Guria India Blog

Today Specks of Dust was screened at Cambridge University's Intitute of Criminology. The screening was followed by a seminar and audience discussion with Ajeet. Thank you to Cambridge University and Cambridge Migration Research Network for hosting this event.

Huge thanks to Bhatt Murphy Solicitors and Matrix Chambers for hosting the seminar with Ajeet Singh today. Ajeet was delighted to be joined on the panel by Pam Bowen of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Juliette Nash of the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit ( ATLEU), Frances Treverna of the Poppy Project and host and organizers, Helen Law of Matrix Chambers and Tony Murphy and Raju Bhatt of Bhatt Murphy Solucitors.

Specks of Dust was screened at SOAS on April 29th! Great film and great evening. Thanks to all who attended and thank you to film makers Azza Cohen and Shania Watrous.

Great interview with Ajeet and a massive thank you to BBC Radio Asia Network, all the listeners, and all those who called in with support.

Guria made the front page, national headline story of the leading Hindi newspaper, Amar Ujala! The article was published in 7 Indian states in 19 editions. The headline reads "1.2 Million Minor Girls Enslaved in Brothels. The liberty of these girls will depend on  the Supreme Court hearing on April 17." Other sections say: "3 million women and girls forced into prostitution... The state of Uttar Pradesh did not provide information on this subject!... Guria raises a question through a Public Interest Litigation in the Honourable Supreme Court... Guria is fighting cases against 1029 human traffickers."

"In this moment of crisis I stand in solidarity with Sunil and Guria" - Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, while meeting Guria's legal coordinator Sunil Kumar! Sunil met Mr. Satyarthi while visiting Delhi and Bangladore for medical appointments. Sunil suffered many injuries from a brutal attack in December by three unknown assailants due to his work prosecuting human traffickers. This is just one of many attacks Guria has suffered in the past.

After 3.5 months, Sunil finally visited us in the office today! Sunil is our legal coordinator and was attacked on December 23 by three unknown assailants regarding a court case about an infamous human trafficker. We are still hoping for his speedy recovery and are SO grateful for the generous grant from Frontline Defenders that has helped pay for Sunil's medical bills.

At the Guria office, we are currently hosting 3 groups of people who are eagerly waiting as Guria prepares the 3 rescue operations to free their children and family members! Word is spreading about Guria to people in states all over India. Every day new people come from great distances to find the Guria office and get help to rescue their loved ones from slavery.

About a decade ago, we rescued this girl from slavery in a brothel along with 48 other girls from Nepal, West Bengal, and Bihar! She is all grown up now…and a proud wife and mother! Here is a photo of a mock trial we are running for her! She has been summoned by the court as a witness against her former brothel keepers/traffickers. She fears that she will be killed to prevent her from testifying. On her request, Guria is providing her with witness protection and helping her prepare to give her statement before the court. This practice will help her feel more confident and capable in a court setting.

BREAKING NEWS: On the evening of March 26th, Guria rescued 46 bonded laborers from a brick kiln in the Maharajganj District on the Indo-Nepal border! All of the rescued enslaved laborers were originally from the state of Chattisgarh.

Everyone in the Princeton area should absolutely mark their calendars for the much-anticipated premiere of  SPECKS OF DUST , a documentary about Guria's  work in red light areas in Uttar Pradesh. We can't wait to see the film!

On the 27th of March, the Hon’ble High Court admitted a NEW Public Interest Litigation filed by Guria! The PIL addresses the problem that police are not invoking the provisions of section 370 of the Indian penal code while lodging First Information Reports or while filing charge sheets—even when a complaint clearly contains ingredients of human trafficking. In the PIL Guria has given example of 127 such cases.