Survivor Speak

Human Trafficking Prevention Month, survivor speaks
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Human Trafficking Prevention Month, survivor speaks

CBS DETROIT – Human Trafficking Prevention Month is coming to close. However, bringing those victims stories to light doesn’t end. “They come from all over just to be in the presence of other survivors,” says Alice Jay, the founder of Sister Survivors, a trafficking support organization. Once a month, Jay holds a gathering with a…

Human trafficking survivor speaks out – WILX
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Human trafficking survivor speaks out – WILX

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Human trafficking can happen to anyone, and it can happen anywhere. Operation G.H.O.S.T. officials said it’s happening more online, and not just on social media. Predators have taken to a number of websites, including gaming outlets. Kristy Hagarty was targeted on a gaming website and was held against her will for…

Language Matters: 5 Ways Your Words Impact Trafficking Survivors
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Language Matters: 5 Ways Your Words Impact Trafficking Survivors

Language matters. Word choices are powerful. This is particularly important to keep in mind in the work of reducing and preventing human trafficking and supporting survivors. The way in which human trafficking is described or discussed can – often despite the very best intentions – feel tokenizing or triggering to survivors when they have gotten…

What Survivor-Centered Work Looks Like
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What Survivor-Centered Work Looks Like

Guest Blog by Survivor-Advocate Annika Huff Our stories are powerful. When I share my story, audience members often tell me that hearing someone’s real-life experience, in their own words, changes the way they connect to the issue. This is not unique to the work of reducing and preventing human trafficking and supporting survivors. Any successful…

New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking brings awareness – MyCentralJersey.com
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New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking brings awareness – MyCentralJersey.com

Human trafficking can be a scary subject, but it’s something that affects millions of people. And while it might seem too big to stop, there are groups working to fight back. One such group on the front lines, both locally and nationally, is the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking, which works to raise awareness…

Homelessness and child sex trafficking: a survivor speaks out
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Homelessness and child sex trafficking: a survivor speaks out

This article contains references to sexual abuse. Jose Alfaro was 17 when his trafficker first began grooming him online. As a sexual abuse survivor who had been thrown out of his house by his father for being gay, he was in an extremely vulnerable situation, and his trafficker took advantage of his desperation.  Targeting vulnerable…

The National Survivor Study Survey is Live!
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The National Survivor Study Survey is Live!

Click here to participate in the survey. If you want to understand human trafficking, you have to ask the real experts – people who have actually lived the experience. That’s the driving force behind the National Survivor Study survey, which is now live. Survivors can participate by clicking here. Survivors who have already completed an…

Love & Trafficking: Being THAT Friend
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Love & Trafficking: Being THAT Friend

If you have ever said anything negative about a new love interest to an infatuated friend, you may well have learned an unfortunately dangerous lesson: No one says “thank you” when you criticize the person they think they are in love with and pinning their hopes on. In fact, quite the opposite. Most people don’t react well – at least in the moment – to being told their significant other is bad news.

Learning from the Experts: An Update on the National Survivor Study
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Learning from the Experts: An Update on the National Survivor Study

Survivors of sex and labor trafficking are the real experts in the anti-trafficking movement. That’s why Polaris’s National Survivor Study (NSS) intentionally flips the traditional dynamics of research projects done on a community and instead aims to work with survivors as true partners. Polaris is already seeing the benefits. Although the NSS is still underway,…