Anoyara Khatun (born 1996) is an Indian

children's rights Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

advocate. In 2017, at the age of 21 years, she was conferred India's highest civilian award for women, the Narishakti Puruskar, for her contributions to fighting

child trafficking Trafficking of children is a form of human trafficking and is defined by the United Nations as the "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, and/or receipt" kidnapping of a child for the purpose of slavery, forced labour and exploitation. ...

and

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...

in the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

Life

Anoyara Khatun was born in a below-poverty-line family in Choto Asgara village,

Sandeshkhali Sandeshkhali is a village in the Sandeshkhali II CD block in the Basirhat subdivision of the North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Sandeshkhali is located at . Area overview The area shown in the ...

, rural

North 24 Parganas district North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...

, West Bengal in 1996. She lost her father at an early age, and when she was twelve she was taken to New Delhi where she worked as a

domestic help A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

. After a few months as a domestic worker, she escaped and returned to her village and found the condition of children in it terrible. Children were being forced into labour, and some were trafficked to the cities and over the border into Bangladesh, while others were forced into child marriage. With the intention of changing the situation around her, she came in contact with 'Dhagagia Social Welfare Society' and

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

, where she learnt the concept of

child rights Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

. To reach out to a larger number of people, she initiated the process of forming groups which would be self-reliant in child rights. Within a short period of time Anoyara helped to reunite 180 trafficked children with their families, stopped nearly three dozen child marriages, rescued 85 children from child labour and got 400 children back into school. In 2011,

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...

felicitated her. In 2012, Anoyara emerged as one of the three nominees for International Children’s Peace Prize. On 8 March 2017,

International Women’s Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

, Anoyara Khatun was conferred India's highest civilian award for women, the Narishakti Puruskar, for the year 2016, for her contributions to fighting

and

in the state of

. Anoyara Khatun has been invited to participate in the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in 2015 and 2016 as an advocate of children's rights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatun, Anoyara Living people Nari Shakti Puraskar winners 1996 births