How to Become a Citizen Leader for a Cause with Susie Hageman

Episode 66

Susie Hageman is a local friend of mine and I’m very excited to have her on the show with me because she is doing very important work, at a local level, on a global crisis.

Susie has a clinical doctorate in Physical Therapy and works primarily with patients in an outpatient orthopedic setting, spends her time with her sons, and volunteers in her community with a passionate voice in her efforts to address the issue of human trafficking in her community and state.

In this episode, Susie and I discuss how learning human trafficking existed in her community and state changed her life, why human trafficking became Susie’s cause instead of other societal issues, the place Susie’s found for herself in the fight against human trafficking, her advice for speaking to your children about human trafficking, and more!

Take a listen to the episode below!

Mentioned in this episode:

 

Play here (the red triangle below), on iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio (Amazon Alexa) or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Susie Hageman Voice of Influence Podcast Andrea Joy Wenburg

Transcript

Hey, hey!  It’s Andrea, and welcome to the Voice of Influence podcast!

Today, I have with me my friend, Susie Hageman, who is a local friend.  And I’m excited to have her with me because she is somebody who is really doing some important work on a local level over a global topic.  We’ll explain that here in a minute, but let me just introduce you to Susie Hageman.

Susie has a clinical doctor in physical therapy and works primarily with patients in an outpatient orthopedic setting before choosing to stay home with her son, and now she is working a little more again.  She continues to volunteers in her community with a passionate voice in her efforts to address the issue of human trafficking in her community and her state.

Andrea:  Susie, thank you so much for being here on the Voice of Influence podcast.

Susie Hageman:  Hello!  Thank you for having me Andrea.  I appreciate this.

Andrea:  Alright, so you’re a physical therapist, a mom, and a Christian, somebody who just really has a passion in your heart for a topic that you really have pursued in a very wholehearted way.  But also, you’ve got all these other things going on as well.  I’m curious.  Those of us who are trying to figure out what our purpose is, our mission, or our message, is there something that is driving you like a message or a mission that is driving you as kind of a citizen leader?

Susie Hageman:  You know, I think it just kind of came in bits and pieces initially.  When I first learned about human trafficking, it disturbed me and I just thought, “How can I apply this to my life?  How can I be making different choices in what I purchase and be making an impact that way?”  It just grew from there.

When I learned that trafficking exists in my state and it exists in my community that broke my heart and I just began questioning again, “What can I be doing as an individual to address this?”  I think this topic of human trafficking in particular because _____ obviously other areas in our society where our hearts can be broken also.

But human trafficking, I think, spoke to me personally just because I tend to be kind of an independent girl that just kind of like to move to the beat of her own drum a little bit and I’ve just really appreciate independence.  I think that’s what drove me to choose physical therapy as a career.

Andrea:  Explain that.  What is physical therapy has to do with independence?

Susie Hageman:  I really enjoy restoring people back to as much as independence as much as they can.  I enjoy helping them find a way to make adaptations or restore whatever physical restrictions they may have so they can get back to living life the way they want to and that’s what is the feeling for me in my career.

I think when I learned about human trafficking, it just really bothered me to think that someone might not have a say in how they live their life.  That’s the part that independence, that freedom is the part that just really kind of spoke to me as individual and kind of drew me in and why I’m passionate about it.

So I kind of see as kind of a common thread that runs through the different areas of my life.  So yeah that’s I think why human trafficking in particular stood out to me as far as where I get involved in my community.

Andrea:  It’s really interesting.  I like that connection that you mean there between restoring people to their independence physically and like with their physical body but then also in this human trafficking arena.

We know that this is a big issue on a global level.  It’s hard to even kind of fathom I think for most of us and some of us maybe more familiar with the issues around human trafficking while others may not.  But I know that your focus has been more of that state and city level, so can you tell us why that in particular, why did you decide to focus more locally?

Susie Hageman:  So when you look at the issue of human trafficking, it is very complex.  It can be overwhelming and so I just kind of began to look at what I could do with an individual.  When I saw the statistics of other states that every month, 900 individuals are sold for sex in the state of Nebraska and out of those 900 individuals 70% to 75% show indicators of being trafficked.   And that Grand Island, my community is the highest per capita in the state for individuals sold for sex.  Those are statistics for the human trafficking initiative.

