By Andrea Nichols, Ph.D., Professor, St. Louis Community College Forest Park; Lecturer, Washington University in St. Louis; Gateway Alliance Against Human Trafficking Member.
As we enter the New Year, which is also Human Trafficking Awareness Month, some readers of this blog may be making resolutions or thinking about ways to contribute to the movement to address human trafficking and ally with survivors. There are multiple ways the average person can engage in anti-trafficking activities that will ultimately benefit survivors, including continuing education about the issue in order to better educate others; volunteering or donating your time or special skills; or sponsoring a fundraiser or items raising initiative for organizations that provide services to survivors.
There are many ways to continue your education about human trafficking, including reading books, watching webinars, and engaging with your local anti-trafficking coalition. Some survivors are professionals actively working in the anti-trafficking field and have written books about their experiences, expertise, and insights into prevention and response efforts. Books that are data driven and aim to provide an accurate evidence base to guide anti-trafficking responses are also available. Furthermore, there are national anti-trafficking organizations that offer free live or recorded webinars that are survivor centered and aimed at professionals in various sectors as well as for general audiences, such as HEAL, Freedom Network, and World Without Exploitation. Joining your local anti-trafficking coalition, which all who are reading this blog have already done, opens opportunities for education and awareness as well. GAHT offers trainings, courses, blogs, and webinars, among other activities. Importantly, by better educating yourselves, you can better educate others. Addressing misinformation is important to anti-trafficking efforts, as it impacts perceptions of human trafficking, which in turn impacts identification, prevention and response efforts. For example, professionals and community members identify what they are trained to identify, and if that education is inaccurate, lacking context or incomplete, then anti-trafficking efforts will not be as impactful as they have the potential to be. While popular movies and television shows may be intriguing to watch, they may significantly oversimplify the issue or portray human trafficking as a monolith. The reality is that human trafficking is incredibly complex and multifaceted, and typical experiences are not as sensationalistic as those represented in popular media. Social media also functions to spread misinformation about the issue, distorting the average person’s conceptualization of human trafficking by emphasizing abduction, kidnapping, and physical constraints. While such cases do occur, they compose a minority of experiences, and it is important to recognize and be educated about human trafficking in all (and its most common) forms to offer support to all survivors. Request a training or presentation in your community, workplace, school, or faith-based organization to increase education and awareness about human trafficking.
In addition to continuing your education, you can also contribute to anti-trafficking efforts through volunteering your time or special skills. Think about your own skills and strengths, and what you may have to offer. There are dentists who offer free services to human trafficking survivors, tattoo artists who offer free cover-ups of emotionally challenging tattoos that survivors may have acquired during their trafficking experience, and therapists who offer pro-bono spots for survivors. Perhaps you have your own business, and would consider becoming a sponsor for an organization. Consider your own strengths and what you have to offer, and contact local anti-trafficking direct service providers, such as The Covering House, Crisis Aid, and Healing Action, to see if those strengths and skills align with their needs. Simply offering volunteer work as needed is also beneficial, to organizations who explicitly work with survivors, as well as organizations with a broader service population that are likely to interact with human trafficking survivors, such as food pantries, shelters for unhoused people, intimate partner violence related services, rape and sexual assault services, and more.
In addition, consider engaging in a fundraiser for anti-trafficking organizations. This might involve directly raising funds (using links provided by the organizations), or engaging in a needed items raising event. Most anti-trafficking organizations have wish lists, or can provide you with one if you ask. Think about spaces and places where you are commonly interacting with others, such as your local gym or recreational facilities, faith-based organizations, workplace, college/university, or other places. Ask if you can place a donation box with informational flyers or QR codes (some organizations will provide you with these materials) along with a wish list in these spaces to gather much-needed resources. If you are able, consider directly donating funds or items to an anti-trafficking organization. These organizations are notoriously underfunded, and monetary contributions are always appreciated.
There is a role for all to play in anti-trafficking efforts, and this time of year is intended for thoughtful reflection on the role you will play and subsequent action.
Sources and Resources:
The Covering House. Take Action — The Covering House
Crisis Aid. Get In Touch – Crisis Aid International
Freedom Network. 2024. Webinars. Survivor Reentry Project | Human Trafficking Webinars and Live Training
GAAHT. 2024. All Courses | Gateway Alliance Against Human Trafficking
HEAL. 2024. Webinars .Webinars | HEAL Trafficking: Health, Education, Advocacy, Linkage
Healing Action. Start a Fundraiser – Healing Action Network
Lloyd, R. 2012. Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
Nichols, A. 2024. Sex Trafficking in the United States: Theory, Research, Policy and Practice. 2nd edition. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Sanders, S. 2015. Sex Trafficking Prevention: A Trauma-Informed Approach for Parents and Professionals. Scottsdale, AZ: Unhooked.
World Without Exploitation. 2024. Webinars. Now & Next Speaker Series Online Conference – World Without Exploitation