Projects

Diti was almost being trafficked but she escaped. The trauma still haunts her and it’s hard for her to trust anyone now. She was rescued at the last minute only to find herself back in a broken home. Her mother who was separated from her husband long ago, was suffering from an incurable illness. Diti only wanted to continue her education but without a stable financial situation it was extremely difficult.

With all of your support Lead In Heels stepped in to help Diti to continue her education. We partnered with GGBK (Goranbose Gramin Bikas Kendra) and supported her by paying her college fees. She completed her college degree and also re-trained herself in the skill development centre. Currently she is pursuing more courses to make herself self-sufficient.

Age - 54, 60, 66, 40, 50, 60, 58, 40, 55, 42, 36, 32, 32, 23, 23, 23, 26. These are the ages of 17 men who raped & sexually harassed a 12 yearr old girl in Chennai for 7 months. #ChennaiHorror. We are continuing to raise awareness of the atrocities women and children face around the world and advocating for action via education. No means No.

For more than a decade, Neha Rastogi suffered regular violence at the hands of her abusive husband, Abhishek Gattani.  Despite seeing a 5-minute recording of that abuse, the Santa Clara District Attorney's office agreed to a deal that reduced the top charge against Abhishek from felony assault to felony accessory (a "non-violent" crime), with an accompanying misdemeanor of "offensive touching." Under this plea agreement, Abhishek could serve less than two full weeks in jail. We are organizing a peaceful protest outside the Palo Alto courthouse on the day of sentencing to demand justice for Neha.

After devastating news of rape and murder of Asifa, we are organizing a peaceful rally demanding justice for her and all rape victims, to stop rape culture by bringing awareness in the community, by advocating for the passing of stricter laws to punish rapists and for the need of financial support and security to rape survivors.

Papiha Nandy has been invited as the Keynote Speaker at the SEWA International USA Fundraiser

Over 70 Bay Area activists are joining hands to hold a protest and candlelight vigil in front of the Consulate of India San Francisco in response to the outrageous news of a 23-year-old, female medical student’s brutal gang rape on a Delhi bus December 16, 2013 by six drunken men. 

After listening to the hardships facing by the villagers from GGBK(Goran Bose Gramin Bikas Kendra), LIH. became instrumental to provide transportation to overcome this challenge.

A big thank you goes out to Mr. Ram K. Sharma from the Baidyanath company in India who after listening of the difficulties faced by the villagers was generous enough to donate a car for transportation.

Lead In Heels made sure that the transportation is used to travel to the remotest corners of Sunderbans, taking the vulnerable community dwellers, ensure safe transportation for survivors back and forth from the court.

After visiting Co-Founder Triveni Acharya at the home base of Rescue Foundation in India in 2015, Papiha Nandy is launching a U.S. campaign to raise awareness and fundraise for Rescue Foundation which aids in the rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation of women and children who are victims of sex trafficking. We are conducting a Meet & Greet for Community Members and Donors to connect with Acharya with a televised interview of her work. 

Brock Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. Judge Persky sentenced him to only six months in county jail. We are teaming up with Michelle Dauber, Chair of 'Recall Persky' to remove him from his seat.

Update: He has been successfully recalled after a registrar of voters certified the election results with a crushing 62% of voters voting for his removal! Aaron Persky is no longer a judge in Santa Clara County.

Davis Women in Business invites Papiha Nandy to speak at summit and writes: "You are an ideal role model of what hard work can translate into. Your fierce stance on women’s rights and passionate push for women empowerment resonates with our mission as well. You will be able to bring insight and advice for young women that are seeking to be in your field or related fields." 

We are organizing a Meet & Greet during Vijaya-Dashami for community members and donors to join hands with Padmashree Dr. Sunitha Krishna of Ek Disha, a non profit organization working against sex slavery and exploitation. 

This is the story of Runa Middye. She is a survivor of human trafficking. When I met her she was thin and frail and traumatized by her past.

Lead in Heels helped her while she was going through poverty and was struggling with life. She had none to go to. LIH partnered with GGBK a NGO in India and helped her to stand on her feet and become financially independent. LIH supported her by providing her with basic skill training, learning finances to run her business and gave her seed money to start a poultry farm and gave her goats to earn. INR 20,000/- was given to Runa for these purposes.

Slowly she managed to get a small piece of land from her father which she transformed into a place to build her hut and a cage to keep the hens.

Today, she is doing better and is managing to take care of her family.

​

In response to the unjust release and minor sentencings of sex crimes against children, we are holding a fundraising brunch to bring together a strong network of women in the community to raise awareness and funds in partnership with Swati Maliwal, the New Delhi Commission of Women, and the Rape Roko movement which is demanding  a robust criminal system with punishments to be exemplary through stringent law, effective policing, strengthened forensics and increased fast track courts.

We are organizing a peaceful rally on May 18, 2018. Upon news that Neha Rastogi's domestic violence court case has been moved, we are deciding to stick to our planned rally on May 18th and will hold another on the day of sentencing. We cannot get justice for this battered woman without all your support.

We are organizing community members to join the Women's March in the Bay Area in support of human rights, civil liberties, and social justice for all. On the anniversary of the historic 2017 Women's March, we kick off a commitment to education, action and engagement leading up to the 2018 mid-term elections. #HearOurVote #PowerToThePolls

A long time supporter, donor, volunteer and publicist for Narika since its inception in 1992, Papiha Nandy is invited to speak about domestic violence and women empowerment.