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Kranti empowers Girls from Red Light Districts to becomes agents of social change.

  • Advancing Adolescent Girls Rights

  • Ending Violence against Girls and Women

  • Advancing Social and Emotional Learning

  • Creating Leaders of Social Change

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Robin Chaurasiya and Trina Talukdar are the founders of Kranti, an anti-trafficking organisation that works with the daughters of sex workers to transform their lives and, in the process, to revolutionise the role of women in Indian society.

ACTIVIST STATEMENT: ROBIN CHAURASIYA

It all started in a one-bedroom apartment in the suburbs of Mumbai when two girls had an idea for how to change the world by revolutionizing society’s perception of women.I was born of Indian parents in Los Angeles – bred, soiled and soaked in the United States of America, and all its culture of freedom, rights and emancipation.

In the summer 2008, I volunteered for six months with an anti-trafficking NGO based in Mumbai. During this time, I lived, ate, slept and had intense, all night long discussions with more than 60 girls who had been trafficked into the sex trade in Mumbai and subsequently rescued in raids by the organisation I was volunteering with.

However, after rescuing them the NGO did nothing to empower the girls to build a successful life for themselves. Those who were old enough to remember their homes were repatriated, essentially returning them to the same vulnerable situation they were originally trafficked from.

I met girls who had been re-trafficked four times over. Some were married off to older men who came from rural India to Mumbai to marry. And the best of the three evils was when the girls were taught a skill, like embroidery or pickle making, to enable them to make a subsistence living for themselves.

I travelled India the following year visiting many anti-trafficking NGOs and discovered that they all had similar programmes. I was frustrated by the absence of psychological support for the trafficked girls battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the lack of educational programmes or career options offered.

Some organisations actually claimed that the girls’ minds were not ready for education. But I had taught girls who did not know how to count to do long division in just two weeks.

Late at night the girls would share their dreams of writing a book so that the world would know of their experiences or of becoming doctors and working to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS to sex workers.  I wanted to give these girls the opportunity to revolutionize society’s perception of women as a liability to their families and to prove that they could, in fact, be assets to society.

During this time I met Trina Talukdar, who had been teaching the children of sex workers in Kalighat, Kolkata, one of South Asia’s oldest and largest red light areas. Seeing women being picked up for Rs. 5 (under a dollar), less than the price of a condom, and listening to the children tell stories of being shoved under the bed for hours while their mothers served clients on top, she realised that for the rest of her life she would be working just with the aim of ensuring that these horror stories were not replicated in the lives of others.

And then, somewhere in the universe, a star exploded. Mine and Trina’s ideas, words and ideologies clashed and ricocheted off each other and with a big bang, Kranti was created – an anti-trafficking organisation that does not just rescue trafficked girls to return them home or give them a subsistence income, but transforms them into, among other things, gynecologists working to improve the sexual health of sex workers or India’s finest feminist lesbian writer or somebody who would sacrifice an Ivy League education in order to go and teach Libyan children after the revolution.

Kranti is not a rehabilitation home; it is a leadership training institute churning out revolutionaries who will change the world forever.

Kranti Leadership

Kranti Video Chronicles

Robin Chaurasiya - Kranti: Uplifting the Daughters of Mumbai's Sex Workers - BatGap Interview
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BuddhaAtTheGasPump

Robin Chaurasiya - Kranti: Uplifting the Daughters of Mumbai's Sex Workers - BatGap Interview

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Batgap/posts/4009545135937923/ Also see https://batgap.com/robin-chaurasiya/ Robin was born and raised in the US with a very religious and schizophrenic mother as well as a violent and atheist father. At 14, Robin started volunteering with various non-profits organizations and traveling the world, two lifelong passions which led her to work with dozens of NGOs and travel nearly 100 countries. After spending several years in the US Air Force, Robin was kicked out for being lesbian which led to her new life as an activist. At 24, she started Kranti, an NGO that empowers survivors of trafficking and daughters of sex workers from Mumbai's red-light areas, where she lived and worked for a decade. In 2020, Robin moved to a mud hut at 13K feet in the Himalayas without any water, electricity or toilet. For over a year, she wasn't online, didn't read any book and didn't speak with anyone. In July 2021, she started working part time from the mountains and became a certified BatGap addict. She returned to civilization in August, 2022 and will return to the mountains (temporarily) in January, 2023! Kranti: https://kranti-india.org Donating to Kranti: savethechild.org (Tax exempt for US donors.): https://donate.savethechild.org/campaign/the-kranti-fund/c383881 Milaap: Help the Survivors of Trafficking (India-based, doesn't deduct fee. Not tax exempt for US donors.): https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-survivors-of-trafficking Donating to Happy Feet Home (hospice for terminally ill children): https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-happyfeethome PDF with more info about Robin, her upcoming book, and Kranti: https://batgap.com/documents/RobinBio&BookInfo.pdf
In Her Shoes: India | Short Film
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Matador Network

