Asha Rising offers hope and support to elderly women who have experienced sex
trafficking, stigma, and poverty by providing permanent housing, healthcare, classes, and opportunities to create and sustain community.
ASHA RISING
MISSION
Context
Many women who age out of the sex industry are barely able to eke out a livable wage and are in distress and in dire need of support systems. With so few choices and resources available to them, many elderly survivors must beg for food or face starvation. Asha Rising aims to fill that gap.
Why Older Women?
In the global effort to address the effects of sex trafficking, elderly
survivors continue to be relegated to the margins or are rendered
invisible altogether. Yet elderly survivors carry compound traumas and
face numerous vulnerabilities due to health issues, neglect, social
stigma, abuse by family members, inability to work, fragility, poverty, and
lack of support and care.
At Asha Rising, we believe that women who have experienced sex trafficking should not be stigmatized and are deserving of respect, care, kindness, and support.
Our Roadmap
Women Sustaining Women
At Asha Rising, our residents:
- Receive regular medical check-ups and health care
- See a trauma counselor
- Take literacy, art and yoga classes
- Participate in self-care practices including meditation and gardening
- Engage in community building through shared activities and outings
At Asha Rising, staff and leadership will:
- Be comprised–where possible–of people who are survivors themselves
- Be comprised of people whose approaches are trauma-informed and who have experience working with survivors
- Strive to be accountable to residents and encourage partnership, participation, and honest communication
- Take residents on outings and consistently create opportunities to build and maintain community
- Build community and trust with non-residents by delivering packages of food to elderly survivors who live in the community
How Can Asha Rising Affect Change?
By partnering with community members and organizations to create multiple permanent homes in the brothel lanes for elderly women who have aged out of the sex industry, we can:
- Interrupt and redefine how space is being used in the brothel lanes
- Address the need for permanent housing for women who are living with the stigma of having worked in the sex trade
- Increase women’s agency and control over their bodies and lives
- Pioneer change by offering and modeling support systems for elderly survivors
- Pilot and sustain community-based initiatives that can be replicated
- Hire and promote women to leadership positions
- Provide women with alternate sources of income (if they wish to work)