Sunitha Krishnan

Dr. Sunitha Krishnan is an activist, author, and film producer. She founded Prajwala, Asia’s largest institution combating sex trafficking and sex crime. Since its inception in 1996, Sunitha has assisted in the rescue of more than 32,000 young girls and women across 12 countries from sex slavery and has prevented 17,000 children from being inducted into prostitution. Recipient of the fourth highest Indian Civilian Honor, Padma Shri, and recognized among 150 “Fearless Women in the World” by Newsweek, Sunitha envisions a world free of sex trafficking and sex crime and has galvanized her vision by confronting traffickers, supporting survivors, and developing innovative models of prevention and rehabilitation. Sunitha has played an instrumental role in drafting several victim-centric policies for several Indian states including the first ever anti-trafficking policy in India, policy for minimum standards of care, a sex offender registry, and video conferencing to record evidence of a trafficked victim. She led the first national research on cyber-enabled human trafficking in India. Krishnan’s memoir I Am What I Am won the Best International Book at Sharjah International Book Fair