Karma Rigzin

Rigzin studied Political Science at Delhi University, intending to become a lawyer, but instead joined Royal Bhutan Police in 2000. In 2006 she started a special unit for protection of women and children. In 2007, her team identified and prosecuted Bhutan's first criminal case involving human trafficking charges.[1] In 2017, she worked with UN peacekeeping forces in Sudan.[3] Colonel Rigzin has trained immigration officials, senior police officers, and non-commissioned officers on identification of trafficking victims and investigation techniques and has successfully advocated for increased funding for trafficking victim services.[1]

In June 2020 the US State Department named her as one of their 10 "heroes" for working to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP). In a ceremony at the White House, John Richmond, from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons said the award was given: "In recognition of her extraordinary leadership in pioneering Bhutan's victim-centered specialized national police unit on women and children that led to the first-ever criminal human trafficking case, and her pivotal role in significantly increasing anti-trafficking efforts across all departments of the government".[2]

When interviewed about her career as a police officer, Rigzin said: "You read in your Dzongkha textbook that life is impermanent and all that but you don't realize this until you see dead bodies, and I think the result is you become a better human being because you are more in contact with reality."[4]