From a brothel to the UN — is the aid sector ready for survivor leadership?
By Shweta Katti // 13 March 2026
In development spaces, survivors are often welcomed as storytellers, but rarely trusted as decision-makers. Yet the girls I grew up with are not stories waiting to be told. They are leaders waiting to be trusted.
I was born and raised in a brothel in Mumbai. Today I am poised to speak at the United Nations about girls like the ones I grew up with.
This week I am in New York attending the Commission on the Status of Women, where I will speak on a panel titled “Hidden and Normalized Inequality and Violence: The Realities of Women from Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent.” The panel focuses on communities like mine, where gender discrimination is compounded by caste and occupation.
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About the author
Shweta Katti
Shweta Katti was born and raised in a Mumbai brothel. At 18, she became the first girl from an Indian red-light area to study abroad, and at 19, she received the U.N. Youth Courage Award. Today she is the director of Kranti School, a leadership academy for, and run entirely by, daughters of sex workers. She advocates globally for sex workers’ rights and survivor-led leadership.
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