Grantee Honored as CNN Real Hero

If you’re a woman in Manipur, North India, it’s hard to feel safe. An area of chaos and violence, Manipur has a history of political instability and infighting between the dozens of ethnic groups who reside there. A weak economy has led to rampant extortion, kidnappings, and murders. Safe havens are few and far between.

In 2004, Binalakshmi Nepram founded the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network (MWGSN), helping female gun violence victims in one of India’s most dangerous regions. A survivor of the violence in Manipur herself, Binalakshmi and the MWGSN have helped Indian women earn livings, many whose husbands and family members are part of the over 20,000 victims to killings by more than 32 armed groups in Manipur in the last five decades.

On August 3^rd, Binalakshmi was named the recipient of CNN IBN’s Real Hero Award for 2011 in the women’s welfare category. The award recognizes 24 individuals working in India to improve lives in the areas of women’s welfare, social welfare, health & disability, youth, education & children, sports, and the environment.  Recipients are selected by a panel of experts on the various issues, and the award is made possible through CNN’s partnership with Reliance Industries Limited, India’s largest private sector enterprise.

In 2004, Ploughshares Fund awarded a grant to Binalakshmi aimed at controlling light weapons and small arms in Northeast India, marking the inception of the MWGSN. After witnessing gunmen kill a man in Manipur, Binalakshmi helped his widow buy a sewing machine so she could tailor clothing to earn money. The concept grew to become the MWGSN, which she called a “powerful byproduct of Ploughshares funded work”. Binalakshmi also utilized her grant to convert four young rebels into journalists reporting on armed conflict in Manipur.

Today, the MWGSN provides interest-free loans to women, giving them the funds to begin working in artistic and agricultural trades. With the ongoing violence and killings in Manipur, Binalakshmi’s work to assist the more than 300 women who become widows every year remains imperative.

Binalakshmi also serves as Secretary General of Control Arms Foundation of India. In 2010, she won the Sean MacBride Peace Prize, given for outstanding work in peace, disarmament, and human rights by the International Peace Bureau in Geneva. She will receive her Real Hero award at a ceremony on August 17^th in Mumbai.