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What’s in a word?
We have a lot of “word nerds” in our FTG world. It’s not uncommon for conversations to veer off into implications of using one word over another and choosing our verbiage with intention. This isn’t just a fun, albeit geeky, practice; survivors have told us time and time again that the words that counter-trafficking organizations use matter.
When our board and staff recently came together (read more about that here), we ended up having a lengthy conversation around the word reintegration. Is it really the goal to reintegrate a person who has been trafficked due to their marginalization or living on the fringes to their original situation? Reintegrate into poverty and isolation? Or is a better word integrate, suggesting something new where they are able to move and exist within the appropriate social structures of their local communities and society?
We have historically used the word reintegrate, mainly because it’s a recognized word in the counter-trafficking space as a part of the 3 Rs - rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Yet the term rescue is also problematic in many situations, not the least of which because 41% of detected trafficking victims are the ones who take initial action, not law enforcement or nonprofits and the term “rescue” removes all agency from these survivors. So maybe it is time to review our usage of the word reintegration as well.
Transparently, we have not officially landed on using one term over the other, but that’s just some BTS for the conversations we are having internally. It’s more than just semantics because, as we’ve mentioned before, the process takes a while. In fact, integrating a person into the social spaces they haven’t previously been able to maneuver may have a longer timeframe than reintegrating, helping a person return to a space she had previously inhabited. And we are committed to helping alleviate the situations, namely poverty and isolation, that left people vulnerable to exploitation in the first place.
What do you think? Reintegrate? Integrate? Another word entirely? As we spend this year defining our terms, it makes sense that these types of conversations arise. And we’d love for you to join into this dialogue. Comment or email us your thoughts! We’re all in this together, after all.
References
UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons
Why your participation matters.
Last month, for the first time in years, all Free The Girls board and staff members came together. It was a very fun, very full few days filled with celebration (13 years of existence for FTG!), naming what we’ve learned during our time in the counter-trafficking space and through conversations with survivors and citizens of other countries, and brainstorming and planning for the future.
One of the biggest shifts we’ve made as an organization arose from the realization that our bold statements of “true freedom” and “answering the question of ‘what comes next’” could not be answered solely with our bra-selling initiative, no matter how successful or earnest the plan was. Throughout the years, we saw firsthand how vital economic empowerment and the ability to make money in a dignified way was, but we also saw how long the shadow of trafficking looms through inability to secure housing rentals, lack of access to services many of us take for granted (many of the women are considered “unbankable” and banks will not allow them to open accounts), limited services for addictions or substance abuse, and even prior arrests or prison time served from crimes (often crimes they were forced to commit by their trafficker).
When we say “true freedom” and “we help answer the question of ‘what comes next,’” we have learned that helping women make money is a crucial piece to, but not the whole of the solution. One of the questions we often are asked is “Why haven’t you helped more women?” The answer is complicated and nuanced, but the short version is based on two things: the bra-selling initiative limited the countries we could work in and the number of women we could serve. And reintegration, in the truest sense of the word, can take a really really long time.
We are committed to only having the number of women we truly believe we can serve well. If our resources are stretched too thin, we will not be able to fully be present to the needs of the women in our program. As one of our staff members said last month, “It’s better that we’re serving less people in a deeper way than a large number of people in a much more shallow way.”
And this is why your participation matters, specifically your financial participation. Another thing we’ve learned over these last 13 years is that it’s very easy to collect bras (in fact, we have A LOT right now!). But it’s not as easy to get people to invest in the long-term safety and success of women as they navigate out of that looming shadow that trafficking has cast on their lives. And yet, these women have proven what can happen when they have committed people supporting them. One of our favorite quotes of all time comes from a woman in Mozambique who said, “We have shown you what we can do when you give, so you can’t get tired of giving.” There is generational change happening, relationships previously severed now restored, and women given back their options and choices and a say in what their lives look like - sometimes for the very first time.
So this summer, we invite you to take a step in participating in this important work. Join the Seed Collective, a monthly donor program comprised of people who get it, who understand that reintegration takes time, who recognize that being a safety net for these survivors is crucial for their long-term success, who realize that helping these women change the trajectory of their lives is incredibly important work. We’d absolutely love to have you join this collective of ours! Sign up here and begin the work of investing into the futures of women who have overcome so much.
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is coming up quickly here in the US. It’s become common practice to acknowledge that this day can stir a variety of emotions in people – from gratitude to grief, from joy to longing, from anger to sadness, and all or none of it and everything in between. As we grow older, we learn to view our parents through adult eyes – recognizing they are flawed humans with their own baggage and struggles. And ideally we are able to have healthy, quality relationships with them.
Motherhood is difficult regardless of where you live. Of course, the challenges may look different – the pressures to keep up Pinterest-worthy activities for your child is very different than sorting through potential partners for your child for a future arranged marriage. But no matter what country you live in, the effects of poverty on mothers can feel overwhelming.
Can I provide a safe home for my kids?
They grew out of their clothes again! How am I going to afford new shoes right now?
We don’t have the resources to send her to school right now – we either need her to work so we have enough to eat or have her watch her siblings so I can go to work.
All of my kids are sick but we only have enough money for medication for one. Which one do I choose?
I have cousins in the city who say they can care for the eldest. I’m not sure it’s safe, but what other choice do I have?
What am I going to do?
It isn’t uncommon for us to hear that women who have been previously exploited and trafficked turn towards survival sex because they don’t know how else to make quick money for their families. And heartbreakingly, it’s also not uncommon for mothers to introduce their daughters into the sex industry for the sake of the family.
