Durba Bandyopadhyay

Durba Bandyopadhyay has more than 12 years of experience as a researcher and trainer in a variety of sectors in social work. She is presently the leader of the ‘Adolescent Programme’ of Jabala Action Research Organisation that has made significant interventions in the fields of child rights, human trafficking, sex work, migration and women’s labour in the Indian states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. Trained as a scientist, she has held teaching positions at some prestigious educational institutions in Kolkata including the Department of Pharm Tech at Jadavpur University. For the past 15 years, she has been working as a resource person for several NGOs that work in the areas of public health, reproductive rights and child marriage. She also actively provides research support to initiatives on sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS control and prevention of child marriage. She has been a speaker at several significant international forums including the Ford Foundation Centre for Social Justice, New York. Currently, her primary area of action research is the socio-cultural aspects and fundamental rights of women and girls from the Santhal and Pahariya indigenous and marginalized tribes in the eastern states of India.