected by her encounter. “My husband and I decided to tell my contacts in the police & he went with them to rescue the girl. But when they got there, they found 15 other girls who wanted to run away. He convinced the cops to save them all,” says Acharya.
The girls had nowhere to go so the couple ended up sheltering these 15 girls at their modest home in Kandivali for some time, thereby laying the foundation for what was to become their life’s purpose. The couple discovered that the rescued girls were mostly from Nepal. “We reached out to a Nepal-based NGO named Maithi Nepal that rescued girls from sex-trafficking. The girls got a new life after that,” said Acharya in an earlier interview to a news website.
After this incident, Acharya’s husband gave up his job and dedicated his life to the rescue of trafficked girls. “That day, we realised we had to do something to help others in the same situation. So he sold his business & began rescuing girls full time, while I continued working to sustain us financially. He would pose as a customer & find out where the girls were kept. Once we had the information, we’d tell the cops & get them out. We rescued over 300 girls in the first year itself!”
During once such rescue mission, the couple came across a sex worker who had committed suicide leaving behind a baby son. Acharya and her husband decided to adopt the child and bring him up as their own. In 2003 Acharya suffered a huge setback when her husband was killed in a hit and run accident. She was convinced that he had been killed by the trafficking mafia that had been threatening him for years, but could not prove it.
After this incident, Acharya was heart-broken but determined to carry on the work of her Rescue Foundation with the same zeal as before. “Today, we have 4 shelter homes–we provide counseling, education, legal aid. Some of the girls are married, working or settled abroad! It’s been 12 years since I lost him. I’ve faced a lot of hardships along the way, seen the worst kind of people doing the worst kind of things. But with every girl we save & every convict we bring to justice–I can feel him by my side, holding me, telling me that we’ve got to keep fighting, no matter what.”
Acharya and her incredible The Rescue Foundation has received a number of awards including the Stree Shakti Award for Women Entrepreneurs; the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, along with a cash grant of US$100,000; the Civil Courage Prize of The Train Foundation. In 2013, Acharya was awarded the Humanitarian Honoree of World of Children Award. The award came with a $75,000 cash grant.
Article Credit: m.femina