Priya and the Lost Girls

Created as part of a larger initiative to move people, especially young people, to take action against gender-based violence (GBV) around the world, Priya and the Lost Girls is a comic book focused on sex trafficking that uses augmented reality (AR) to entertain while educating readers. It is the third in a comic book series described at Related Summaries, below, and it is intended to be used as a conversation starter on what is a very difficult topic.

Inspired by ancient mythological tales, the comic book tells the story of Priya, a mortal Indian superhero woman and gang-rape survivor who, in the earlier books, challenged the stigma surrounding rape and campaigned against acid attacks. Here, Priya returns home on her flying tiger, Sahas (Hindi for courage), and discovers that all the young women have disappeared from her rural village. She learns they were taken to an underground brothel city that is ruled by the sex-trafficker Rahu, an evil demon who gets his power through fear and entrapment of women, including Priya's sister Lakshmi. A woman who works for Rahu tries to lure her into the sex trade, but Priya manages to convince Lakshmi and the other women to leave Rahu and break his spell over them. When the survivors return home, however, they are treated like "lepers", facing stigma, scorn, and ridicule from their own people and family, which angers Priya and leads to a dramatic conclusion.

By scanning the cover and pages of the comic book with the free AR app Artivve, readers can unlock additional content. including 3D-animation, real-life stories, and other fully immersive experiences including use of green-screen characters.

Producer Rattapallax conducted research in the red-light districts in Mumbai and Kolkata, India, with non-governmental organisation (NGO) partner Apne Aap Women Worldwide. They incorporated the voices of women in the brothels into Priya and the Lost Girls. Apne Aap indicates that there are 100 million people trapped in human trafficking globally, of which 27 million are in India alone, and most of the trafficking is in girls and young women. The NGO contends that fighting trafficking necessitates "de-normalising" the sex trade and believes that cinema, art, and pop culture are tools to help do that.

Priya and the Lost Girls launched during the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence" (November 25 - December 10) 2019, with events in Agra (Uttar Pradesh, India), London (United Kingdom - UK), and near Washington, DC (United States - US).