When I looked at those numbers, they obviously creeped me and I realized that the problem here where I live, and if this is where I live and where I work and move; this is where I could be making an impact.  I’m not a service provider.  I’m not in the law enforcement so I don’t want to be doing job if I’m not qualified for.  So I just began to look at “OK, this is the problem, where can I fit on the team and make a difference?”

When I asked that question, I started to see that there was need for funding for programs to help support survivors and victims of human trafficking I thought “Well, I had experience in putting together events.  I have this group of friends that are willing to help me.”  So that’s kind of a direction I went

Part 2

We started the STOP fund and there’s a need to stop trafficking on the planes.  And our intention is to build up this fund so that we can provide financial support to service organizations that directly assist trafficking victims that needs such as medical care, counseling, shelter, transportation to shelters, basic need, and helping them transition back to independent living.

So that’s kind of where we saw where we could fit in to the team and be a useful contributing member.  So, yeah, that’s kind of where I found my place in the fight against trafficking.

Andrea:  You know, I know that there are some different service organizations that you’re helping fund with the STOP fund, can you explain why you chose to do to create this fund rather than just supporting every single one of this in other way?  Is there a reason why you chose to fund versus supporting one particular organization?

Susie Hageman:  Well, when you look at the trauma that trafficking victims go through, they need more than just shelter.  They need counseling.  They need medical care.  There’s a lot of different pieces of the puzzle to put together and that involves teamwork from a lot of different organizations.

So yeah, we could have done fundraising from one organization but then we wouldn’t have been meeting the need in all the other areas.  So we started the fund to be kind of just a general place for financial resources for all the organizations so that we can kind of help put in pieces to all the other areas of needs for the trauma survivors.  So that’s why we started the fund because we saw there was more than one organization that was going to need help.

Honestly, when we look at our nonprofit, they’re service providers but they also have to do a lot of the fundraising themselves and that takes up time.  They’re doing an important work.  I want to release some of the energy that they’re having to put into fundraising just to support their programs and relieve them of that so they can be doing the important work that they’re trained to do.  So that’s why we did with the fund rather than fundraise for a specific organization.

Andrea:  What kind of reception the STOP fund received from both service organizations and the community?

Susie Hageman:  It’s been beautiful to see the community embraced it and come alongside and support it.  Our first banquet was very successful.  We’ve been able to give out two grants so far and the service organizations do appreciate the support that we’re giving them and they do appreciate just being recognized for the amazing work that they’re doing.

They tend to be very humble people.  They don’t take a trumpet and announce all the amazing things that they’re doing.  So just for someone to recognize the amazing work that they’re doing that is honestly really hard and heartbreaking.  Just for someone to recognize that and give them a pat in the back and say, “We see you, we’re wanting to help you,” is I think really encouraging to them.  So they appreciate it.

I did not anticipate how encouraging it would be to law enforcements.  I just have a lot of respect for law enforcements and I just learned to just appreciate them even more after starting this fund, just their hearts for justice.  They’ve been very appreciative of the STOP fund as well.

I didn’t really take the time to realize that their job is to catch the perpetrator.  It’s not their job to help the victim.  They’re helping the victim by catching the perpetrator.  They don’t have the resources to then help the victims.  That’s somebody else’s job and the resources is there _____.

So for them to know that there’s funding available to help transport someone to a shelter or there’s funding available for a shelter those kinds of things have been really encouraging to them.  They’ve been really supportive of the fund also for those reasons just because they have a heart for justice.  They want victims to be taken care of and _____ heart for that has been really beautiful as well.

We’ve been very well received and it’s just encouraging to see the community come around it.  We knew that the community wanted to fight trafficking too.  They just needed a way to do so.  To see it fly out so beautifully has just been an amazing experience.

When they got a call when the first grant went out, I kind of just wished to all the people that had donated to the STOP fund could have been there for that moment because it was a powerful moment.  I wish they all could have been there for that because they’re all part of it.

