04.02.2020.
Trisha Shetty is an Indian activist for gender equality and the founder of SheSays. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially advocating for gender-sensitive policies and law, quality education, youth and gender representation and preventing sexual violence in India. Her work and advocacy have been recognized by the United Nations, President Obama, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and President Emmanuel Macron.
Shetty was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra India. She completed her bachelor's degree in Political Science and Psychology from Jai Hind College, University of Mumbai. She then graduated as a lawyer from the University of Mumbai. In 2018, she was selected as an Obama Foundation Scholar to complete a 1-year specialized training, educational and mentorship program at Columbia University in New York City.
Trisha founded SheSays, a women's rights organization that fights gender-based discrimination through education and awareness-raising programs. Fewer than 6% of incidents of sexual violence against women in India are reported to the police. SheSays works to equip women with the legal knowledge they need to access support from public institutions. SheSays continually strives to create and improve a nexus of support in the domains of sanitation, education, health care, public safety, and public policy.
SheSays aims to end gender-based discrimination and advance women's rights in India by engaging with the youth and activating them as agents of social change to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Equality, Safety, and Autonomy should be a guaranteed right and reality for women around the world.
"At SheSays we believe in the achievement of SDG 5- Gender Equality through investment in strong partnerships and institutional building. Recognizing the need for interdependency, our ethos is to build a nexus of support in domains of sanitation, education, health care, public safety, and public policy."
We bring you Shetty's interview for BOF where you can meet her better:
Taking to the BoF VOICES stage, the Indian social activist and lawyer recalled how, in December 2016, she received a call from an Indian father whose four-and-a-half-year-old daughter had been raped by a store owner’s relative after she had stepped across the road from their home to buy chocolate.
Over the next few months, the father and daughter faced overt, aggressive discrimination as they were bounced between hospitals, police stations, and courtrooms. Doctors, who heartlessly referred to the girl as “that raped child,” tried to charge the family for medical care, despite this being unlawful in India. The police forced the girl to identify her rapist by asking her to approach and tap the shoulder of the man who had abused her from a line-up.
Shetty didn’t share this story on stage at VOICES for shock value or sympathy. She wanted to bring to light the systematic human rights abuses that occur not just in India, but all over the world.
“The more I started fighting for human rights, I got familiarised with human wrongs. How systematic and organised those active human wrongs are… with a very real desire to break down your spirit,” said Shetty, who has been the victim of bullying, sometimes from powerful figures in government and religion.
“Those engaging in human wrongs show no civility, show no politeness,” she continued. “But when we speak up, we are expected to do so politely. These damn rules are more so imposed on young people, on women, on people of colour, on gender non-conforming people.”
Shetty founded SheSays, a non-profit organisation working for gender equality through youth and civic-society engagement, in 2015. The organisation does a lot of work around public safety and security, health and education, advocating policy change through a gender-sensitive lens.
Time and time again she hears people saying they want to effect change against human rights abuses, but don’t know where to start. That's not an excuse, said Shetty. It’s up to individuals “to speak up and demand for better from our world leaders.”
Showing up and continuing to stand in solidarity until justice is served is the way change happens.
On September 2019, the four-year-old girl's rapist, a repeat offender, was convicted and put behind bars. This happened because her father refused to give up, showing perseverance and tenacity despite meeting obstacles at every turn.
"When I think of resilience, I think of it as a muscle, two steps forward one step back three steps forward five steps back. But we still keep showing up,” she said.
Shetty offered a parting message for the VOICES audience: “This is a highly sanitised room. All of us are talking about issues, but what I will leave you [with] is: What can our learnings be to make an impact? The truth is we are leaving too many people behind, we all need to do better.”
Listen her speak up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc_0uwnbUpo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dysX3ReF0LY
Shetty saved so many and does not stop. Follow her current fight and help if you can.
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