You are reading

Corona Women Who Was Once Victim of Sex Trafficking Wins National Award

Shandra Woworuntu speaks onstage during the L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth Celebration 2017 (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for L’Oreal)

Dec. 7, 2017 By Tara Law

A Corona woman who escaped sex slavery and then became an advocate for other survivors has won a prestigious national award.

Shandra Woworuntu, 41, was named the 2017 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth National Honoree at a ceremony last night in Manhattan. She was one of 10 honorees nominated for the award.

She received $35,000 and will use the funds to provide vocational and therapeutic services to survivors via the non profit she formed called Mentari.

After receiving the award, Woworuntu spoke of the importance of individuals in enacting change.

“Each of us is an agent of change, and I believe that this platform will help me bring change… for a better world,” she said.

Woworuntu was born in Indonesia. When she was 24, she answered an advertisement offering temporary employment in the U.S. She arrived in New York in June 2001, believing that she would be placed in a hotel job in Chicago.

However, her recruiters proved to be her captors and used physical, sexual, and verbal abuse to force her into prostitution in New York City.  Her captors would hold a hunting knife to her throat if she resisted.

She eventually escaped by leaping from the second-floor bathroom window of a house.

Woworuntu was eventually put in touch with the FBI and she later testified against several members of a sex trafficking ring.

In the years that followed, Woworuntu sought to help other victims of human trafficking. She would search for victims, advise them how to escape and then house them in her Corona dwelling.

She also helped the survivors learn employable skills such as house cleaning and cooking. In 2008, she started a catering company to employ women who were staying in shelters after escaping domestic violence or trafficking.

In 2014, she founded Mentari in Manhattan in 2014, which teaches survivors how to cook and offers other services

Since its inception, the nonprofit’s cooking program has enrolled 200 survivors of human trafficking. Of the 98 graduates, all but one has gained employment.

email the author: [email protected]

One Comment

Click for Comments 

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

CM Moya announces support for massive Metropolitan Park proposal near Citi Field

Council Member Francisco Moya announced his support for Metropolitan Park, a proposal put forward by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International that calls for the construction of a casino and entertainment complex on the parking lot just west of Citi Field.

In a lengthy statement released on Thursday afternoon, Moya said that when he was first approached about the project, his main consideration was ensuring that it would meet the needs of his constituents and provide a major boost to the local economy.

Manhattan bouncer charged in New Year’s Day fatal stabbing in Elmhurst: NYPD

A Manhattan man was arrested on Saturday and charged in the fatal stabbing of an East Elmhurst man during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in what notably became the city’s first homicide of 2024.

Torrence Holmes, 35, of St. Nicholas Place in Hamilton Heights, was taken into custody at his home and transported back to Queens, where he was booked at the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst on manslaughter and other charges on Saturday afternoon.