In Her Shoes: India | Short Film

Rani is a 17-year-old in Mumbai. Like most girls her age, she likes Instagram, boys and good food. But Rani is also the daughter of a sex worker, and she grew up hearing, “a whore’s daughter can only be a whore.” Follow filmmakers Doree Simon and Caz Tanner Film as they explore women’s empowerment efforts around the world in a new original series, In Her Shoes. Episode one features a-day-in-the-life of Rani — who is transcending her circumstances and helping her community along the way. "In Her Shoes: India" is a Webby Award Winner in the Diversity & Inclusion Video category. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet. DOWNLOAD OUR APP APPLE: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/travelstoke/id983733875?mt=8 ANDROID: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.matadornetwork.travelstoke&hl=en MORE FROM MATADOR NETWORK WEB: http://matadornetwork.com/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/matadornetwork/ YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/MATADORnetwork FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/matadornetwork ABOUT MATADOR NETWORK MatadorNetwork.com and its social channels are the #1 digital destination for affluent millennial travelers and adventurers. With over 9 million monthly uniques and millions of social followers, we are the world's leading independent travel media outlet. ABOUT MATADOR MEDIA HOUSE MATADOR MEDIA HOUSE specializes in ideating, producing and distributing the most engaging branded video content on the Web. We work with some of the most talented filmmakers in the world to create broadcast quality video content for use across digital, social or broadcast. WEB: http://matadormediahouse.com/ TRAVEL | ADVENTURE | TRAVEL CULTURE | #TRAVELSTOKE #travel #shortfilm #india
Empowering girls in red-light areas for social good | Robin Chaurasiya, India | Global Teacher Prize
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Global Teacher Prize

Empowering girls in red-light areas for social good | Robin Chaurasiya, India | Global Teacher Prize

Robin helped organise a successful campaign to change US armed forces policy after being forced to leave her position as an Air Force officer because of her sexuality. The experience inspired her to go into teaching and to found an NGO in India called Kranti. Kranti (‘Revolution’ in Hindi) empowers marginalised girls in Mumbai’s red light district to become agents of social change. Robin’s students, the Krantikaries (‘Revolutionaries’), are aged 12-20 and include victims of trafficking and daughters of sex workers. The school is truly diverse with different ages, literacy levels, languages, ethnicities, religions, castes and abilities. With Robin’s help, the Krantikaries develop into peer teachers and community leaders. The curriculum includes creative thinking, yoga, meditation, writing, geography and music and is supplemented by evening classes in English, ICT, theatre and health education. At weekends, the girls watch films, visit exhibitions and complete mandatory voluntary work for an NGO of their choice. Robin has formalised a social justice curriculum at Kranti covering key issues that affect the girls’ lives which they use to design and implement projects. In 2013, they convinced an MP to help them register sex workers to vote. They have led workshops for more than 100,000 people and delivered 11 TEDx talks around the world. They toured a play they wrote about their experiences across the USA, performing at the headquarters of Facebook and Google. Together, we are strongest when we stand united, and loudest when we speak together. By talking about education, you can help ensure the world doesn't forget the United Nation's sustainable development goal promising every child a good education by 2030. Watch, subscribe, start talking education - it matters. #TeachersMatter ✨www.instagram.com/teacherprize ✨www.facebook.com/teacherprize ✨www.twitter.com/teacherprize ✨www.twitter.com/varkeyfdn
Kranti: Life in a red-light district [Hindi play]
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