3 Small Businesses Actively Fighting Human TraffickingA c...
3 Small Businesses Actively Fighting Human Trafficking
A common sentiment I hear from people who want to fight modern-day slavery is, “I don’t know what to do.” Another one is, “I don’t have any special skills.”
GOOD NEWS! You need absolutely no special skills to online shop, and there are many incredible small businesses you can support that are tackling the issue of human trafficking head-on.
Not all of us have the resources, time, energy, or frankly, motivation, to start our own organization or business, but I can say with bold certainty that everyone reading this has the motivation to purchase unique, beautiful jewelry…so let’s get to it and do what we can do to bring healing through supporting survivor-focused small businesses.
BRANDED Collective –
BRANDED Collective simultaneously tackles the issue of sex trafficking and forced labor by providing employment to survivors of human trafficking through ethical jewelry-making.
It is not uncommon for survivors who are not able to find employment to go back to their trafficker for survival purposes. BRANDED gives survivors the power to control their future through economic freedom with the hope that “each survivor will be inspired to rediscover the dreams she has lost and be motivated to go forth and pursue them.
BRANDED “[seeks] to unite a collective of survivors and patrons who work together to advance the abolition of human trafficking.”
Each piece of BRANDED jewelry has a number hand-stamped into the metal, representing the physical branding that many undergo while being trafficked. Traffickers often use force to “brand” their victims with a number or marking that will identify that person as their “property.”
Along with the stamped number, each BRANDED item also has the initials of the survivor who created that piece, allowing you to look up those initials and read part of her story on their website.
I personally have a cuff bracelet from BRANDED and wear it every day. It’s quality-made, beautiful, and an easy conversation starter.
Read the story behind BRANDED Collective:
https://www.brandedcollective.com/blogs/brandedcollective/just-one-number
Shop Here:
https://www.brandedcollective.com/
Starfish Project –
Starfish Project focuses primarily on assisting survivors of human trafficking in Asia.
They invite women to leave the sex industry by physically entering brothels and offering an alternative, assisting survivors of sexual exploitation as they build a new life through holistic care and life skills training, and helping survivors develop careers that can support them moving forward.
A challenge often faced in the fight against human trafficking is the severe shortage in aftercare housing facilities for survivors.
Starfish Project is confronting this challenge by providing women who decide to leave brothels with safe housing and social services.
So far, this organization has “employed and trained over 150 women and served thousands more through [its] community outreach.”
This organization donates 100% of the proceeds garnered from selling fair trade jewelry to its anti-human trafficking mission.
Shop Here:
Jars of Hope –
Jars of Hope sells handmade, ethically-sourced necklaces filled with different shades of glitter and uses 25% of the proceeds to support a variety of anti-human trafficking organizations while also hosting events that bring greater awareness to the issue’s prevalence.
Each necklace is named after an organization fighting human trafficking or advocating for kids in the foster care system, and you are immediately told how much of your purchase will go directly to that organization.
Although exact statistics related to human trafficking are difficult to acquire due to the crime’s hidden nature, it is estimated that 60 percent of trafficked children recovered by the FBI were in the foster system.
“In the United States, traffickers prey upon children in the foster care system. Recent reports have consistently indicated that a large number of victims of child sex trafficking were at one time in the foster care system” (2019 Trafficking in Persons Report).
“When you buy a necklace you help write a new narrative for those enslaved. We long to see captives set free and their lives restored.” – Jars of Hope
2019 TIP Report: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report.pdf
More small-business highlights coming soon!
