Dr. Mamatha Achanta is a women’s and children’s rights activist, pro-bono lawyer, and founder of Tharuni – a non-government organization working for the welfare of adolescent girls and women. She is a graduate of Coady’s Community Development Leadership by Women (2016) and Advocacy: Increasing Citizen Voice and Agency (2018) programs, and was a 2018 Coady Women’s Research Fellow.
Now, she is receiving a prestigious acknowledgement of her work and dedication as she receives the “Achievement and Excellence in Human Rights” award at the Global Summit-Cum-Expo on Spirituality for Unity, Peace, and Prosperity.
With decades of justice work behind her, Dr. Achanta says she is not finished yet.
“I feel humbled for receiving [this award],” she says, “I recommit myself to continue this journey of service to the needy women and children.”
Dr. Achanta has stopped hundreds of child marriages and was instrumental in bringing new legislation and policies to tackle this problem in India. Through girls clubs she has mentored more than 13,000 adolescent girls in rural villages in Telangana State and helped them avoid child marriage, labour, and trafficking. She has filed 126 public interest litigations as a pro-bono lawyer to help women and children who are in need.
Read more about Dr. Achanta’s work.