In the coming days, we will present the three laureates of the 2024 Sisters’ Anti-Trafficking Awards. These awards honor three women who have demonstrated exceptional courage, creativity, collaboration, and achievement in protecting their communities from human trafficking.

The first laureate is Sr. Grasy Luisa Rodrigues, FDCC, from India, who has been awarded the Common Good Award. 

Sr. Grasy has worked to prevent human trafficking for 13 years, across Maharashtra, Gujarat and in Goa. Based in Mumbai, she has worked to protect the marginalised from exploitation - children living in slums, and transgenders, for example. They are given awareness sessions on protection and safety from sexual exploitation. She has also tried to empower women through various skills trainings like tailoring, beautician courses, legal literacy courses, computer courses, and adult literacy classes.  She has facilitated children’s classes on child rights and child protection, health and hygiene, child labour, cyber safety and online exploitation, and the Juvenile Justice Act. 

Sr. Grasy has worked with wider networks, including the IJM and Justice and Care, attending rescues as a social worker and helping rehabilitate survivors. 

In 2022 she joined as a founding member of an NGO called ‘Mukti Kiran” which is newly registered and works on the issue of human trafficking in collaboration with the Goa Police. She runs awareness-raising sessions on human trafficking across local schools, colleges, hotels, village hubs, and even with police forces. She also organises rallies, quizzes, street plays and door-to-door campaigns.