We Cry In Silence

A., who is now 19, eloped with a man several years ago. After she overheard him making plans to sell her to a brothel in Kolkata, she managed to escape. She was found at the railway station in Canning, West Bengal, India by representatives of Childl

We Cry In Silence

$50.00

(SIGNED COPY + ZINE + SIGNED PRINT)

'We Cry In Silence' is my eight-year long investigation on cross-border trafficking of minor girls across India, Bangladesh and Nepal for sex work and domestic servitude. The project unveils the vulnerability of these girls and highlights the reasons of what make them easy preys to the designs of the traffickers. The goal is to scrutinize and try to understand this complex global issue and to open a dialogue that would hopefully galvanize more people to work towards some solutions.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Smita Sharma – We Cry In Silence

Photographer: Smita Sharma (born in India, based in Delhi)

Photo Editor: Sarah Leen

Essays and Texts: Dr. P.M. Nair, Smita Sharma

Languages: English, Hindi, Bengali

Book Cover - Illustration

Design: Fernanda Fajardo and Joao Linneu

Text Editor: David Stuart

Hardback with round edges, hand sewn with yellow thread and open binding (spine); 6.75 x 9 inches (17 x 22.5 cm)

Printed by Thomson Press (India) Ltd; ISBN 978-1-7324711-9-1

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Quantity:

Add To Cart

About the book

A chance meeting with a survivor in 2015 led me to investigate the murky world of trafficking in South Asia which turned into an eight-year project “We Cry In Silence,” resulting in a book, a zine, and an educational campaign. My work focuses on cross-border trafficking of underage girls in South Asia for sex work and domestic servitude. Through my book and campaign, We Cry In Silence, I’ve tried to put a face to this issue and fill in the gaps.

I've worked closely with the Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the police and have joined them on multiple rescue operations. When some of the officers saw my work, they said it deeply motivated them and they suggested something more permanent, which they could use as training material. These thoughts planted the seed of publishing a book. In order to protect the privacy of the girls and to comply with Indian laws that prohibit the visual identification of victims of sexual crimes, I photographed them with various techniques to obscure their identities.

We Cry In Silence is a multi-lingual photo book (English, Hindi, Bengali) published by FotoEvidence. Apart from images, the book includes illustrations, resources and other educational material.

A part of this long term project was commissioned by National Geographic Magazine and published globally as Stolen Lives in Oct 2020. For Stolen Lives, I received the Amnesty International Media award 2021 and the Fetisov Journalism Award for Outstanding Investigative Reporting.

We Cry In Silence received the Award of Excellence at POY International and the 2023 Lucie Photo Book Prize in the Independent Category.

If you've come this far, please consider supporting my project and campaign by purchasing a copy for yourself or as a gift for someone else. You can get a copy of the book from the FotoEvidence’s website as well.

We Cry In Silence won the Award of Excellence in the Photography Book of the Year 2022 category at Pictures of the Year International.

WE CRY IN SILENCE investigates the widespread but underreported issue of trafficking minors for sex and domestic servitude between Bangladesh, Nepal and India. The project unveils the vulnerability of girls and highlights what leads them into the traps of traffickers. The goal is to understand this complex, global issue at the local level, open a dialogue, and move people to work towards a solution.

EXHIBITIONS-

Photoville Festival, New York, US.
District Legal Service Authority, Karnal, Haryana, India.
Management Development Institute - MDI, Gurgaon, India.
IMP Festival, Padua, Italy.
Judicial Colloquium on Anti-Human Trafficking, Judicial Academy, Delhi, India.
National Consultation to Combat Human Trafficking, Delhi, India.
Bronx Documentary Center, New York, US.
Indian Photo Festival, Hyderabad, India.
TED Women Conference, Palm Springs, US.

PUBLICATIONS -

Smita Sharma presented a talk at TED Women 2021 conference held at Palm Springs, CA.

Smita was interviewed by BBC New’s Global prime time to speak about her project on domestic slavery in India.