Andrea:  That’s really cool!  I mean, you’re giving people the opportunity to help where they might not otherwise known how to help and it just feels overwhelming.

Susie Hageman:  Yes, yes!  This gives us all chance to be able to do something.

Andrea:  So Susie when you’re thinking about people gaining the independence and restoring people to their independence, why is it such a burden for you?

Susie Hageman:  You know, I have this quote “God is my favorite artist and you’re His masterpiece.”  And I think that we are all made for a purpose and it’s beautiful.  What makes human trafficking so heartbreaking is because people aren’t allowed to live the life they want to.  They’re being controlled or coerced by someone else.  That’s not their whole story and even that part of their story can be woven into a beautiful tapestry.

I just think that when we live out our own purpose, when we live out our own passion, there’s a deeper sense of joy and satisfaction rather than just going through life trying to as comfortable as possible.  That might be okay but it doesn’t give you a deep sense of satisfaction and joy.  When you’re living out what you’re made to do and you’re kind of using your gifts and your talents and your experiences to make an impact, it’s kind of meaningful, joyful, and satisfying.

I think for me, anyway, being a part of the story of others and being a part of a team or being in a community of others and I think it’s important for everyone even introverts.  I would say I’m an outgoing introvert myself, being a part of that community and bringing that out in others is also deeply satisfying and then seeing them live out that joy and satisfaction, brings you joy and satisfaction as well.  Does that make sense?

Andrea:  Sure!  Oh yeah, I totally agree.

Susie Hageman:  I think we are meant to live in a community and I think we are meant to live out who you’re made to be and when that happens, it’s just a beautiful, beautiful experience.  So I would encourage people to, it may not be human trafficking, but quite honestly if you’re mentoring youth in your community, you’re helping prevents human trafficking.

I mean, it’s such a complex topic that there’s multiple ways to go about addressing it.  But if you’re living out what drives you, if you’re living out where your gifts and talents are and when you are fulfilling your purpose, it’s a beautiful thing.  I guess I would encourage people to do that and to not be afraid to step out there and try new things.  Don’t be afraid to fall.  It’s OK to say I don’t know everything.  You know, I don’t think any of us expect other people to know everything.

Throughout this experience, I haven’t known everything about how to set up a fund along the way, but I’ve been willing to say, “I don’t know about this but I’m gonna try this.  Will you help me along the way?”  And people have been very gracious about it.  So I think fear of not knowing how to do it perfectly shouldn’t pull anyone back because you can always learn along the way.

Andrea:  Hmm love that.  OK, so you’re also a wife and a mother of some small kids.  Really, how do you bring them in what you’re doing with the STOP fund?  What kind of conversations do you guys have at home with your kids, with your husband?  How does this work with your family?

Susie Hageman:  Well, so the STOP fund, Travis, my husband is a part of it too.  He’s a physician, so his job, obviously, requires a lot of his time, where I could develop more of my time too to actually work with the fund and he’s very much a part of it too.  It’s something that’s on both of our hearts.  We are a team of this.  So it’s kind of a partnership, I would say.  It’s not really my thing or his thing.  We do it together.

And with the boys, it’s hard because of their ages, they’re 5 and 8, I mean to go into specific details about it.  They know that human trafficking is making someone else work a job that they don’t necessarily want to work.  We kind of just go into a more level that’s appropriate for their age and they know that that’s not nice.

So they know that mommy and daddy are trying to bring awareness that it didn’t happen anymore and to help those people out of that life so that they can live the life that they want to live.  They know that’s important and they know what’s important.

We, as a family, do things for other people in our community and we take time to be appreciative of the things that we have.  They know that that’s important to be involved in a community, being thankful for what we have and to share what we have.  So I guess, they know about it through that way.  Does that make sense?

Andrea:  Yeah.

Susie Hageman:  And it’s not just the STOP fund, it’s more just teaching them to be good citizens and good community leaders in general.  So the STOP fund comes under that but it’s bigger than just the STOP fund I guess is what we’re trying to teach our kids.

Andrea:  Yeah.  It sounds like you’re teaching them core values of your family.

