For over three decades, Advocate Varsha Deshpande has waged a relentless battle against female foeticide and gender violence in India. Leading 56 daring decoy operations, she exposed doctors performing illegal sex-determination tests and abortions, bringing many to justice. Her efforts led to the conviction of notorious names like Dr Saraswati and Dr Sudam Munde in Maharashtra.

In 2025, Deshpande was honoured with the United Nations Population Award for her extraordinary work. But she calls it a collective victory for the countless women who braved risks as part of her sting operations. Through her initiative Lek Laadki Abhiyan (LLA), launched in 2004, she worked across eight districts of Maharashtra to crack down on these crimes under the PCPNDT Act.

Beyond sting operations, Deshpande has fought for systemic reforms by demanding legal reviews in tampered cases. Her organisation, Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal, founded in 1990, also empowers women through counselling, legal aid, and programmes teaching youth to resist dowry, child marriage, and abuse.

Despite threats, she continues her mission to ensure women are not silenced or treated as invisible in India’s social and economic fabric. As she powerfully says, “The Constitution works on the roads — we are catalysts for justice.”