UpliftHER Initiative: Human Trafficking
Once a quarter, we will focus on an obstacle that women and girls face on their path to formal education and economic empowerment. SIA will share information about the obstacle, along with suggested projects that count towards our Big Goal. Clubs can participate in the quarterly project focus by sharing SIA posts and posting their own projects with the hashtag #SoroptimistsUpliftHER.
For January, we will focus on projects that increase access to education for women or girls who have experienced trafficking. January 11 is recognized globally as the International Day of Human Trafficking Awareness, making January a meaningful time to learn more about this critical issue and how Soroptimists can help through the Soroptimists UpliftHER initiative.
Human Trafficking is more prevalent than you think
For every 10 trafficking victims identified globally, five are adult women and two are girls.
The total number of trafficked individuals is unknown, but estimates range from 28 million to 50 million globally.
This crime is often underreported and hard to track as it is the second-largest worldwide criminal enterprise.
The Impact of Trafficking
Human trafficking can happen to anyone, but some people are more vulnerable than others. Vulnerable groups include recent migrants, those with substance use/mental health illnesses, people with limited education, and individuals experiencing poverty or homelessness (especially youth). Traffickers may prey on these vulnerabilities to create a dependent relationship and make it more difficult for victims to leave. Most frequently, people are trafficked by someone they know and taken by manipulation rather than force. This manipulation and coercion often escalate to physical, emotional, and financial abuse.
Once immediate safety is established, the UN states that “acquiring skills and competencies for sustainable livelihoods” is an intermediate need and crucial part of a successful recovery for trafficked individuals. Soroptimists have decades of experience with providing this intervention through our education awards and other financial support.
Women and girls who have been trafficked often suffer financially, being forced to rely on their trafficker or forced to turn over their earnings to their trafficker. Even after they escape and are safe, they often face unfair societal stigma that can make finding meaningful employment difficult.
How Soroptimist Can Help
Reducing poverty is a powerful way to lower the risk of trafficking and education is a key pathway to doing just that. Access to formal education can provide women with the tools to prevent trafficking and to command better wages after surviving trafficking.
Leading organizations addressing trafficking agree that holistic methods are the best prevention. One of the most impactful preventative methods is to invest in building the agency of women and girls through access to education. Ensuring that women and girls have the opportunity and ability to complete school and earn a livelihood plays a significant role in reducing vulnerability.
Spread awareness about trafficking on social media with these graphics!
Big Goal Accelerator Project Eligibility
If your club has the capacity, one way to support the educational needs of survivors is to provide a scholarship for a woman who has experienced trafficking, and if appropriate, offer a career or college mentoring program. Be sure to report it as a Big Goal Accelerator Project (or Live Your Dream Award, if your recipient is a survivor of trafficking). If your club has another project that provides access to formal education or economic empowerment to women or girls who have survived trafficking, please report it as a Big Goal Accelerator Project and help us reach our Big Goal!
Does your club have a different project that increases access to education for women and girls impacted by trafficking? We’d love to hear about it! Post about it using the hashtag #SoroptimistsUpliftHER.
Sources:
https://polarisproject.org/myths-facts-and-statistics/
https://preventht.org/human-trafficking-101/
https://cdn.walkfree.org/content/uploads/2022/09/12142341/GEMS-2022_Report_EN_V8.pdf
https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/prevention-prosection-and-protection-human-trafficking
https://cdn.walkfree.org/content/uploads/2022/09/12142341/GEMS-2022_Report_EN_V8.pdf
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