She was born in Bangalore in 1972. She was a bright child from the early age who was blessed with very supportive parents. They loved her decision to pursue social studies and support social causes even as a student. From beginning of her college education she was keen to teach poor and underprivileged children.
One day she was going to organize academic classes for children in her village. This did not go down well with the men in her society and some villagers got against her. One day, a gang of eight men came and assaulted her just because they were not happy with her interference in ‘man’s society.’ The assault was so brutal that it left her partially deaf with one ear.
Despite that she refused to be broken down and started an institution to assist the rape victims or women who are caught in trafficking, sex slavery, and rape and so on. Sunitha said: “Society makes you feel cheap. I chose not to feel like a victim. I am not a victim, but a survivor. I speak about it with a lot of pride, because I am proud of what I have become today. I have not done a mistake. I don’t want my face to be blurred because I should not be ashamed of it.”
It was the men who did wrong and they should be punished. “The guys that have done it should be hiding their faces and they should be blurring their faces,” said Sunitha.
Her strong view and brave ideologies gave birth to the social group Prajwala.
Her work:
“Sex trafficking not only results insevere violation of human rights, but also causes adverse physical, psychological and moral consequences for the victims.”
All hopes and dreams of a better life are shattered and over a period of time, girls become penniless, mentally broken and affected with serious or life-threatening illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. “The journey of sex trafficking destroys the body, mind and soul of a victim, and fundamentally takes away her capacity to trust herself or anyone around her,” she describes.
Prajwala works for the betterment of the society and imparts programs which gives education and other community campaigns. Apart from this, she also runs various rehabilitation programs such heal psychologically, treats the patients of HIV and give economic support.
Awards and recognition
Sunitha have bagged many accolades for her achievements, her programs on the rescue and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking has become very popular around the world. Several state government bodies have made her their consultant for the programs associated with the rehabilitation of human trafficking. She believes that silence against such crimes should be broken and that women victims need to come forward for their rights.