LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A nonprofit based in Louisville helps marginalized women overseas.
Anchal teaches textile production to women in India and provides them a fair wage.
Anchal’s shop in Louisville is full of color and intricate designs.
“It’s entirely hand-stitched from six layers of vintage saris. So each of these artisans will then hand quilt these pieces and they’re all one of a kind,” said Collen Clines, cofounder and CEO of Anchal.
The artisans behind the textiles are what make Anchal special.
“Some have been in the sex trade or currently in the sex trade or survivors of domestic violence,”
Colleen clines started the nonprofit in 2010, as a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design, after a school trip to Asia.
“So I got to travel to India and met with a local NGO (non-governmental organizations) that work with women in a red-light district and then we came together to come up with an idea to start Anchal,” Clines said.
The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes Human Trafficking Report from 2024 shows women were the majority of victims of human trafficking in 2022. The total number of victims increased by 25% from 2019.
“I think it’s important for women to have opportunity, especially economic opportunity in developing communities. All they need is just someone to kind of give them a chance,” she said.
The nonprofit has employed 450 women, with workers creating over 130,000 products, helping those artisans in more ways than just financial.
“We’ve seen them start with something as simple as just buying fresh fruit for their children, to then sending their daughters to college, nursing school, doctors, you know, they all have big dreams for their children to break the cycle of poverty and, intergenerational prostitution,” Clines said.
All purchases of products online or at the Louisville store front will go back to the artisans in India.
Anchal also provides health camps, education workshops and continued design training for women in the program.