We are in no way excusing the trafficking of children (yes, mothers can be traffickers). We are acknowledging the reality that mothers around the world find themselves in – a reality in which they do not see other options.
One of the things FTG is most proud of is that this is the 7th year in which every single child of a woman in our program is enrolled in a safe school. The school fees and requirements are paid for by the mothers, either wholly or subsidized by you and your donations. We can speak of daughters and sons of graduates enrolled in university, the first in their family to attend. We can show you children who are growing up in homes owned by their mothers, no longer vulnerable to predatory landlords. We can point out kids who have a very different relationship with their mothers than they had four years ago. We can also talk about a unique situation in Costa Rica in which a mother and her daughter are both working through FTG’s economic empowerment program – a far cry from when they were both in prostitution.
When you partner with FTG, you are helping women – mothers, grandmothers, future mothers, and daughters. And we know that when women are empowered, they lift their entire community up.
We would love for you to consider joining the Seed Collective this month, spending your well-earned dollars on being a monthly donor committed to walking with these women as they create generational change for their children, grandchildren, and future great-grandchildren - creating spaces where the whole family is flourishing within their community, unafraid and confident. Join today – in honor of your own mother, your own motherhood, or a woman in your life who has stood in as your mother. We will send her a special e-card along with a video message from one of our staff, welcoming her to the Seed Collective in which she will receive our exclusive monthly newsletters.
We have 3 designs you can choose from for your mom!
We’d love for you (and your mother figure!) to be a part of our collective in supporting mothers all around the world.
When we say “reintegration”….
We hold a unique space in the counter-trafficking world. More often than not, organizations associated with anti-trafficking are helping to get victims away from traffickers or providing shelter and safe houses for survivors as they spend some time healing.
But our very purpose is to answer the question “what next?”
What happens after the young girl ages out of the safehome? What happens after a person has completed the 10-steps towards healing? What happens after the legal case has its day in court? What happens when it’s time for the person to leave the security of a program and the safety-net of an organization?
We fully believe that being trauma-informed and healing-centered means that a past of oppression and trauma does not mean a destiny of dependence on others. We are committed to the idea of victims becoming survivors and survivors becoming flourishing members of their society, the idea that a woman never has to depend on another organization in order to survive. Granted, the shadow of trafficking is long which often means that unexpected barriers arise as a woman is working towards reintegration. We’ve previously outlined how difficult it is to survive as a survivor and the complexity of survivorship – but today we want to focus on what the reintegration that we work for looks like.
Reintegration means:
Healthy relationships – the ability to trust others and be trusted, able to create and hold boundaries while remaining open to compromise amidst conflict, to have a social safety net that she can turn to if an emergency arises, relationships filled with joy and fun that are mutually transformative, and having a sense of belonging in a community.
Financial stability – being confident in her financial literacy to where she will not be taken advantage of or cheated in the market, ability to make enough money to afford necessities including a safe home and food, having some savings that can sustain her family through market fluctuations, and eventually moving beyond the need for money to survive but to utilize it for thriving in her family and community.
Emotional and psychological health – acknowledging the difficulties of the past but not allowing those to define her present, future, or sense of self, being grounded in the present and able to regulate oneself, ability to think forward by planning and dreaming for the future, remaining confident and hopeful amidst setbacks and difficulties, and having a regular practice of fun
Isn’t this a beautiful picture of a flourishing individual?
Perhaps you’re reading this and wishing for the same in your own life.
We want to ensure that everyone - especially women who have been previously targeted for their gender, poverty, isolation, vulnerabilities – have the systems in place and tools at the ready to achieve this reality.
This can mean therapy, access to medical care, employment training, housing assistance, spiritual counseling, economic opportunities, and a variety of other things – some of which we can’t foresee. But we want to be poised and ready to assist – and this is made possible by our incredible group of monthly supporters, our Seed Collective members, who faithfully invest twelve times a year towards the full reintegration and flourishing of survivors of trafficking and their families.
We are launching a new campaign this month to gather more individuals who understand the long and complicated process of healing and reintegration. We would love for 15 more people (you!) to sign up in commitment to walking alongside these women to encourage them, help empower them, and support them through the messy and often non-linear path towards healing and reintegration. Because, after all, aren’t they worth it?
We’ve seen some things…
A note from co-founder and interim board president, Kimba Langas.
Next month I celebrate my 55th birthday, and as the saying goes, “I’ve seen some things”. There’s another birthday before mine, though.
Free The Girls turns 13! 🥳
And I find myself reflecting on what I’ve seen since April 28, 2010.
I’ve seen awareness of human trafficking explode, and with that came myths and misconceptions--and sometimes even politicization of the problem.
I’ve seen the good and bad of the power of social media. Free The Girls started as a Facebook page and social media has served us well in getting the word out and collecting both bras and bucks. But I’ve also seen social media spread misinformation about trafficking like wildfire—taking attention and resources away from where it’s needed most.
I’ve seen lives changed. Not just survivors, but those of donors and supporters. I’ve read poignant handwritten notes tucked in with bras sent to us by husbands who lost their wives to breast cancer. I hold sacred the stories I’ve heard from supporters who were drawn to help the women in our program because of their own lived experience with trauma, exploitation, and abuse.
I’ve seen my own life change. My heart has shattered, and I am forever haunted by stories of women, men, and children enduring the unimaginable in order to line the pockets of people who think their own lives hold more value over others. My passion about trafficking has expanded to a broader, deeper ache for anyone treated as “less than”.
I’ve seen the conversation shift from rescue to restoration. From saviorism to empowerment. From pity to pragmatism. From the what to the why. I ruminate on that quote about how we need to quit just pulling people out of the river and move upstream to find out why they are falling in the river in the first place.
