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.