ABOUT US

Discover more about our story

OUR FORMATION STORY

Saheli HIV/AIDS Karyakarta Sangh Saheli is a Sex Worker’s Collective and was formed as a Public Charitable Trust in 1998 under Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra with Society’s and Trust Act with its headquarters in Pune at Budhwar Peth known as Red light area, with an aim to bring women in sex work together to resolve their issues with a rights-based approach. The Saheli Sangh is a community-based organization and the only Female Sex Workers (FSWs) collective in the Pune City. The organization has a very encouraging history of struggle, commitment; alliance building and solidarity by the community, for the community and of the community to ensure rights based social inclusion for the excluded and marginalized population. Started with 9 community members, Saheli has strong support of 2200 community members behind it.

Our Vision

Empowerment of women in sex work through Collectivization.

Mission

To provide health care support to women in sex work. To provide necessary social services to women in sex work. To change the attitude of society towards women in sex work

Aim

To enhance and enable greater levels of self-protection among sex workers through a sense of togetherness, collective action and the most important is creating an identity.

SAHELI TODAY

Being the only sex workers collective in Pune it, empowers communities by strengthening individual capacity, agency and leadership as well as solidarity, and collective actions. The leadership has more than 20 years’ experience in community development and having field interventions and partnerships in more than 12 districts in Maharashtra. Saheli Sangh works as a member of National Network of Sex Workers (India) which is having its members across 8 states in India.

The organization is engaged rigorously with the community for more than a decade now. It is the only organization having access to all brothels in Pune’s red- light area. Since it’s inception Saheli follows democratic norms and practices for communication, participation and representation. As a result the organization is experiencing growing membership in general body and collective. Due to relentless efforts by the community and the coalition the HIV prevalence gone down among sex workers remarkably in last decade. With strong community oriented approach Saheli has enormously useful in providing various relief to women in sex work and their families during COVID 19 pandemic.

APPROACH

Mobilizations​

healthcare

Care and Support Services​

Networking

Referral services

Advocacy

Skills Development

Empowerment

FOCUS AREA

Being a community- based organization and collective of women in sex work, Saheli follows the process of community participation in all its activities through the peer lead structure. Working with a strong synthesis of community and non- community members and staff, Saheli had established in Pune as an effective sex worker’s collective.

Saheli Sangh is working with and for women in sex work in and around Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. The target audiences is women in sex work, their children, partners of sex workers, brothel keepers, police and other organizations/groups in the red light area.

Sex workers are from the lower economic strata and mostly immigrants from different parts of India and neighbouring countries-Nepal and Bangladesh. Saheli as a sex worker’s collective works with its adult and self-identified sex workers.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

IMAGINE (U.S.)

Received Josie Maran Cosmetics IMAGINE (U.S.) Prize for outstanding work with IMAGINE India.

Best legal awareness

Received best legal awareness practices by National Legal Aid Authorities of India

Quality Brands- 2016-18

Awarded ‘Quality Brands- 2016-18’ by Quality Brand Times, Mumbai.

National and International level Awards

Received several other awards at the National and International level