Dressember's Impact Pillars
Injustice is rarely a one-time event. Oftentimes, injustices compound upon each other, exploiting every possible vulnerability. Human trafficking is no different. At Dressember, we believe it’s an intersectional human rights issue that must be dismantled from multiple angles.
We prioritize resourcing programs that address human trafficking systemically and completely. That’s why our programming is centered around four key pillars: advocacy, prevention, intervention, and survivor empowerment. In order to disrupt this $150 billion dollar industry, we identify the most impactful organizations working in these four areas and financially invest in them to help scale their impact. Each pillar is essential to ending human trafficking in our lifetime.
This work requires constant attention and collaboration. That’s why we created the Dressember Network, a group of organizations with proven impact that work with local organizers to dismantle trafficking around the world. Keep reading to learn more about each of these four impact pillars and what sort of programs Dressember resources in each one.
Advocacy
The Dressember movement is built on small, consistent actions. We mobilize a community with an extraordinary passion to demand change and advocate for the dignity of all people. We advocate by sharing reliable information, empowering the public, offering tangible action steps, using survivor-informed language, and educating on conscious consumerism.
Some of these Dressember Network programs include advocacy against the criminalization of survivors, as well as continuing education through Dressember’s Advocacy Course, designed to help others align their impact with their intention. Learn more about Dressember advocacy here.
Prevention
Prevention in anti-trafficking involves addressing root causes and changing systems. We look upstream to acknowledge factors that make certain groups more vulnerable to trafficking. At Dressember, this prevention work looks like addressing poverty, fighting racism and discrimination, supporting foster youth, supporting LGBTQ+ youth, and shining a light on exploitation in supply chains.
Dressember is committed to addressing the link between systemic issues and vulnerability. By doing this, we have the opportunity to prevent more people from becoming victims in the first place. We must acknowledge what vulnerabilities victims and survivors have in common in order to prevent trafficking in the future. Our prevention programs include OSEC (online sexual exploitation of children) training, mentorship, and support for foster youth. Learn more about Dressember prevention here.
Intervention
Intervention is often what people think of when they hear about anti-trafficking work. Intervention work involves partnering with local organizers to remove child victims of trafficking from exploitative situations, as well as providing support and exit pathways for trafficked adults. We rely on our local Network leaders to lead this initiative through culturally sensitive and appropriate methods. At Dressember, this work looks like creating accessible pathways out of ‘the life,’ training front-line workers to identify trafficking, providing trauma-informed support, and using technology to locate OSEC victims.
Our mission at Dressember is to take a stand against all forms of exploitation and create options and exit pathways for victims of trafficking to live free, autonomous lives. Learn more about Dressember intervention here.
Survivor Empowerment
We empower survivors’ sustained liberation through capacity-building initiatives that aim to build long-term health and success. By centering survivors in our programs and partnering with organizations that prioritize lived experiences, we learn first-hand what survivors need to continue their healing journey.
At Dressember, survivor empowerment work looks like providing housing opportunities, supporting group and individual therapy, creating survivor-informed programs, providing vocational training and job readiness, sourcing legal support and supplies for incarcerated survivors, and offering scholarships and training programs. We understand everyone’s journey is different, and no survivor is the same. Learn more about Dressember survivor empowerment here.
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When you advocate with or support Dressember, you are part of a movement fighting trafficking from every angle with a global network of impact-driven organizations. To stop this multi-billion dollar industry, we must work together to stand against exploitation in four key areas: advocacy, prevention, intervention, and survivor empowerment. Ready to join us? Register to make an impact today.