I’ve seen the language shift alongside the thinking. I’ll admit, I cringe at some of the language I (we) used in the early days of Free The Girls (“former slaves”, “victims”, “voice for the voiceless”…ugh)
I’ve seen voices of survivors silenced, then amplified. Women once criminalized are now leading the conversations and looked to as experts. As they should be.
I’ve seen Free The Girls move beyond bras to a more holistic approach to reintegration: economic freedom, restored health, social well-being, education, and opportunity for a different, hopeful future. I’m energized and inspired as we dig even deeper to define “trauma-informed” and continue working towards true freedom (as defined by the women themselves!) in a healing-centered way.
I want to see more. More solutions, not quick fixes and band aids.
I want to see a world where we never stop addressing (and dare I hope—finally eliminate) susceptibilities to exploitation—like poverty, lack of social support, lack of education, and lack of opportunity.
I want to see a world where we look beyond opportunity and ensure everyone has access to those same opportunities.
And, most importantly, I want to see a future where organizations like Free The Girls no longer need to exist.
The Power of Collaboration
“Once you know, you can't unknow it."
We hear this frequently at FTG as people discover the realities of trafficking and find themselves forever changed, wanting to do something.
While Free The Girls has become well known for accepting donated bras and turning those bras into inventory for sex trafficking survivors to sell, the reality is it takes both bras and bucks to make it all work. We have lingerie partners (who we love!) but we have even more collaborators who have invested in FTG in ways that continue to surprise and inspire us.
These investments have made a lasting impact, funding reintegration services for survivors, and allowing our organization to evolve and thrive. In the spirit of collaboration (co-labor being the idea!) it’s important to Free The Girls that we go beyond simply offering investment opportunities for brands. We design custom collaborations by providing trafficking education to employees and students, speakers for events, presentations for employees, volunteer opportunities, reports on impact, and much more!
Here are some highlights of those collaborations!
Maybe they will inspire you, too.
Businesses
LR International saw the first CNN Freedom Stories videos (which aired over a decade ago!) and felt compelled to reach out to offer their expertise in shipping and logistics. We knew nothing about either! But we had bras to send overseas and since then, the folks at LR have become our dear friends and have provided invaluable shipping advice and free bra storage at their facility near Chicago.
Hanesbrands had the vision to make their nationwide network of Hanes stores official Free The Girls drop-off locations, and they did it with style! By creating their own branded drop-off bins, they made bra collecting look beautiful! This large-scale expansion of our list of official drop-off locations made it easier for those wanting to donate a handful of bras to find a location close to home.
Large corporations often have internal employee networks, resource groups, and other safe and welcoming spaces for their employees. Thanks to Zoom we have staff who can meet virtually with these groups, wherever they’re located. A grant from the employees of Palo Alto Networks funded our Costa Rican Inheritance project and Equinix employees donated bras and bucks!
Organizations
A 3-year grant from FAWCO (Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas) was a critical investment into our early organizational infrastructure. The FAWCO grant provided funding for salaries and we were able to move from a volunteer led organization into the stability of a small paid staff.
Service clubs such as Soroptimist International, Zonta International, Rotary International, and others have offered a foundation of ongoing support. Through the work of their local clubs, they have collected not just bras, but bucks, and have fundraised for FTG in their local communities. In turn, we’ve crafted presentations to share with their membership about the realities of trafficking (what we call HT101) and the Free The Girls programs of economic empowerment for trafficking survivors.
Bands
Yep, you read that right.Good Life Foundation, the nonprofit of the band OneRepublic, has promoted and fundraised in support of FTG, including creating a video giveaway.One in An ARMY, the fan collective of K-pop band, BTS, used their collective power for global good and honored us by making Free The Girls the recipient of a fundraiser for Jimin’s birthday. ARMY facilitated the gift of a month’s worth of micro donations from fans living in 50+ countries around the globe!
Web3 Partners
The Web 3 community are active partners in our work to reimagine a better world. From cryptocurrency donations, to social impact NFTS, we have found ready collaborators in these emerging spaces. Royal Dreads, a social impact community minting NFTS to promote diversity and social justice have invited us in as presenters in Twitter Spaces, hosted fundraising events on our behalf, and connected us with the larger Web 3 community to do human trafficking awareness events.
Churches
Duneland Community Church in Chesterton, Indiana is the main collection site and the “bra church” where 2 million bras have been processed! DCC has offered space, modified their building to accommodate our needs, and welcomed volunteers to “packing parties” to process incoming bra donations. DCC has created and nurtured a community that cares deeply about fighting human trafficking.
Real Life Community Church, in Portage Indiana, is a local church that embraces community and embodies mission. Real Life sends volunteers, allows us to share our message, and has made us the recipient of their special Christmas offering.
An 8-week Bible study curriculum about justice and human trafficking created by Free The Girls can be shared with those wanting to engage more deeply in social justice. We also speak at churches and have hosted church and missionary groups as bra packing volunteers.
Lingerie Partners
We have lots of fabulous bra inventory donors, so we’ll mention a few who exemplify a spirit of generosity and “going deeper.” Kindred Bravely regularly donates bra inventory and bucks and we keep their employees in the know with virtual and in-person impact presentations. During a season when we desperately needed new inventory, brands like Title Nine and Harper Wilde rose to the occasion and they’ve also created fun promotions to help spur donations and create awareness. Adore Me regularly shares video content on their social media stories.
Lastly, the Aerie Real FoundationTM has invested in Free The Girls by sponsoring a 2020 shipment to El Salvador and recently awarded FTG with a signature grant! This grant will provide much needed upgrades to Free The Girls bra processing and donation management systems as well as help get inventory into the hands of women and invest into our unique, trauma informed, healing centered job skills training programs. Aerie locations in North America are official drop-off locations.
