Vanitha Woman of the Year award for Sunitha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: I’ve been beaten up 14 times in my life by the mafia. Several parts of my body are injured. My right ear is partly deaf. But this is a pain that I can bear. What I can’t be

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: I’ve been beaten up 14 times in my life by the mafia. Several parts of my body are injured. My right ear is partly deaf. But this is a pain that I can bear. What I can’t bear is the pain of your rejection of the sexually exploited women and children,’’ said Sunitha Krishnan, co-founder of Prajwala, a Hyderabad-based organisation working for the rescue and rehabilitation of women and children trapped by the sex mafia and the winner of the Vanitha Woman of the Year award.

‘‘We have all taken a doctorate in victimising the victims. It all starts with the hushed-up incidents of abuse at home and it is this silence that promotes an abuser. It is this silence which grows into rejection. Give the victims and the children a little acceptance and they will give you a billion reasons to smile,’’ Sunitha said after receiving the award from Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva at an elegant function here on Saturday.

Maragaret Alva said that Sunitha, through her work, would definitely touch the conscience of the society, especially the men who patronise the sex-trade.

‘‘War zones are easy supply areas for orphaned children who are pushed into the trade. We have had many laws, UN Conventions and international agreements to prevent human trafficking but the actual implementation of the laws are often made impossible by police, law enforcement people, pimps and agents,’’ she said. Margaret Alva also took a dig at the absence of women from Kerala in the Parliament. ‘‘May be the educated women in Kerala have a different orientation, but my long years of work in the politics has led me to believe that men do not let them,’’ she said. She also called upon the media to be the voice of these young women and fight the menace.

Shashi Tharoor MP, presiding over the function said that women were the fundamental strength of every society and that he was happy to be part of a function that honoured a woman who had repaired the wounds of the society. Poet Sugathakumari offered felicitations.

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