Susie Hageman:  Yeah, but they’re proud of it.  I don’t know how much the completely grasp it but they’re still young.  But they’re supportive of it and they see it’s a team between Travis and I too.  So I think that makes a big difference too when both parents are onboard and supportive of something, the kids are more likely to come onboard too and that’s unified family decisions.  Does that make sense?

Andrea:  Oh yeah.  I think that’s something that can get kind of confusing knowing how to talk to your kids about a topic like this that’s so mature and so intense but yet, you’re so involved with it.  I think there’ve been times when I’ve tried to talk to my own daughter about it and my son.  It’s kind of confusing but I think it’s confusing to know what to say to them I guess.

But I think it make sense that you would focus on the fact that these people are being forced to work jobs that they don’t want to work and that’s not right and you’re trying to do something about it.  I think that makes a lot of sense and I think it helps other parents to think about how we can address this with our kids too.  So I appreciate you sharing that.

Susie Hageman:  Yeah and I think with human trafficking in general, I think there’s a lot of parents or most the parents of teens or preteens that asked me questions about how to bring up with their kids.  I think to look at it from a bigger picture than just talking to them about trafficking.  But like for smaller children talking to them about _____ what’s appropriate context versus inappropriate context that kind of thing.

And with older kids, talking about healthy relationship, having healthy relationships modeled at home so that they know when they start dating if what’s healthy and appropriate way to be treated and to treat others and what’s inappropriate.  Because oftentimes trafficking isn’t the headline grabbing, you know, child kidnapped at a big store type of setting.

It’s a traffic who grooms the child is their friend or their boyfriend or girlfriend at first and then starts saying “Well, I’ve bought you these nice things, how are you going to help me pay for them?  We can have this nice life if you help me pay for it.  How about you do this to help me pay for it?”  That’s kind of how as far as sex trafficking, that’s kind of how it starts.

So teaching kids healthy relationships and that kind of thing teaching them to be wise on the internet.  Those are ways for parents to educate their kids and kind of start the conversation in a way that keep them safe from human trafficking versus “Just be careful so you don’t get kidnapped.”  You know what I mean?

Andrea:  Right.  Oh yeah.

Susie Hageman:  That doesn’t really keep them safe you know talking to them about healthy relationships, what makes a good friend and what makes a bad friend, and how to be a good friend.  You know those kinds of things are topics that are going to keep them safer overall.

Andrea:  Those were really great things for us to keep in mind for anybody that has kids in their life, whether you’re a teacher or you’re a parent or aunt or an uncle or whoever to make sure that we’re modeling those healthy relationships like you’re talking about, Susie.  And then being able to really explain to make sure that they know not to…I don’t know, to make sure that they know what it looks like when somebody is grooming them.

I think that that is something that adults need to understand because it’s easy for adults even to be drawn into inappropriate responses in relationships because we’re being groomed or shamed or we don’t know what those healthy relationships are.  So we don’t know how to model that for our kids.  I think that can often be the case.

So I think that what you’re sharing here is so important to these parents and those educational institutions and churches, anybody that deals with kids for them to understand like we need to be communicating these things, I think.

Susie Hageman:  For me personally, I am trying to learn not to react but to listen and keep conversation open and engaged so that when the boys get to those ages where they don’t think I’m cool anymore and hopefully I can still have conversations with them.  I mean, I’m not an expert but that’s the part that _____ just keeping those lines of communication open and then having a support system around you because they aren’t always going to listen to their parents but maybe they’ll listen to a family friend or the aunt or the uncle.

You know, I laughed because I picked up a friend’s daughter for her from her practice and she’s going to spend that evening at our house.  And so of course the first thing you do is feed the kid.  So we were in the fast food drive through and we started having a conversation about the perils of alcohol, “Oh maybe you won’t listen to your mom.”

Although she’s a very good girl and she’s not going to be doing that, but at the same time, and knowing that she’s going to be getting that age or she’s going to be facing those kinds of questions amongst her peers.  So I started into this whole _____ about the perils of alcohol while waiting the drive through lines.  And so I thought, “She might not listen to her mom but she might listen to me.”  _____ kids are probably going to be running away from crazy Susie, but yeah it takes the whole support system, you know.