What are your brand’s unique strengths? What’s your vision for creating global change?
We’d love to hear your ideas! Let’s brainstorm what a collaboration with your brand and FTG might look like as we work together to provide a more hopeful future for trafficking survivors.
Defining “trauma-informed.”
The term “trauma-informed” has become somewhat ubiquitous these days. Nearly every nonprofit uses the term when describing who they are and how their programs are formed. Yet there is no governing standard – in reality, the same term can encompass everything from a physician who has studied the neural effects of concussions to someone who has taken a two-hour, free seminar online about the effects of violence in the home.
It is good that the general public is becoming more aware of and comfortable with the concept of trauma and that there can be long-term effects on a person who has experienced intense situations. But it can also be dangerous placing trauma-care in the hands of nonprofessionals and as an organization assuming that anyone who has experienced a specific event necessarily has been traumatized. So without a standard of what “trauma” means and how to walk with someone who has undergone trauma, without licensed or awarded professionals on staff who understand the scientific research around trauma, it can be tricky to know exactly what someone means when they say “We are trauma-informed.”
So we wanted to be very clear about the language we use.
We often say “trauma-informed” and “healing-centered” in the same breath - but we prefer the term “healing-centered.”
Let’s break that down.
We mean that we recognize there are experiences in which a person feels as if they have no control, no agency, and no resources to adequately cope with the threat in front of them – physical or psychological. We mean that we recognize there are coping strategies that people use that have helped them survive in dangerous and horrific situations that no longer serve them in an environment of safety and calm. We mean that we whole-heartedly believe that the experience of trauma or potentially traumatic events does not mean a life destined to remain in survival-mode.
healing-centered; an approach of naming and identifying the ways in which past experiences have affected us and coming up with strategies to help us move forward in healthy, thriving ways.
We believe in post-traumatic growth and healing.
We also believe that not everyone who has been trafficked has trauma but that does not exclude them from resiliency, growth, or healing.
That sounds all well and good, but how does that practically play out?
We’ve spoken a lot about our jobs courses as of late. Let’s give some greater context around it.
People who have had to live in survival mode often find it difficult to think forward, to imagine a future different from their past or their current reality. We’ve spoken before about how some women, upon first entering our program, are unable to answer the question, “What’s your dream?”
This shows up in their bra selling businesses, too. Having had to live hand-to-mouth for years, sometimes decades, it can be a very difficult process to shift from that scarcity mentality to one of “I am safe. I have this money, and I have the ability to make more money. I can save for the future.”
It’s not uncommon for women first starting out to blow their profits on seemingly unnecessary or frivolous items because they actually have cash in hand, and their past has shown there’s no point in saving for a future that seems tenuous at best. (Lest it sounds as if we are passing judgment on their purchases, we mean copious amounts of alcohol, expensive meals at restaurants, or trips to the beach instead of food for the household, needed clothing for self or children, rent, etc.)
We have also seen women opt for selling bras in a wholesale fashion, making some quick and easy money by receiving their inventory and selling the entire box to another person for a fraction of the amount they could make if they were to sell it piece by piece in the traditional way. While neither is immoral nor “wrong”, neither are they particularly healing-centered or forward focused.
These scenarios kept occurring, and we at Free The Girls considered the issue to be one of two things. Either the women needed help with financial literacy and understanding budgeting and savings OR they were still very much operating out of a survival (or possible trauma) response and the only way they felt secure was to take the first chance they got at ensuring they would have money.
So we worked with an expert in business for under-resourced communities in crafting a series of courses that addressed both these issues: practical financial literacy that made sense within their cultural context combined with healing-centered information around finding safety in the present moment and having permission to dream about the future. We contracted translation work from some amazing individuals who took the time to guarantee the language we used was the best option for their context. And in the locations where this program has been implemented, the feedback has been beautiful.
These women have gained confidence in learning that they have the ability to try and fail and try again, that work can be life-giving and creative rather than violent or oppressive, that they are enough right now to be able to thrive without jumping through any hoops. In fact, one woman in El Salvador who has continually struggled with motivation and belief in herself sold enough bras to be able to buy herself a brand new outfit for Christmas – not second-hand but brand new from the store! That may sound trivial – but it’s huge! She found the confidence to sell, to negotiate and barter, to save, and to reward herself for a job well done!
When FTG first began, the world of understanding trauma was still so fresh. But as we learn more, we’ve grown and adapted to the very real needs of the women we serve. And we celebrate each and every woman who passes through our program – whether or not she has done things the way we initially designed the program or not.
We recognize the possible effects of trauma and never blame nor disregard a woman whose healing journey takes a little longer than the others. We also don’t assume that just because a woman has been trafficked that she automatically experiences PTSD. Rather than trying to manage, manipulate, or cajole anyone to doing things “our way,” Free The Girls’ values lead us to ask questions, become curious about one’s behavior and offer alternatives with no strings attached. We then work towards creating resources that speak into the barriers she is still facing, all while continuing to be supportive. This is how Free The Girls shows up as healing-centered. This is how Free The Girls defines trauma-informed and healing-centered.
We have evolved, as we should. We understand that reintegration means more than just a job. We know that getting back on one’s feet can take longer for some than others, that surviving as a survivor is hard, and that the complexities these women face cast long shadows. And we are committed to walking alongside them for however long and for whatever initiatives that entails with compassion and without judgment. And whatever comes next, we are committed to ensuring that we will continue working towards true freedom (as defined by the women themselves!) in a trauma-informed, healing-centered way.
