by Sari Bari Staff
Sari Bari is thankful for another amazing week in the life of our community.
One of our Production Managers, Rohima met two young at-risk women on the train and connected them to our prevention unit. Instead of meeting a trafficker, they met Rohima, and now will never have to know the dark lanes of the red light area.
Jillik brought in three new women from the red light area for freedom and new work.
Our beloved Bharoti continued to pour herself out every day after work to share the message of freedom with the women who come in from the village to work the street corners to feed their families.
This week we were also were given the unique opportunity to advocate on behalf of all the women we love so dearly.
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during her diplomatic visit to India, had the opportunity to meet Tinki, one of the Sari Bari staff, and truly a hero in our midst. Tinki has never had to enter the sex trade because of her employment at Sari Bari. She grew up in the red light area and married very young. She has experienced a tremendous amount of pressure to enter the trade in recent years. She was profoundly at-risk. Tinki’s employment and the support of her community at Sari Bari have empowered her to remain free.
As Tinki was sharing with Secretary Clinton, she exclaimed, “I am so thankful to Sari Bari for giving me freedom!”
Secretary Clinton responded, “I am so thankful that you have received freedom at Sari Bari too!” before embracing Tinki.
Secretary Clinton has a compassionate interest in the issues facing young women and girls in India, particularly in the area of Human Trafficking. During her visit she not only met Tinki but a number of young women and girls who have been rescued from trafficking and vulnerable situations along with representatives of a number of non-profits working on the issue of trafficking prevention.
Sari Bari was grateful for the invitation by Secretary Clinton to share space at a round table discussion with some amazing Indian NGO’s who were truly the forerunners in advocating for the rights of commercial sex workers and their families in Kolkata. As the only social business in a circle of non-profit leaders, Sari Bari was able to offer a unique perspective on our common cause. Provision for economic options for women desiring to exit the sex trade is still a relatively new way of addressing the problem of trafficking and on going exploitation.
We were all honored to meet Secretary Clinton and share the story of “New Life in the Making.”
We at Sari Bari are grateful for this new platform to advocate for our sisters, both those who have found freedom, and those who still find themselves bound in the lanes of the red light areas of Kolkata. Undoubtedly, it was a special moment for Secretary Clinton to meet Tinki, one of our many hero’s and a living testimony to the freedom story that we hope for in the lives of all the women we know.
While it is a privilege to advocate and be a voice for the voiceless, it is a far greater honor for all of us at Sari Bari to bear witness to profound transformation, be engaged in friendship, and have the opportunity to share life together, every day, with each of these women.
We are grateful to be a part of the Sari Bari story.
To know the women we know.
To walk the long, winding, messy road to freedom.
To celebrate together and cry together.
To wonder and rejoice in community with the most amazing women in the world.