Andrea:  Absolutely!  I really appreciate it when other parents or other adult figures have wise conversation with my kids like that. I really appreciate that.

Susie Hageman:  We have to invest in each other and in each other’s kid, you know.  It’s takes everybody pitching in.

Andrea:  What we’re talking about here I think is really interesting because one of the other thoughts that I’ve had on this topic is that when we have a more authoritarian kind of parenting or leadership style, we’re kind of really training people to not have a voice, to not use their voice, and to not either believe that they do have one or that they should have one.

So I’m afraid of situations like that.  I fear for kids who grew up in authoritarian households or in a context with a, you know, whether it’d be a church or a school with a really heavy handed don’t-question authority kind of situation because I do think that maybe even, especially girls they want to please.  So they learn to not question.  They learn not listen to that inner voice inside when they get into that other situation where there might somebody grooming them for something terrible, it’s harder for them to be able to speak up.

Susie Hageman:  Yeah, the shame keeps them from speaking up to the people that care that would help them out of that situation.  Yeah, and I will admit that I am the parent that will speak up and state my opinion mostly out of fear in my heart because I want my kids make the right choice.  I’m really trying to back off from doing that and I keep my mouth shut and let them talk through their scenario before I insert my opinion or wait _____.

So that I do keep those lines of communication open because if it is just black and white and I’d be wrong then it shuts down that communication and it shames them then I might be putting them at a higher risk _____.

Andrea:  Yeah that inner voice too.  It makes them think that “Oh gosh, I dunno what I’m talking about.”  And then they start to believe that they don’t know what they’re talking about.  They shouldn’t trust what they’re feeling and that sort of thing.  I think that it’s so true we have still have to insert our opinion or we still have to calm down with “No, you can’t do this and here’s why,” but to guide them through the…

Susie Hageman:  But that should be the initial response.

Andrea:  Yeah, I really appreciate the way you said that because if there’s something really important about guiding them through that process of thinking it through.  This is teaching them how to have that inner voice in the future which is incredibly important and valuable in so many different levels.

Gosh, I love the topic.  I love this conversation went in that direction, and I love what you’re doing.  I love that you stood up and said “You know, I’ve got to do something.  What am I gonna do?”  Instead of “I wish I could do something.  I don’t know what to do,” you just kind of figured it out.  “What kind I do?  Where do we fit in this equation of helping this problem of human trafficking?”

I’m really thankful for people like you who step in to those roles and do this kind of behind the scenes but very important work of helping to fund these other nonprofits and things like that.  Or whatever kinds of efforts that you’re wanting to make in life, you know whatever kind of things you’re wanting to support to be able to just step up and say, “OK, how can I help,” instead of saying “I don’t know how to help,” and then just giving up.

So thank you for everything that you’ve been doing in that regard.

Susie Hageman:  Thank you for giving me an opportunity to here in your podcast and I really appreciate it.

Andrea:  What would be something that you would like the listeners to really take away from this conversation today?

Susie Hageman:  That there’s a reason that they are here and it may be related to human trafficking.  It maybe something completely unrelated with human trafficking, but they are here for a reason.  They’re made for a purpose.  And if there’s something that’s keeping them up awake at night, if there’s something a nagging thing that just won’t go away that just really keeps coming back to them, I just want to encourage them to pursue that and just keep pursuing it and keep approaching it and working on it until they find what’s in store for them there.  Because I think that we all have amazing things that we can do and everybody has gifts to share.

It is beautifully satisfying and joyful to find where you fits and how you can help.  So I would encourage your learners to just keep pursuing that nagging thing that keeping them awake at night because they may find that joy in that.

Andrea:  It’s great.  Thank you so much for your time today, Susie!

Susie Hageman:  Thank you, Andrea.  I appreciate you!

Bringing Hope to the Hopeless Around the Globe

Episode 22 with John Cotton Richmond of the Human Trafficking Institute

Are you overwhelmed by the problem of sex trafficking and forced labor in the world? Sometimes it feels like a hopeless reality. What can really be done to make a difference? Well, today I have a leader in the fight against human trafficking and he is on a mission to bring hope to this hopeless situation. Once you hear what he’s done for the fight in the U.S., you’ll see that with people like John at the head of the fight, it just might be possible.

