Sisters support Nigeria's migrants traumatized by trafficking

The L’Chaim initiative consists of a group of volunteers who visit women working in prostitution to build relationships to help these women prevent sex trafficking and to help victims find a way out. During visits, volunteers educate women on their rights, raise awareness of sex trafficking, and help them understand they may be victims and then connect them with appropriate resources, serving as a liaison between “victims” and “rescuers.”

One woman's use of an Instagram account in her personal journey from sex-trafficking victim to sociology researcher enabled new sources of research, teaching, and victim aid. Megan Lundstrom's community of fellow sex workers formed through Instagram became the source for qualitative research into the experiences of sex workers, without being filtered by authorities. That led to the first peer-reviewed journal article of its kind, a new university program in sex trafficking, and the creation of a nonprofit, The Avery Center, aiding victims and collecting data on the industry.

Law enforcement and a private organization, Rahab's Daughters, attacked human sex trafficking at the 2021 Super Bowl in Tampa by tracing leads from tens of thousands of advertisements for sexual services. While the private group says it provided housing, food, and clothing to 40 women, and the police said they identified six trafficking victims and connected them with needed protection and services, far more women were arrested on prostitution charges, along with a handful of men on trafficking charges. Critics say the harm from those arrests can overshadow the benefits from looking for actual victims.

New York Police Department sex-crimes enforcement officially shifted away from arresting people selling sex to those buying it and those in the large-scale trafficking business. At the same time, the Human Trafficking Intervention Court was created to divert sex workers' criminal cases away from conviction and toward social services. The reality, however, is that police officers' overtime income gives them incentives to make high volumes of arrests of sex workers and buyers in flimsy, low-level cases that get plea-bargained down, but which skew heavily against people of color.

Miami is home to a special type of child welfare program called CHANCE (Citrus Helping Adolescents Negatively Impacted by Commercial Exploitation) that is designed specifically for youth in foster care that have been trafficked. CHANCE has an intensive curriculum that educates foster parents and clinicians about child sex trafficking and child trauma, and families are only allowed to take in one child at a time so that they are prepared for the child's unique health needs. Studies done on the program have found that the youth have significant improvement in many emotional and mental categories.

AnnieCannons, is a nonprofit that teaches sex traffic survivors computer software skills so they can be employed as developers. It also emphasizes networking and tries to secure job placement. “I’ve never been happier ... having a steady paycheck for the first time since I was like 16 and just like actual real financial security where I know I’m going to get paid every two weeks, and I can start to like just settle into my life, finally.”

Sylvia Acan, co-founded Golden Women vision, an organization that teaches Ugandan women to bake cakes with the aim of helping them improve their social economic status. Many of the women, like Acan, became victims of sexual assault or gender based violence during the Ugandan war insurgency. Now, Golden Women Vision has “61 members: widows, single mothers (some whose children were abducted and never returned), domestic abuse survivors and former abductees.”

For individuals with severe social anxiety, been victims of rape or abuse, or have disabilities they may never have had a sexual experience. Sex workers or surrogates can offer a trusting environment to help these individuals explore their sexuality and help them to heal.

Clergy abuse in the Catholic church has been rampant and was often swept under the rug. Until Barrett Doyle and others started 'Bishop Accountability' to keep a record of clergy abuse, and a support group and blog have also been created as a path for healing and sharing stories that will also hopefully help prompt change in the church.

The DIKSHA youth club looks after the children of sex workers when their mothers are working. The club teaches youth about their rights, bodily autonomy and empowers them to take control of their futures and avoid joining the sex trade themselves. The club started in 2001, and over the past two decades, it has helped prevent young girls from joining the sex trade, reduced rates of trafficking in the area and also helped reduce the stigma children of sex workers face.