Fighting malnutrition from the grassroots of India
In Jharkhand, about 48% of children under five are underweight and 29% wasted, the highest rates in the country.
Srilekha is a Gender Rights Activist working with the tribal and marginalized communities in india. She is also a PhD scholar working on understanding body and sexuality among tribal girls because she realized that how little are indigenous woman and their stories prioritized in research and history. Her thesis prioritizes feminist ethnography and women's stories from the tribal heartland of India. Srilekha worked extensively in grassroots with community based organisations and her advocacy has been around Gender, Mental Health, Menstrual Hygiene and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) for the indigenous in Jharkhand, one of the poorest states in India for the last 6 years. Srilekha contributed in sustainable livelihood projects and legal aid programs with survivors of sex trafficking. She has been conducting research based programs on maternal health, mental health, gender based violence, sex and sexuality and have run advocacy campaigns on rights based approach and community health programs with tribes in Jharkhand. Her interest lies in conducting workshops for youth and adolescents on life skills, feminism, gender and sexuality, trauma, resilience and interpersonal relationships.
Srilekha has been working with the SDG 5 closely and runs a State wide campaign called 'PeriodspeCharcha' on ensuring mandatory Menstrual Hygiene Services for young girls in Jharkhand. She believes that menstruation is not a women's only issue but a public health concern. Her campaign 'Periods pe Charcha' or Let's Talk Period has impacted more than 2000 girls and woman in Jharkhand and empowered them to challenge the stigma around menstruation and talk about gender, sexuality and mental health. In areas where Srilekha works using technology for innovative projects is quite rare as it's vert remote. One of the tech based mobile health program on SRHR that she led in Jharkhand was awarded The 'Mobile for Good Awards' 2015 powered by Nasscom and Vodafone.
She is a Teach for India Alumni and an Alumni at the Young Connectors of Future Programme- Swedish Institute. She is an alumni from the Ewha Womens University, South Korea on the Ewha Global Empowerment Program and also one of the 30 Change makers from the 'She Creates Change' program powered by Change.org. Srilekha is a Goal Keepers with The Gates Foundation. She was awarded Web Wonder Women Award in the year 2019 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Twitter and BreakThrough India for her mission in bringing a change in her community through digital platforms.