Ruchira Gupta interviewed Holly Bourne

Anti-sex-trafficking activist Ruchira Gupta talks about her debut novel for young adults, the story of an Indian teenager destined to be sold into the sex trade who sets out in search of a missing friend.

Heera is 14 and her father, like most living in the area, plans to sell her to the sex trade to pay off his debts. A chance meeting with a kung fu instructor makes her realise there is another way and she can use her body to protect herself and those she loves. When her best friend goes missing, she sets out on a rescue mission that will take her all the way to New York.

‘I have seen the courage of girls just like Heera to never give up. I have seen how kung fu became a central point for girls to suddenly gain confidence and like their own bodies again. I have seen the power of the women’s movement.’ Ruchira Gupta

‘A powerhouse of a debut . . . at once propulsive and enlightening, infuriating and inspiring. Heera’s story is a beacon of hope to a generation of young people trying to transform an unjust world.’ Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay

Gupta is a journalist and founder-president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an anti-sex-trafficking organisation that has helped thousands of girls and women in India leave a life of forced prostitution.  Among her awards are the French Ordre National du Mérite, the Clinton Global Citizen Award and the UN NGO CSW Woman of Distinction. Her documentary, The Selling of Innocents, won an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Here she talks to critically acclaimed young adult author Holly Bourne, whose books are inspired by her own work with young people and experiences of everyday sexism. Her latest book for young adults is You Could Be So Pretty.

Age: young adult