Mumbai-based women’s rights activist Robin Chaurasiya has won the Franco-German Award for Human Rights. Ms. Chaurasiya, who co-founded the non-profit Kranti in 2010, has worked for the betterment of girls born in the red-light areas of the city.
Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Juergen Morhard, and the Consul General of France in Mumbai, Sonia Barbry, presented the award to Ms. Chaurasiya.
Ms. Chaurasiya, who started Kranti along with social worker Bani Das, said human rights does not sound exciting at first when people look for career options.
“When I came to India from the U.S. to work with another NGO, I saw that many children were left on their own once they entered their teenage years. They would be locked in rooms for the slightest mischief,” she said.
She believed these children had many talents but did not have the environment to flourish. “I recall they were only being taught how to make pickles and do basic work. I feel we need to get rid of these notions and let them pursue their passion, which could be the ambition to become a doctor or an engineer,” she said.
Ms. Das said she met Ms. Chaurasiya at the NGO. “It motivated us to start this initiative. We nurture and help these women fulfil what they want for themselves, not the other way round. If someone wants to study something like music, we look for the best places where they can be enrolled. One of our members is now a music therapist.”
Every year, the Franco-German Award for Human Rights and Law is presented to 15 human rights defenders across the world.
Tanya Yadav, a 23-year-old beneficiary of the NGO, said, “I lived with my stepfather and sister after my mother abandoned us. My stepfather used to sexually abuse me to the point that I fled his house with my sister and became a part of Kranti seven years ago,” she said. Ms. Yadav, who is now a Zumba instructor, aspires to become a flight attendant.
Another beneficiary, Shweta Kathi, who works for the Bengaluru-based NGO ‘Make a Difference’, lived in Kamathipura at one point of time. “My life was different before I became a part of Kranti. I used to ask my school bus driver to drop me off at a different location and walk home,” she said.
