“My mother and I had to come to Bombay to support ourselves, once my father sold our family food business and didn’t support us. She got into the sex trade since that time and I always feel upset because she thinks its ‘dirty work’. Why is it considered dirty? My mother is a woman of strength and I want her and all like her to know that it’s okay.

Dirty are those men who force themselves on us, abuse us and walk away. I was raped as well, but for 7 years I kept it within me because I thought I was dirty. It was only after I came to Kranti and went through intense therapy that I finally found a voice. I will start volunteering with a sex workers’ rights group next month and give speeches and detailed information on the rights of sex workers. I was once blaming myself for being raped, but today I know better — It’s not my fault. I want to inspire the thousands like me, who have kept quite and felt dirty. We’re not dirty ones.”