ASHA RISING INC
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Mission Statement
Asha Rising provides permanent housing and wrap-around support services for elderly survivors of sex trafficking who have experienced poverty, social stigma, and homelessness in Kolkata's largest red light district.
About This Cause
After experiencing sex trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence in their past, many elderly survivors of sex trafficking find themselves with little to no support systems once they age out of the sex industry. Facing increased vulnerability due to social stigma, homelessness, poverty, and illness, elderly survivors often have few choices for survival. Many must resort to begging on the roadside while others go on to reinvent the cycle of sexual exploitation by trafficking young girls and women to work for them. Still, others suffer from abuse at the hands of family members. We started Asha Rising in 2015 to disrupt cycles of sexual exploitation and violence and to respond to the critical need for housing, choices, support, and belonging in this highly vulnerable and often overlooked demographic. We began this initiative by renting two tiny rooms in a building across from a brothel in Kolkata's largest red light district and offering it to elderly survivors. We hoped our space would serve as a model of care in the larger community and help reduce the social stigma attached to sex work. Initially, the elderly survivors who were living nearby were mistrustful of our initiative. Accustomed to primarily transactional and/or abusive relationships, many could not comprehend why we were offering free housing and services in exchange for nothing--and worried that Asha Rising might try to further exploit them. Over time, and through word of mouth, Asha Rising gradually earned the trust of survivors and our housing has become a beacon of hope and refuge to many. We now occupy a three story building which is home to 15-20 survivors at any time (our oldest resident is 91). In addition to providing permanent housing and food, we provide medical care, counseling, literacy classes, yoga classes, craft classes, movement therapy, and courses on pickling. We also grow our own organic produce on the terrace. At Asha Rising, we believe that women should be valued at all stages of life, and we are proud to participate in an ongoing co-creation of a community space and refuge that so many elderly survivors are able to call home.