WHAT CAN I DO?
Anti-trafficking and Racial Justice Organizations to Support
African American Policy Forum The African American Policy Forum (AAPF) is an innovative think tank that connects academics, activists and policy-makers to promote efforts to dismantle structural inequality.
Rights 4 Girls Rights4Girls works to change the narrative and policies that criminalize girls who have been impacted by gender-based violence. We advocate for solutions that provide girls and young women with access to safety, justice and support.
M.I.S.S.S.E.Y. Since 2007, MISSSEY has worked to address the exploitation of young people in Oakland, Alameda County, and throughout the state of CA, supporting hundreds of youth on their journeys to safety, healing, and liberation.
BAWAR In 2009, responding to an alarming increase of sexual exploitation in Alameda County, BAWAR implemented a new program to address the needs of youth and adults experiencing commercial sexually exploitation/human trafficking (CSE/HT).
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights We are named after Ella Baker, a brilliant, black hero of the civil rights movement. Following in her footsteps, we organize with Black, Brown, and low-income people to shift resources away from prisons and punishment, and towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong.
National Resources
POLARIS - NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESOURCE CENTER
(888) 373-7888
help@humantraffickinghotline.org
BeFree Textline
Text Help to 233733 (BeFree)
Hours of Operation: 3:00pm - 11:00pm EST
NATIONAL RUNAWAY SAFELINE
(800) RUNAWAY
RUNAWAY TEXT 66008
NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN
(800) THE-LOST
Research + Articles:
Black Girls for Sale by Jeannine Amber ESSENCE
Putting the Human Into Human Trafficking Reporting: Tips for Interviewing Survivors by Minh Dang and The Irina Project
The Sexual Abuse To Prison Pipeline: A Girls' Story by Human Rights Project for Girls, Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality & Ms. Foundation for Women
How Gender And Racial Disparities In Human Trafficking Affect Women And Girls Of Color by Gabrielle Union ESSENCE
Holly Joshi, EdD Candidate, Featured in Independent Documentary Film, "Still I Rise" by by Shanthi Guruswamy
The Racial Roots of Human Trafficking by Cheryl Nelson Butler Read more: UCLA LAW REVIEW
Child sex trafficking has become a vital topic of discussion among scholars and advocates, and public outcry has led to safe harbor legislation aimed at shifting the legal paradigm… Cheryl Nelson
Organizations and campaigns supporting Black Survivors, highlighted by We, As Ourselves:
A Long Walk Home: A Long Walk Home empowers young artists and activists to end violence against all girls and women. We advocate for racial and gender equity in schools, communities, and our country-at-large.
ASISTA: ASISTA is a network of attorneys and advocates across the nation working at the intersection of immigration and gender-based violence.
Black Feminist Futures: Black Feminist Future is a movement incubator that focuses on the dynamic possibilities of galvanizing the social and political power of Black feminisms as a blueprint for liberation.
Black Girl Freedom Fund: The Black Girl Freedom Fund aims to raise $1 billion to support work that advances the well being of Black girls and their families, including work that centers and advances the power of Black girls through organizing, asset mapping, capacity-building, legal advocacy, and narrative work that seeks to shift structural violence enacted against Black girls.
Black Women’s Blueprint: Black Women’s Blueprint provides a blueprint for black liberation through a feminist lens and work to place Black women and girls’ lives, as well as their particular struggles, squarely within the context of the larger racial justice concerns of Black communities.
Girls for Gender Equity: Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) is an intergenerational grassroots organization committed to the physical, psychological, social, and economic development of girls and women.
National Black Women’s Justice Institute: The National Black Women’s Justice Institute (NBWJI) aims to eliminate racial and gender disparities in the U.S. criminal legal system that are responsible for its disproportionate impact on Black women, girls, and gender nonconforming people.
She Safe, We Safe: She Safe, We Safe is a transformative movement campaign led by BYP100 to put an end to the different forms of gender violence that Black women, girls, femmes and gender non-conforming people face everyday.
Trans Women of Color Collective: Trans Women of Color Collective (TWOCC) was created to cultivate economic opportunities and affirming spaces for trans people of color and our families, to foster kinship, build community engage in healing and restorative justice through arts, culture, media, advocacy and activism.
Ujima Community, The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community: Through Ujima, survivors are able to tap into a network of culturally-specific programs and services that meet the unique and varying needs of the Black community. Ujima acts as a bridge to reduce barriers to services best able to meet the needs of the Black community.
Voices: Voices is a new interdisciplinary performance arts project and campaign grounded in Black women’s stories by V-Day to unify the vision of ending violence against women: cis women, trans women, and non binary people across the African Continent and African Diaspora.
________________________________________________________
Did you know that the majority of children being sexually exploited in the U.S. are African American girls and femmes? And 83% are U.S. citizens? African Americans constitute 13.2% of the U.S. population, yet black girls account for nearly 62% of minors arrested for “prostitution.” There is no such thing as a child prostitute and victimhood is often racially coded. Examining racism as a risk factor for sexual exploitation is critical to defining the scope of the problem and the solutions. Most mainstream news outlets, legislators and even activists have ignored the relationship between racism and human trafficking, which perpetuates the crime.
At team Still I Rise we are especially aware of the fact that sex trafficking disproportionately impacts Black girls, womxn and gender expansive people of color in America. Still I Rise explores the social, cultural and structural conditions that allow for trafficking and exploitation to exist and continue. Dehumanizing tropes of black girls, womxn and femmes coupled with the legacies of systemic racism, violence and hypercapitalism contribute to intersectional and heightened vulnerability. Ending human trafficking requires us to examine the context in which it exists, and to combat the intersecting injustices that create victim-rich environments in the Bay Area, California and beyond.
*Resources are provided for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Still I Rise.