When we first started Asha Rising, it was with the idea that we could offer a place of possibility and support to elderly survivors in need. So we rented out two humble rooms across from a brothel in Sonagaachi and hoped that women would not only begin to trust us, but also to see that there was a refuge available for them if and when they needed it. In our first two years of operation, however, it wasn’t so easy to earn their trust. In part, it was because women in the community couldn’t figure out why we were offering something in exchange for nothing. In other words, they believed that we wanted something from them–that there had to be a catch. But over time, community members began to see there was no catch—and that Asha Rising was in fact a safe and loving place. As a result, elderly survivors began showing up at our doorstep. Sometimes they came because they’d heard about us from another survivor. Other times they came because someone from the community had seen them on the roadside and stopped to tell them about us. Within a short period of time, we had to expand to a three-story building so we could meet the growing need for refuge. We now offer permanent housing to more than twenty survivors of sex trafficking, the oldest of whom is 91.
When we look back and recall the faces of the women who first came to us, those faces reflected fear, desperation, mistrust, and despair. What we now see in our residents is a sense of joy and belonging. They care for one another. They are ambassadors to newcomers. They take pride in their home. After becoming part of the Asha Rising family, our residents tell us they feel a sense of peace in knowing they have found a community and a home where they can live out their days in peace. Considering the vulnerability and stigma so many of our residents have experienced, finding “peace” and “refuge” at such a vulnerable stage of life are not small things. At Asha Rising, we believe that together with our residents, we have co-created a unique and powerful refuge that not only interrupts and redefines how space can be used inside the brothel lanes, but also offers a model of what’s possible in a world when survivors are valued and cherished at all stages of life.
