Dressember Network: Care for Survivors in Uganda
Talia is an 8-year-old survivor of human trafficking. She was deceived by her older brother and trafficked for the purposes of human child sacrifice. During a police raid, her brother was murdered by the witch doctor, but Talia was rescued. Her condition at the time of rescue was severely physically, mentally, and emotionally abused. When she arrived at the Dressember Network partner’s comprehensive residential Aftercare Program, she was extremely traumatized. She relayed to Joy, her case manager, that she wanted to be a policewoman when she grew up so she could find the man who killed her brother and take revenge.
There is a growing trend in Uganda toward trafficking through unlicensed orphanages and shelters like these.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of State Diplomacy in Action tells us that Uganda is an epicenter for trafficking activity. Stories like Talia’s are not uncommon. Both international and domestic trafficking exist in Uganda. The country boasts the third youngest population in the world, which yields a high rate of unemployment. Rampant fraud and lack of information have left Ugandans without options and at high-risk of trafficking. With school doors still closed due to the pandemic, many children have no choice but to work to survive. In Africa, more than one-fifth of children, which totals up to around 87 million kids, have to work. Children are often subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Traffickers exploit young girls and boys through prostitution, creation of pornography, and other forms of sexual abuse. Women and girls aged 5-24 are most vulnerable in urban areas and near new construction sites.
That is where the Dressember Network comes in.
We partner with one of the only organizations in Uganda with a license to provide residential care to victims of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), which also operates the only formalized aftercare program for adult victims of transnational trafficking. The aftercare program empowers survivors with individualized plans to heal from trauma, avoid revictimization, reconcile family and community relationships, access educational and vocational scholarships as well as legal services, and provides avenues to entrepreneurship through training and start-up capital.
This work is done with a view toward preventing revictimization, which is most likely within two years of first being trafficked and upon return to their originating country due to debt bondage or the associated psychological, economic, and emotional conditions associated with re-entry after exiting a trafficking situation. Reintegration into society, along with the requirement of functioning within societal norms, can be traumatic to a person already dealing with the trauma of a trafficking situation.
As a result, when victims return home they require intensive care and rehabilitation. There is a shortage of aftercare services available in Uganda to meet the demand currently placed on the system. Though trauma-informed workplaces do exist in the country, jobs are very limited and there are no standard tools for ensuring trauma-information in the region. Supporting survivor recovery and reintegration with an emphasis on eliminating economic vulnerabilities that lead to revictimization is essential to reducing the prevalence of trafficking in Uganda.
The Dressember Network’s efforts in Care for Trafficking Survivors in Uganda has directly restored the lives of 878 victims of trafficking with a 95% success rate in preventing re-victimization. Case managers like Joy work to provide a supportive and welcoming environment for survivors.
Joy has been providing continual emotional support and counseling to Talia and is beginning to notice some changes in her physical and mental well-being. She no longer talks about a desire for revenge, but now she tells Joy that she would like to become a lawyer in order to defend the rights of children.
It is by providing trauma-informed care with a real lens to the problems facing victims during their reintegration into society, that the Dressember Network is able to create positive outcomes for children like Talia. Talia has the tools, support, and care that she needs now to pursue the life that she wants - no matter what that might look like.
Through care for trafficking survivors in Uganda, the Dressember Network provides the tools needed to learn a vocation, start a business, or continue with schooling. We also work to rehabilitate and restore the lives of survivors by helping them to reconcile with family members and their community, just like Talia has. She no longer wants to seek revenge, but instead to be an active part of her community, and one who improves the lives of others in the situation she experienced.
This program has a ripple effect that helps to end many of the cycles that allow trafficking to occur in Uganda: abuse, poverty, and exploitation. Survivors like Talia, who seek to become productive members in, or even serve, their communities after escaping trafficking situations, make clear that aftercare services empower survivors to move forward and beyond their traumatic experiences. Survivors are empowered to provide for themselves and their families economically, which leads them to be much less vulnerable to revictimization. It is through holistic aftercare programs like this one that we can help to end trafficking in Uganda once and for all.
The Dressember Network is made up of 20 organizations that support programs in the following impact areas: advocacy, prevention, intervention, and survivor empowerment. The Dressember Network partners with Willow International to provide care for trafficking survivors in Uganda. Willow International seeks to eradicate human trafficking at its root in Uganda through survivor care, government reform, and global partnerships that seek to restore hope for victims. When you support Dressember, you help dismantle trafficking holistically and in a way that prioritizes survivor needs and voices. Ready to join us? Register to become an advocate or make a donation today.
About the Author
Miranda Cecil is a second-year at Northeastern University School of Law. She graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2020 (go heels!) and shipped up to Boston. As a North Carolina transplant in New England, she loves exploring her new area on the weekends. In her free time, she enjoys cross-stitching, cycling, and reading. She hopes to use her legal degree and a passion for urban development to continue advocating for human trafficking survivors (and, despite the Boston winter, looks forward to the style challenge this December).