Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan

Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan has booked 1747 criminal cases against human traffickers, effected over 600 bail rejections and a total of 70 brothels worth crores of rupees have been seized by the administration, has filed 14 public interest litigations, rescued 164 victims and provided Government entitlements to 1397 victims.

Azim Premji Foundation , Action Aid, Child Rights & You, Freedom Fund & Give Foundation

For Guria India, prevention of sex trafficking, second-generation prostitution andending child prostitution have never been isolated issues with simple isolated solutions within our larger vision of building “a just and humane world where all beings co-exist in harmony”. Rather we understand that an issue as complex and multi-dimensional as trafficking and sexual exploitation requires a holistic end-to-end approach with innovations as our hallmark.

Broadly, Guria’s approach is focused on eradicating the slavery of women and their children in brothels, which will be achieved by ending their dependency on the criminal nexus involving drugs, sexual exploitation, mafias, police, politicians, and, above all, the impunity enjoyed by all those criminally involved.

The break-up of the criminal nexus will depend on using the continued tools of education, health, availing government programs, vocational training, emotional support, dignity and protection of already victimized women and children from corrupt police and criminals, in order to ensure liberty to avail alternate opportunities. Guria’s strategies for ending child prostitution, preventing second generation prostitution and sex trafficking moves parallel and often cross cuts and supplements each other in a converged and synchronized manner. In the context of easy sex, easy money, easy drugs, easy wine etc. in the red light areas, Guria India’s approach to prevent second generation prostitution involving education through art therapy (clay work, bead-making, painting, music, dance, theatre), exposure visits, laughing/shouting classes, meditation, gardening, watering the birds etc. echoes its guiding principle of connecting with the entire creation and life-centric development. Also key to Guria’s strategy is support to the aged and erstwhile victims of sex trafficking/forced prostitution as well as adolescents so that they themselves do not become collaborators or victims, respectively of such a complex situation.

Guria recognizes that overall the critical mass for a change and deterrence from attacks on activists will depend upon the mobilization of civil society and people’s participation at all levels within the source, transit and destination levels of sex trafficking – whereby the likes of worldwide Freedom Now campaign (theatre, art exhibit etc), 200000 membered women vigilance groups, longest foot march (800 kilometres) against sex trafficking, cultural group of women in commercial sex, livelihoods, entitlements and much more have been collectively very impactful. To supplement this, Guria has taken up rescue, counseling, legal intervention, and rehabilitation/reintegration to take things to a logical conclusion and avoid re-trafficking. Considering the situation of the rule of law and delay in justice delivery (reflected in the 90% acquittal rate in trafficking cases – NCRB 2020), we had to innovate once more by providing victim-witness protection, living with Bedia community (intergenerational prostitution) and innovatively using brothel seizures, Guria as witness, spy camera evidence, opposing fake victim custody /bails of traffickers and challenging fake protection orders/acquittals. Guria also creatively converted grass-roots level interventions into Public Interest Litigations (PIL) and released 100 cases report on police misconduct, to bring about a change at the policy level. Lastly, in the ever-changing context of this organized crime, we experiment as we build up the movement against sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation.

Amazing Indian Award 2022 by Times Now
Awarded the Real Heroes award 2011 by CNN-IBN
Among the five finalists for the FrontLine Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders
Ajeet Singh, founder and director of Guria India, declared Man of the Year 2011 by leading Indian Magazine The Week.
Nari Shakti award by the President of India for the year 2015
Rani Laxmi Bai Samman by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the year 2015
Felicitated by the Zee TV Award at the Fempowerment Ceremony, 2016.
Life time achievement award 2016 by Life OK Channel (Savdhan India) – Star Network
Ajeet Singh was honoured with the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice 2019, and was the Keynote Speaker at the Harmony International Conference on “Combating ,
Contemporary Forms of Slavery” at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Ajeet Singh was declared as the winner of the “Generous Philanthropist Award” of the 21st Century Icon Awards, 2020.
Invited speaker at the 2016 UNICEF-sponsored Judicial Colloquium about combating Human Trafficking with a special focus on child trafficking in Uttar Pradesh
Appointed member of the core group on Trafficking, Women and Children, created by the National Human Rights Commission
Appointed member of Juvenile Justice board, created by UP State Legal Services Authority created under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
Invited Speaker at the 4th Indian Social Work Congress, 2016
Appointed by Ministry of Women and Child Development to be a member of an Inter-Ministerial committee for preparing a comprehensive legislation on trafficking in 2016
The Freedom Fund invited Ajeet Singh as their keynote speaker at the Freedom Fund launch event in New York in 2014.