International Women’s Day - and what we’re doing about it!
It’s International Day of the Woman!
For those of us in the United States, this IWD may seem more of a social media “holiday” than anything – you post about it, celebrate some amazing women in your life, and carry on. But in other parts of the world – it’s a DAY.
In Uganda, it wasn’t uncommon to see people hand out cards to women, give them the day off of work, and for the men to take over the household responsibilities for the day! In Poland, it’s not unusual for young men to be holding large bouquets and handing out tulips to women they encounter. In Saudi Arabia, they’ve extended the single day to be a three day event where royalty and citizens gather together to discuss women’s rights and make pledges for changing policies to ensure equal rights. In China, women are legally entitled to half a day off work (paid time off!). But around the world, mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, female colleagues, coworkers, and friends are recognized for their contributions to society.
We at FTG love this day because, well, obviously, we are an organization positioned to support and empower women, but also because we recognize that gaps between men and women on the global front (economically, socially, legally, etc) directly lead to oppression and the exploitation of women.
One initiative we are excited to begin this year is a new Women’s Health Curriculum. So many women lack access to formal education and even those that are able to attend schools are sometimes never taught about their own bodies. When I (Courtney) was living in Uganda, I was recruited to teach a sex ed class in one of the rural communities after several young teenage girls became pregnant and were seemingly baffled at how that happened. What I began tentatively ended up being one of my favorite programs. We started with a handful of teenage girls and by the end, had mothers and grandmothers attending as well! One woman who acted as the village midwife even said, “So that’s how babies are made?” Shortly thereafter, I asked some of the women and girls I worked with who had been trafficked and/or involved in prostitution if they would be interested in this class. They leapt at the opportunity as well for even though they had to rely on their bodies for survival, most still lacked knowledge about how these bodies of theirs operated.
This is problematic for many reasons. Without truly understanding women’s cycles, how can a woman know what is “normal” and when an issue requires medical intervention? Without knowing female anatomy, how can a woman feel confident in communicating to her doctor about what is occurring? Without basic sex education, how can a woman protect herself from STIs or family plan to ensure the children she has have adequate resources?
So in a similar fashion to our job skills courses, we are putting the finishing touches on this 8 week course that takes cultural, religious, and traumatic backgrounds into consideration as we hold conversations about everything from fertility windows to women’s right to education, from how to treat a yeast infection to dispelling myths about menopause.
We have even modified a tool to help women naturally family plan by turning it into a fashionable, wearable piece of jewelry! (Shout out to our high school volunteer intern who refused to create something boring that could be fabulous instead!)
This course will be available for women in our program as well as other women who would be considered vulnerable or who express interest in this material. And for every woman who participates, we will be funding a free health screening along with a follow-up appointment for any medication, additional treatments, etc that may be required.
It may not be the flashiest International Women’s Day project, but it’s incredibly needed. It could even save lives. If you’d like to donate towards this initiative or contribute in a more on-going basis, we would love and welcome your spending on women’s health around the world!
The DigitALL World
International Day of the Women’s theme for 2023 is DigitALL – highlighting the disparity amongst digital and online access and employment between men and women.
We at Free The Girls don’t really do much with electronics in our programs. Partly because most, if not all, of our women were exploited in more traditional ways: brothel based, street-based prostitution, etc. Also, in part, because in the under-resourced communities where we work, it is not uncommon for individuals to not have reliable access to the internet or electronics.
However, we do want to take this opportunity to highlight what digital exploitation looks like in the US – in your own online “neighborhood”, as it were. Because online exploitation, especially of children and teens, is growing at an alarming pace. So what is it? How does it happen? Where does it happen? How can you protect yourself or loved ones from this type of exploitation? Let’s answer some of these questions.
What it is:
Online exploitation is the often sexual exploitation of an individual by another person without consent. This includes nude photos or videos, child sexual abuse material (formerly known as child pornography), or any type of sexploitation – blackmailing or threatening release of such materials unless a person complies with what the exploiter demands. And yes, this includes what we think of as “traditional” sex trafficking. One report from 2018 states that over 40% of victims who were recruited online never physically met their trafficker, even while being exploited for sex. And in 2021, 83% of prosecuted cases of sex trafficking included online solicitation.
How it happens:
Just as in other type of exploitation, it is common to have an exploiter groom a victim, gaining their trust and asking them to send provocative, sexual, or nude photos or videos because the victim believes they are in a committed and trusting relationship. Sometimes a photo or video that was sent to one person is then shared to their community or network without the consent of the person in the photo. Then there are deep fakes - a disturbing trend where one can digitally manipulate a photo or video to seamlessly place another person’s face and even voice onto the original image to where the falsification is nearly undetectable.
Once the exploiter has the material, he or she can then sell the image or video for profit (again and always, without the consent of the individual) or even use it for sextortion – a term combining the words “sex” and “extortion.” This occurs when the exploiter threatens to release the sensitive materials to the victim’s family, religious community, school, coworkers, etc. unless the victim provides more materials, or sends money, or even meets up with them or another person for sexual acts in exchange for the exploiter to keep the materials to themselves.
Other disturbing instances have shown that exploiters take innocent photos of people from social media accounts (even ones set to private) and Photoshop or otherwise manipulate the innocent photo to be pornographic or violent. In fact, one report from Australia showed that about half of the photos on one child sexual abuse site were originally innocent and innocuous, taken from social media accounts that had been uploaded by parents or by the teens themselves.
