I Am What I Am: A Memoir

by Sunitha Krishnan

About the Book
‘There is one absolute truth in the world, and that is death. I do not fear it, but I definitely want to make sure that I do all that is possible to the best of my ability before my end.’
Steely, outspoken and relentless, Sunitha Krishnan has long been a crusader against the sex-trafficking mafia in India. Internationally, she is one of the most powerful advocates for the rights of sex-crime and trafficking victims. Beginning when she was still in her teens, Sunitha has spent the past three decades focused on this mission—since 1996 through Prajwala, the anti-trafficking organisation she founded. The organisation has so far rescued 28,900 and rehabilitated 26,900 survivors, and prevented 18,000 children from entering the sex trade.
In this powerful, moving memoir, Sunitha Krishnan writes about her unwavering determination to confront sex trafficking in India, her personal struggles, the colossal odds stacked up against her mission and her unfaltering belief in a higher power to keep her steady in her fight. I Am What I Am is the story of a charismatic, fiery woman who won’t be defined by any one part of her many child survivor of sexual assault, social entrepreneur, film producer, cancer survivor, motivational speaker.
Sunitha’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of one individual to ignite change in the face of overwhelming darkness.

About the Author
Activist, author and film producer, Sunitha Krishnan is the founder of Prajwala—Asia’s largest institution combating sex trafficking and sex crime. A recipient of the Padma Shri, Krishnan has been recognised as a Trafficking in Person Hero by the US government and was one of Newsweek’s 150 ‘Fearless Women in the World’. The therapeutic community of safe shelter homes established by her are considered an international best-practice model, and have ensure the dignity and lives of thousands of adult and child sex-trafficking survivors. Krishnan has also played an instrumental role in drafting several victim-centric policies, including the first ever anti-trafficking policy in India, a policy for minimum standards of care, a sex offenders registry and the introduction of video conferencing to record evidence of a trafficked victim. She has also worked to create several comprehensive training manuals and handbooks for law enforcers, the judiciary and other duty bearers of India’s anti-trafficking ecosystem.

Genres: Nonfiction

284 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[REMYA P]

I am humbled to see a human who dedicated her life to one of the most dangerous social uplifts and to fight against the most cruel way of harming humans.

[Zeina Mehal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Respect.

[Adite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the powerful memoir of an activist whose passion and dedication to the cause of rescuing victims of sex trafficking is simply awe inspiring. But being a good samaritan like Sunitha Krishnan doesn't need just passion but tremendous courage and a willingness to stick it out come what may. Because for every woman or child she has saved from sex slavery, she has had to counter vicious attacks from traffickers and often from the community at large and sometimes even from the victims themselves. There are numerous other hurdles including lack of support from the police and judiciary, enormous financial difficulties in setting up shelters and resistance from the community who feel that such shelters bring shame to their neighbourhood. And yet Sunitha Krishnan is like a disciplined soldier on a do-or-die mission.

This is her story...told with passion and absolute conviction. She even ruthlessly points out her own personality flaws that have often times sabotaged her own hard work. But as she says, she has learnt from the mistakes she has made. This story is as much about her own life as it is about her band of allies who have stood with her. It is as much a story about the survivors as it is about the saviour. And above all, it's Sunitha's unstinting belief in God, whom she says has opened doors for her at times when every door had been banged shut in her face. Sunitha's story is worthy of a bio-pic and I hope it will be made soon.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir that touches to the core, about problems and challenges faced due to the work that she and her team is doing.

[Hareesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir makes for a riveting account of how Sunitha Krishnan founded Prajwala and her journey of becoming a social entrepreneur to sustain the organization.
A true eye opener !