Sharon Menezes

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Sharon Menezes is a social work educator and practitioner who collaborates with marginalized communities, paraprofessionals, and field workers to develop reintegration models for women affected by the criminal justice system—as survivors, accused persons, or residents of custodial institutions. Her work includes support for women exiting commercial sexual exploitation, women prisoners, and those in shelter homes.

An assistant professor at the Centre for Criminology and Justice (CCJ), School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, Sharon has led Prayas—a field action project of CCJ—for over 30 years. Under her guidance, Prayas has created long-term reintegration and rehabilitation interventions reaching more than 20,000 women. These include legal counseling, family strengthening, livelihood support, access to education, and building community allyship to prevent intergenerational cycles of criminalization.

Inspired by the lived experiences of women and the insights of social workers and paraprofessionals, Sharon developed India’s first academic course on the Social Re-entry of Criminal Justice-Affected Populations. The course draws on indigenous pedagogical frameworks and centers the field as a site for curriculum innovation and knowledge co-creation.

Learn more at Prayas on LinkedIn.

“The ORA Fellowship is an acknowledgment of the resilience and unheard voices of women and youth struggling to move away from crime, commercial sex, and destitution. It also recognises social workers who co-travel with affected people as they reconstruct their lives in safe and crime-free environs. The Fellowship offers impetus to these journeys – that co-construct indigenous knowledge about criminal justice social work in the Indian context.”