Sunitha Krishnan: A Story

Today Her Voice Is shares a story. A story of a woman from India named Sunitha Krishnan. I first read about Krishnan in "Half The Sky" and after hearing her story was changed. You see, Sunitha Krishnan at the age of 15 was gang raped by 8 men, beating her so badly that she is partially deaf in one ear. She is 4 1/2 feet tall, but don't let her height fool you...she is a world changer. Today, Sunitha is a leading advocate for the fight against Sex Trafficking.

Sunitha decided when she was young that she wanted to help the poor children of her village, so she went to college to become a social worker. One day as she was organizing the village so that she could teach them, a gang of 8 men did not like that a woman was interfering with what they claimed as "man's society." Sunitha then explains that the rape did not cause her to  become a victim but rather is released this anger. Not just any anger but pure fury. She dedicated her life after that to being an activist to fight against the same thing that happened to her. In "Half the Sky" she says, "What affected me more was the way society treated me, the way people looked at me. Nobody questioned why those guys did it. They questioned why I went there, why my parents gave me freedom. And I realized that what happened to me was a one-time thing. But for many people it was a daily thing" (Kristof 57).

Below is a 13 minute video of Sunitha Krishnan speaking. It is dynamic and passionate. I encourage you to watch it, you will understand why this woman is one of my heroes.