Mitha Choudhury

Mitha Choudhury is the Program Directorof the EMPOWER Center at Sanctuaryfor Families in New York City, a multidisciplinary program providing legal,social, medical, and economic empowerment services to survivors of commercialsexual exploitation and sex trafficking. She holds a Master of Science inForensic Psychology, where her thesis on online child sexual exploitationsparked her commitment to combating sexual violence.

Over the past decade, Mitha has worked across the UK and the US indirect services, advocacy, and systems reform for survivors of gender-basedviolence and human trafficking. At EMPOWER, she oversees a diverse team thatprovides trauma-informed services to individuals impacted by the sex trade,ensuring survivors have access to pathways for safety, healing, andindependence. She has extensive hands-on experience conducting outreach inpartnership with law enforcement, facilitating coercion resiliency groups thathelp survivors identify manipulation and control tactics used by traffickersand abusers, and developing professional trainings to equip service providerswith a nuanced understanding of CSE dynamics.

Since 2022, Mitha has led communications for New Yorkers for the Equality Model (NYFEM), a coalition advocatingfor legislation to decriminalize people in prostitution and hold exploitersaccountable. She has produced notable advocacy campaigns including “End Demand, End Sex Trafficking”featuring Terry Crews and “Can Money BuyConsent?” narrated by Ashley Judd.

Mitha also co-chairs the FeministJustice Committee at Sanctuary for Families, where she leads initiativesaddressing femicide and itsintersections with other forms of gender-based violence. Her work unitessurvivor-centered care, advocacy, and public education to advance justice andequality for all survivors.