A Day to Celebrate: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons; July 30th, 2024
It’s World Day Against Trafficking today, and we are here to celebrate and highlight the brave individuals who have beat the odds and come out the other side of trafficking.
If you’re familiar with Safety Compass and the local advocacy work we do, you know we work with survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and local sex trafficking right here in Oregon.
Safety Compass was created to fill a crucial gap in the continuum of care. When survivors are identified, a case worker assigned might not have the capacity to make contact for days or weeks. Often with police involvement, the victim has to navigate the criminal justice system and police questioning on their own. There are incredible individuals and teams fighting this fight, and we exist to fill a critical hole of advocacy and care needed at the beginning.
A component of the care we give is safety-planning and empowering individuals to take the steps they deem necessary to get to safety.
When it’s go-time, and they have built up the courage and bravery to safety-plan and leave, we pour all our time, energy and resources into helping the survivor get free. That might entail transportation to safety, coordinating with other agencies, and working with community partners to find housing, food, clothing, toiletries and other essential needs.
It is often a now-or-never moment, and we work to ensure it is now.
Renee* was referred to Safety Compass by a domestic violence organization after they recognized she was being trafficked. She left her trafficker and was seeking a safe place to live for herself and her three-month-old baby. Safety Compass, along with other service providers, helped her to create a safety plan to keep herself safe from her trafficker who had been actively stalking her. She was able to independently carry out and follow through with every detail of this plan and felt empowered by the support she was receiving.
In a world where there is a lot of need, we thank you for caring about this one. It’s why we wake up every day and do what we do: for the next survivor who is one phone call away from making the now-or-never decision to safety.
It’s an honor and privilege to provide advocacy and support to these survivors.
Today is for them.
If you would like to become a monthly sponsor, be trained as a volunteer emergency advocate, or get involved in our events and other outreach, please reach out to info@safetycompass.org. We would love to hear from you!
*Name changed for confidentiality
