Rita Banerji

Rita Banerji is a writer, photographer, and gender activist. She is the founder of The 50 Million Missing Campaign, a global campaign that is fighting the ongoing female genocide in India. Born and raised in 17 towns all over India, Rita moved to the U.S. at 18, where she attended Mount Holyoke College, and later The George Washington University. Her education and work had largely been in the environmental field, and many of her projects had a gender focus. However, at 30 when she returned to India, she found herself at another crossroad. She now wanted to bring her own visions, beliefs and understanding of the world into the work she did. So she took to writing and photography, and in 2006 founded her campaign. Her book Sex and Power: Defining History, Shaping Societies came out in 2009. It was long-listed for the Vodaphone-Crossword Non- Fiction Book Award (India). The same year she also received The Apex Award for Magazine and Journal Writing (U.S.A.). An atheist and humanist, the closest she has come to religion is in her reverence for nature. Her vision for the future she thinks is somewhere in Beethoven’s 9th symphony! Her website is www.ritabanerji.com.