Where it happens:
Because it’s online, it happens everywhere there’s an internet connection. In fact, due to the COVID pandemic when shelter-in-place orders were given and many people turned online for entertainment, education, and to stay connected, calls to US authorities reporting online child sexual exploitation nearly doubled. And 94% of the exploitation was occurring on Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp (all owned by Meta). Also in 2020, 79% of U.S. child sex trafficking victims recruited online were recruited through Facebook or Instagram and 8% on Snapchat. Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr – all of these have spaces devoted to exploitive materials, including child sexual abuse material.
How to protect those you love from this:
First off, know who you are interacting with online. In today’s age when apps abound for connecting people for love, for friendship, for common interests, it’s not unusual to “meet” someone online. But be cautious. If you feel uneasy about any interaction, trust your gut.
If you are a parent, have open and honest conversations with your children about the potential risks of sharing information online. From their real name, their birthday, where they attend schools or baseball schedules, to photos of themselves (nude or otherwise), know that any information given to someone they do not physically know could potentially be used for nefarious purposes.
Another thing for parents to be aware of are the photos you are posting of your children on social media. Reports, arrests, and prosecutions have been made around the world of people downloading innocent photos of children posted by their parents and uploading them to sites devoted to child sexual abuse. (Yes, even on accounts set to private).
For teens and young adults, if you have a friend who begins to isolate from you, not sharing as much since meeting this person or playing this game or downloading this app – consider that a red flag. If your friend begins to have more money or flashy gifts or, on the other hand, seems depressed or ashamed, be a good friend and take the appropriate steps to figure out what’s happening. It could be nothing – but it could help save a life.
And please be aware that online sexual exploitation is exponentially increased for teenage boys. And due to shame, stigma, or threats of outing a person, these cases are underreported. Boys, girls, women, men – everyone who has access to the internet can be a victim of this crime.
None of this is meant to scare anyone from being online. The world is increasingly digital and that trend isn’t going away anytime soon. We just need to be aware of how to look out for ourselves and others on the internet now. There are some beautiful things that happen in the digital space (including all you online donors!).
The digital world should be safe for all. Let’s make sure we are using it for the benefit of everyone, especially those most at risk of exploitation, girls and women.
References and resources:
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Federal Trafficking Institute Report
Super Bowl is coming up - does that mean trafficking is getting way worse?
Let’s be real – sometimes it can be very confusing figuring out what a news story or a released report is actually saying. Often headlines are flashy but can actually be misleading. Frequently we don’t have time to go to original sources or to carefully read an article in its entirety because we are constantly bombarded with information.
And stories around human trafficking? Those can be amongst the trickiest to navigate (in our opinion!). There’s such discrepancy around the figures, sensationalized stories, and even misunderstanding about what the legal definition of human trafficking is.
With the Super Bowl coming up rapidly, you are likely to see articles and social media posts about this game being the biggest human trafficking event in the country. Some articles even say the world. But is this actually true?
Let’s delve into it.
There have been reports that sex workers have said there is potential for making money and a possible increase in work around major sporting events, the Super Bowl included. But let’s go deeper. The first thing we need to remember is that not all sex work equals sex trafficking. That means not all sex workers are trafficking victims. There are individuals who are engaged in commercial sex transactions through their own consent. Sex trafficking victims, however, must have fraud, force, or coercion involved in their commercial sex transactions. Or (and this is important) be under 18 years old. Please remember – if a person is a minor, there is no consent for sexual transactions. There is NO such thing as a child prostitute – only a victim.
Why does this matter? It matters because we are dealing with two entirely separate issues. Prostitution is largely considered a misdemeanor while trafficking is a felony. Prostitution is legal in some jurisdictions in Nevada while trafficking for sex is never and has never been legalized anywhere. So when the reports say sex workers expressed potential for more clients, this is not trafficking. And in follow-up reports, those same workers said they were disappointed with the reality of this situation. So this means there are no reports of increased sex work at all, much less trafficking.
From a practical standpoint, trafficking more people for sex for a specific event does not make sense with how we know traffickers typically operate. There is often a very long grooming process (even up to a year!) and there are often bonds made between the victim and the trafficker that take far too long to create for a single event. Some have responded to these claims with there’s not more trafficking that happens, the traffickers just travel and bring all their victims to the location of the event. This, too, has zero evidence and also doesn’t make sense with how traffickers usually work. Traffickers try to stay low and make easy money. Competing with other traffickers for the same demographic is a lot of work and could very easily fuel violence.
But what about all the reports about law enforcement making huge busts in the city where the Super Bowl is being held?
Yes, those do happen. But it doesn’t mean that there’s an increase – just that the law enforcement is targeting this specific crime in this specific time. In fact, some reports have found that the media coverage claiming the Super Bowl is the largest trafficking event fuels the funding and effort into these types of busts and stings. But even the news reports can be misleading.
Take this example from 2022:
“Nearly 500 human trafficking related arrests made in Southern California during Super Bowl week.” That sounds huge! But the very first line of the article reads, “A statewide effort coordinated by the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department to crack down on the sex trade, which happened to coincide with this year’s Super Bowl, resulted in nearly 500 prostitution-related arrests and the rescue of dozens of human trafficking victims, official said Tuesday, Feb 15.” If you read further, it says that this is the 7th year this operation has happened and it doesn’t coincide with the Super Bowl.
Also of note, is that in one county with over 500 arrests, only 7 were charged. Another very important thing to note is that sex workers themselves were arrested. There were arrests for women in sex work, for men attempting to purchase sex, not simply traffickers. Let’s not detract from the fact that there were victims that were identified and helped! That’s a major win!!! But the headline is quite misleading and feeds into a narrative that has no evidence or research to back up its claim.
