‘I Am What I Am’ by Sunitha Krishnan: Of hope and resilience

Even before you start reading the book, Sunitha Krishnan’s credentials and her work, listed on the backflap of her memoir, ‘I Am What I Am’, are quite impressive. Diminutive but fearless, Sunitha, a relentless crusader against sex trafficking, is the founder of Prajwala, Asia’s largest NGO combating sex trafficking and sex crimes. She was only 17 when she undertook her first rescue. After she set up Prajwala in 1996, the organisation, driven by her efforts, has rescued 28,600 survivors, rehabilitated 26,900 and prevented 18,000 children from entering the sex trade.

Gangraped at 15, she chose to be a survivor and actively fight sex crimes against women and children. The book charts her tribulations and triumphs in her journey to set up Prajwala.

Hers is a powerful story of hope and resilience, overcoming numerous roadblocks, the foremost being patriarchy and the havoc it plays with the lives of women, and society’s attitude towards victims of sex crimes and trafficking. Stubborn about not letting her past define her, Sunitha is one of the most powerful advocates of the rights of these victims and has been honoured with the Padma Shri in 2016.

Initially an education centre for the children of women in sex work, Prajwala now has a 10-acre self-sustainable campus on the outskirts of Hyderabad and provides a safe home to children and women. Starting with a team of four, the NGO now employs 200 persons. Absorbing many survivors in its workforce has proved invaluable because their own lived experiences help them relate to victims and even become beacons of hope for them.

To rehabilitate the rescued has been a constant battle, and studying existing government and legal frameworks for this purpose made her realise the need for victim-centric policies, stricter legislations through stronger advocacy and why their economic rehabilitation was equally significant as their social rehabilitation or acceptance.

At a micro level, this helped her create manuals and handbooks for Prajwala, which are now being used to sensitise thousands of police personnel and other stakeholders to adopt a victim-centric approach.

Sunitha’s unwavering commitment and her work at Prajwala has also been instrumental in streamlining several safeguard mechanisms for the rescued. PILs by the NGO and its advocacy efforts have helped create the first-ever anti-trafficking policy in India, a policy for minimum standards of care, a sex offenders’ registry, establishment of a cyber-crime reporting portal and introduction of video-conferencing to record evidence of a trafficked victim.

Though a memoir, it is also a telling document about half-baked government strategies and interventions, lack or delay in funding for rehabilitation programmes and centres and many other gaps in the system. As she says, the intention is there, but needs to be followed by concrete action. To end sexual violence and trafficking completely, governments and other stakeholders must prioritise the issue, as was done in the fight against HIV/AIDS. More resources should be allocated for prevention and protection and not just for harm reduction. Only then, she feels, can change be visible within her lifetime.

Sunitha believes everything is possible if you are willing to work for it. This memoir is a handbook precisely for that. A must-read.