She loves food and yoga, and she incessantly checks Instagram every few minutes to check the number of likes. Seventeen-year-old Rani sounds like every other millennial out there, and the fact that she was born the daughter of a sex worker deters her in the least.
“No, I am not ashamed that my mom was a sex worker because I know whatever she did, she did for my family,” Rani declares in an episode from the series In Her Shoes. “Whatever struggle I have faced in my life, those things made me stronger. And I know, making my future is in my hands right now.”
Rani was born in the Kamathipura red-light district in Mumbai. The children born here are accustomed to violence and sexual abuse as well as discrimination wherever they go. “A whore’s daughter can only be a whore,” is something Rani grew up hearing. A non-governmental organisation called Kranti has been helping the girls, including Rani, from Kamathipura.
The series by filmmakers Doree Simon and Caz Tanner captures a day in Rani’s life. The series explores women around the world who have transcended their circumstances in their efforts to empower themselves.