The reason debunking myths around trafficking matters is because if people have a false idea of what trafficking looks like, they’re going to miss the actual vulnerabilities and oppressive situations that are in their own community. Educating yourself on the realities of human trafficking, the realities not just the headlines, is a responsible way of tackling this issue. And if you have shared these types of stories before, don’t feel shame! You didn’t know! And now that you do, you can share your newfound knowledge with the world, remove the article from your timeline or page or even edit it to show the problematic nature of it. When we know better, we can do better. Again, without shame or belittling others who might not yet know. But we at FTG believe that the issue is horrific enough without inflating figures, that it’s atrocious enough without fabricating or fear-mongering, and that people actually want to hear the truth.
Have questions? Email us! Want to keep the conversation going? Sign up for our newsletter below or contact us!
The article cited above:
More to read:
https://www.ijm.org/news/is-the-super-bowl-the-largest-human-trafficking-event-in-the-world
https://www.antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/404/336
https://www.gaatw.org/publications/WhatstheCostofaRumour.11.15.2011.pdf
A Valentine’s Gift Guide that Spreads Love Globally
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and whether you have plans for a romantic date with a special someone or grabbing your friends for a Galentine’s or haven’t even thought about it because you’ve got young children and you’re.just.so.tired - we’ve got you covered!
We mentioned in this previous blog how being a conscious consumer is actually being an advocate for change. With 86% of labor trafficking occurring in the private sector (ILO, 2022), this means we HAVE to pay attention to where we make our purchases if we want to see any change in our lifetime.
Thankfully, there are SO MANY incredible organizations that provide fair-trade, ethically made, sustainable products that rival some of your favorite brands. They provide decent, livable wages with dignified working conditions - factors that actually prevent trafficking. And some even employ sex trafficking survivors! Yes, the prices may be a bit steeper, but the quality of the product and, we would argue, the human factor far outweighs the cheaper options. So here’s a quick guide to some of our favorite ethical brands for you this Valentine’s Day.
This list would be remiss if we didn’t have Able front and center. If you’re looking for jewelry, leather, clothes, shoes, they have it! And with their incredible lifetime guarantees and size swaps, these are investments into both a more just and a cleaner world.
Naturally, our friends at Threads Worldwide are making an appearance! Not only do they have incredibly unique pieces with stunning stories (the stories of turning recovering bullets from a violent civil war into gorgeous necklaces will always be a favorite of ours!), you can choose which country’s female artisans you’d like to support! They’re also incredible with partnering with other organizations to help their mission. They were instrumental in helping us launch our Costa Rican project. But our love for their organization aside, their jewelry is gorgeous.
What’s a good Valentine’s Day gift guide without some chocolate? Chocolove is committed to both sustainable practices and ethical supply chain. In fact, their supply chain is listed on their site! With sugar-free options, it’s also a great choice for people with dietary restrictions to still have some deliciousness on the 14th. (And may we give a special shoutout to those hazelnut truffles?!)
Last, but not least, for the coffee-lover in your life, we’d like to direct you to our very own FTG blend. Roasted locally and made to order, the profits from your order go straight back to helping female survivors of trafficking around the globe find true freedom. And that is a great combo.
There you go!
4 options for Valentine’s Day gifts that will share the love not just with the recipient of your gift, but with the artisans, farmers, crafters, and creators of the product as well. Changing the world through love and our ethical purchases.
Happy ethical shopping!
xoxo
FTG
Defining the Year Ahead
With any new year, we often carve out time to reflect and reset. Here at FTG we are no different. It’s imperative that we take time to evaluate what we are doing, how we’re communicating, and the ways in which we invite others into this work. Some years, it’s an inspiring exercise with lots to celebrate, while other years it feels that more needs tweaking or fixing or redoing than not. Both are valuable; both are needed.
Greg Arthur, our co-leader and Director of Strategic Development, often reminds us of the necessity of naming things – without naming things clearly and directly, we are at risk of misunderstanding each other, of having unspoken expectations, of not acknowledging what’s right in front of us. Naming and identifying is vital.
As we began this practice in 2023, we realized it may be time to not only name and identify, but go one step further and define. Defining provides clarity, it ensures we are all on the same page. In my own life, I have found that when I take the time to look up a definition, I learn something. Perhaps I’ve been using a term slightly differently than what it actually means. Maybe I learn a whole new aspect of what a word encompasses.
So join us this year as we identify and define important terms and phrases in this work. Phrases like “human trafficking” and “trauma-informed” have become so widely used, let’s make sure we know what they really mean on a practical level from actual experts in the field. Words like “survivor” and “reintegration” and even “impact” mean different things to different people – these are words we use often at FTG and it’s worth defining what we mean when we say these things. “Future” and “freedom” are deeply personal ideas and we will never define those for women in our program. We ask regularly for the women to define terms for us, but we want to include you in the process this year. And, lastly, you are just as important in these conversations. How do you define generosity, being a world-changer, your place in the global fight against human trafficking?
We aren’t 100% certain what we’ll learn this year. But we’re ready for it. I anticipate the need for refining some of the definitions we use internally and learning how you identify and define certain pieces of this massive social justice puzzle. So come along; you’re most welcome here.
How YOU Can Make a Difference
The most recent statistic is that nearly 50 million people were living in and exploited by human trafficking in 2021.
That number is hard to wrap your head around - but let’s try.
Take the entire population of New York City and add it to the populations of Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, and San Jose (the 10 most populated cities in the US) and you need to double that to reach 50 million people.
And not only that, but human trafficking has occurred in nearly every country on earth. And in the US, it’s happening in our very own communities.
