On Tuesday, October 18, 2016, World Without Exploitation (“WorldWE”) launched both in Washington, D.C. and online, receiving national attention. WorldWE is a coalition that unifies over 60 individuals and organizations in both the public and private sector—including lawyers, activists, artists, and survivors—with the solitary aim to end human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In order to effectuate national change in human trafficking policy, the WorldWE founders understood that local initiatives would only induce local change. Since human trafficking is a national and global issue, WorldWE strives to combat human trafficking through national, collaborative partnerships where survivor leadership is the primary focus.
WorldWE emphasizes the importance of survivors’ roles in their advocacy work with the understanding that those who live through the trauma of human trafficking are the true experts of their experiences. At the press conference, hosted by the law firm Proskauer Rose in Washington, D.C., a panel of survivors shed light on the impact of victimization. Anne Ream, founder of the Voices and Faces Project, moderated the survivors panel which was designed to set the record straight about those who escape the perilous life of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Cherie Jiminez, Tom Jones, Necole Daniels, Alisa Bernard, and Santiago Perez Navarro, survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, shared their stories to shed light on the ways human trafficking pervades every corner of society.
First, the survivor panel discussed the lack of social services and the innumerable layers of trauma victims of trafficking face, both in the immediacy of the abuse and even decades later. Necole Daniels, who exited ‘the life’ 17 years ago, stated that even as a survivor, “you never regain the total you.” The panelists further discussed the impact their experiences had on their psyches; survivor Tom Jones spoke about a survival mechanism, wherein he underwent a process of detaching his mental self from his physical self in order to survive. All survivors agreed that this was a common trend. Ultimately, when periods of extended abuse constitute a victim’s understanding of normalcy, adjusting to society’s standard of normal is a challenge in itself. Thus, a theme of the conversation was the process of ‘reattachment’ to ‘normalcy’ as a daily struggle, where there exists a constant effort to move past the pain of victimization in order to thrive.
Undoubtedly, the panel of survivors at the WorldWE launch was raw and unequivocal; throughout the discussion, the survivors emphasized the need for change in the way our culture perceives human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In this vein, the survivors spoke particularly to the victimization process. For instance, Alisa Bernard stated, “prostitution doesn’t happen in a bubble.” Instead, victimization is a slow process that happens over an extended period of time. Victimization commonly rests on control, power, and violence, which stems from income and gender inequalities. When society-at-large fails to even consider the victimization process, prostitution is wrongly associated with consensual sex between a ‘willing’ seller and buyer. Yet, traffickers typically use force, fraud, and coercion to keep a victim of prostitution in ‘the life.’ In an effort to pose viable solutions, society must first recognize prostituted persons as victims. Next, there needs to be an understanding that the victimization process extends even after escaping ‘the life,’ and the individual healing process continues long after the exploitation is over. The survivors spoke to the necessity of mentors and role models for prostituted persons who escape their traffickers; there is a particularized trauma associated with being a victim of human trafficking and sexual exploitation that only other victims and survivors can truly understand. Moderator Ms. Ream reiterated this theme, based on her experience discussing the process of victimization with survivors, stating “the person you were and the person you are is always coexisting.” Thus, it is clear that trafficking victims live with two versions of themselves on a daily basis: the person they were, and the person they strive to be.
The CSE Institute applauds the vision of WorldWE that puts survivors and their stories at the forefront of a national initiative. We further commend all of the survivors for their bravery in addressing a national audience with their personal, individualized stories. It is irrefutable that survivor voices will be the ones that promulgate change in the human trafficking narrative.
As a coalition effectuating such monumental change, the CSE Institute is thrilled to be associated with WorldWE’s efforts – particularly as a member of its steering committee. WorldWE’s mission is to create a world consistent with their name, where no person is bought, sold, or exploited. Join the mission, take a stand, and sign the WorldWE Pledge today.