Univ student Niyita Sharma (2024, Law) is Founder and Executive Director of the Pratisandhi Foundation, an organisation working in India to provide sex education and empower young people to make informed decisions about their sexual health.

The organisation recently secured ten million rupees (approximately £82,000) to fund school-based consent education programmes in India over the next three years. The funding will enable the foundation to train teachers, deliver age-appropriate curricula to adolescents, and strengthen safeguarding practices across partner schools.

The work of the foundation aligns closely with Niyati’s studies in law and child protection, which form part of her BA in Jurisprudence with Senior Status.

Niyati said: “Studying law at Oxford has deeply shaped the way I think about my work with the Pratisandhi Foundation. My coursework in jurisprudence and administrative law has helped me understand how rights and responsibilities are structured, and how policy and law interact to protect young people. It’s given me a framework to think critically about the systems surrounding education, consent, and child safeguarding, and how these can be made more equitable through both grassroots interventions and institutional reform.”

Niyati, who previously received the prestigious Diana Award for her contribution to social action and humanitarian efforts, founded the Pratisandhi Foundation in 2017. What began as an online platform grew into a non-profit organisation that has delivered over 550 workshops across India.

Niyati said: “Being at Oxford has also given me the confidence to believe that no goal is too small and that grassroots change can meaningfully feed into policy. My legal training has helped me navigate the frameworks that connect community action with systemic reform. For instance, through our work at the Pratisandhi Foundation, we are now engaging directly with policymakers including support from an MP for a national consent education policy that we are sharing with Parliament for their consideration. Oxford has helped me see how rigorous academic grounding and youth-led action can work hand in hand to create sustainable social impact.”

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Published: 14 January 2026

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