With a problem that massive and that pervasive, how can we keep from being so overwhelmed, from burying our head in the sand, or from sadly shaking one’s head at the nastiness of it and then shrugging because “honestly, what can I do?”?
We must resist the temptation to look away. Because reality is that all of us have benefitted from exploitive and forced labor in some way. And while that feels like a punch in the gut (I debated whether to even type that out), the flip side of that means that we have the ability to shift things towards justice, towards dignity, towards true freedom. And the reality is that with 1 in every 150 people on the planet living in human trafficking situations, we likely either know or have passed someone who is being exploited. That also feels icky (it’s not a technical term but you instantly know what I mean), but again, on the flip side of that ugly truth is the knowledge that we can become equipped in recognizing and reporting it.
So….how? Practically, what can you do?
1) Educate yourself on what human trafficking really is. There are so many myths and urban legends about human trafficking (zip-ties on windshields, anyone?). While it may not seem like a big deal, this misinformation can actually be detrimental, acting as a smokescreen and hiding what actually is happening. Knowing what it is and, as importantly, what it isn’t, it crucial as we advocate for justice. Here’s a great start from Polaris Project in exploring the reality of what human trafficking is.
2) Be a conscious consumer. You get to change the world through your purchases. Think I’m exaggerating? Women make up 85% of all consumer purchases. This means, ladies, what you buy and who you buy it from directly impacts corporations that have unethical and labor trafficking practices. If we collectively decided to only purchase coffee from small, ethical businesses or our produce from local farmers (which often are both cheaper and more flavorful!) or clothing from either second-hand thrift shops or from socially minded, fair-trade companies, we send a message that we care about who makes the products we consume. The cost to you for fair trade may be increased slightly but the human cost in manufacturing and the violence associated with it goes down. Check out Good On You and Sweat and Toil, two apps that can help you make responsible consumer choices. Also look at Freedom Business Alliance for a group of businesses committed to creating safe jobs for vulnerable individuals.
3) Be aware. The majority of victims know their trafficker before exploitation. It’s very rarely the case that someone is kidnapped by a stranger (yes, the movie Taken is problematic). Traffickers see vulnerabilities that are already present and then groom their potential victims to gain their trust and quite often through isolation. So if you are a parent, be aware of who your children are interacting with online or through apps. If you’re a student (elementary to college), notice if a friend or classmate begins to withdraw after meeting someone new either in person or online. If you’re a teacher or a healthcare provider, ask questions about family and friends.
4) Put the human trafficking hotline number in your phone. 1 (888) 373-7888. Over 50,000 calls were made in 2021. According to their website, “Since its inception, the Human Trafficking Hotline has identified… 164,839 victims.” That’s from everyday, average citizens just like yourself.
5) Donate monthly to reputable counter-trafficking organizations. We recommend taking the time to research an organization, making sure they are operating in a sustainable, trauma-informed, healing-centered way. And since many of these groups (ours included!) are largely based on donations, consider becoming a monthly donor. Your $20 a month matters to these organizations; it allows them to budget accordingly to know just how many people they can serve, how many new initiatives they can launch, and pay their employees a fair wage as well! Obviously, we’d be thrilled for you to choose Free The Girls, but if you have a heart for a specific location on the planet (from rural home-town MidWest all the way to Bangkok, Thailand), email us and we’ll direct you to organizations we know and trust doing the real work!
Be encouraged, friends. There is hope. And there are things you can do to make a real, tangible, practical difference in the global fight against human trafficking.
Providing Job Opportunities to Survivors in El Salvador
The billboard sign in San Salvador reads, “La trata de mujeres es un delito. Levantemos nuestra voz.” which translates as, “Trafficking in women is a crime. Lift up our voice.” This is a significant step for a country in which, only a year ago, the topic of human trafficking was virtually absent from the public consciousness.
Mission To El Salvador brought Free The Girls to El Salvador to help provide job opportunities to survivors of sex trafficking in the city of San Salvador. Guest blogger Danielle Snyder of Mission To El Salvador describes a typical day in the Free The Girls program.
As usual, it’s a hot and humid day in downtown San Salvador. I have all the fans cranking at the Mission to El Salvador center so I hardly hear the doorbell when it rings. I go to answer it and find Maria standing there. Maria is a young girl who will soon be transitioning out of a safehouse for girls who have been victims of sex trafficking. Her case has been prosecuted, and it is time for her to move on. She sits down at the table and we talk.
I explain to her how the Free the Girls program works, how she will have her own business, how we will help her, and how women around the world have donated bras so that she can have this chance. Her face lights up in a smile; I see a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
While we are chatting, another woman comes to the door. Anita has just returned from Guatemala. She was in the program selling bras, and then left the country. Our staff worried about her because we knew she was going to work with her sister who was on the streets again. But now she’s back, and I’m the one smiling as she explains to me that selling bras is what she wants to do. It’s a better, healthier, and safer choice–for her and for her young daughters.
Maria and Anita are two of the eight women that we have in the Free The Girls program here in El Salvador. We began a pilot program last year with four women and we have steadily added women over the last few months. Free The Girls has provided a valuable missing piece to the puzzle of helping survivors of sex trafficking.
Rescuing is done by law enforcement, and counseling is done by psychologists and social workers, but then what?
The “what” is that Free The Girls steps in to provide a crucial and transitional step to help women stay off the streets of San Salvador. Mission To El Salvador works hard to provide resources to survivors of sex-trafficking and, thanks to our partnership with Free The Girls, we are able to assist these women in starting their own businesses. They have opportunity, and they have hope.
Thank you for donating your time, your bras, and your resources so that Maria, Anita, and others like them have a chance. Something that may seem small to you is making all the difference in the world for girls in El Salvador.