John Cotton Richmond leads the Human Trafficking Institute as it works to combat slavery at its source. Numerous survivors of sex and labor trafficking have found victim-centered advocate in John. He has been named Prosecutor of the Year and expert for the United Nations and every trafficker’s worst nightmare by the head of the FBI’s human trafficking program.

Mentioned in this episode:

Play here (the red triangle below), on iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio (Amazon Alexa) or wherever you listen to podcasts.


 

Transcript

Hey, hey! It’s Andrea and welcome to the Voice of Influence podcast. Today, I have with me John Cotton Richmond. I am really, really honored to have him on the show today because he is doing some amazing work, and has done some amazing work in the area of human trafficking and justice in general.

Aaron and I met John a couple of years ago at a workshop. I was immediately struck by, not only his authority and competency in this area but, his ability to communicate it very empathetically and truly care about the person that he’s talking to.

John leads the Human Trafficking Institute as it works to combat slavery at its source. Numerous survivors of sex and labor trafficking have found victim-centered advocate in John. He has been named Prosecutor of the Year and expert for the United Nations and every trafficker’s worst nightmare by the head of the FBI’s human trafficking program.

As you can tell, this is going to be a great interview. So let’s dive in.

Andrea: Well, John, welcome to the Voice of Influence podcast.

John:  Thank you so much! It’s great to be with you Andrea.

Andrea: Why don’t you introduce us to this idea of the Human Trafficking Institute, the human trafficking issue and why this all got started for you?

John: I think that it all starts with the realization that there are at least 20 million people in the world today who have the same problem. They don’t get to make the most basic decisions about their lives. Someone else decides when they wake up, where they work, and even who touches their bodies.   And I think it’s hard to sort of awaken ourselves to this reality that these people are trapped in modern-day slavery, and they’re trapped by a group of individuals who are traffickers, who are trying to profit by exploiting them.

As I began to be confronted with this over 15 years ago, I was in private law practice. My wife and I decided to move to India to help with International Justice Mission’s slavery work there and I got to direct their office and learned about forced labor in the Indian context and see and meet victims, see and meet traffickers and the law enforcement officers that we’re trying to intervene. And I was overwhelmed by the reality of the problem, by the scope of the problem.

And then I shifted to United States Department of Justice where I was a federal prosecutor for over a decade in a specialized human trafficking prosecution unit, and I started working sex trafficking and forced labor cases across the United States. And again, meeting with survivors every day, hearing their stories,

 

trying to figure out how do we bring their voice to courts so they can speak truths and let the world know what the traffickers have done to them so that we could stop and restrain them.

By doing that, I got to work with the United Nations on the human trafficking protocol and travel around the world training judges, prosecutors, and police. And through that we just begin to see these really predictable patterns and these proven strategies that can work to stop traffickers. And the Human Trafficking Institute was born out of the desire to help criminal justice systems in the developing world grow in their ability to stop traffickers and bring rescue to the victims.

Andrea: Where are you at with this Human Trafficking Institute at this point?

John: Human Trafficking Institute started just over a year and a half ago. I stepped down from the Department of Justice along with Victor Boutros, who was a federal prosecutor with me there and we’d worked cases, like we even tried a case together and Victor co-wrote The Locus Effect with Gary Haugen from International Justice Mission in which he has a ton of experience. And then we added to our team Dave Rogers who’s the former head of the FBI’s human trafficking unit out of their headquarters office. We worked together for years and we’re all in government and we come together with sort of these years of experience.

And the Human Trafficking Institute is actually going in and doing a few simple things. One is helping government establish specialized units so they can actually have people freed up to work these cases and then take them through an academy where they learn not just some sort of two or three days at a hotel conference room with Power Points but they really learn the way adults learn which is by digging into material over an extended period of time. It takes these specialized units through and advanced to county.

And the third thing is embed the inside of those units. Experienced and experts who have done these cases before who have gone to office with the specialized units and worked day in and day out with them as they work on these cases. And then wrapping around that the Human Trafficking Institute is to provide research, writing, and best practices in trying to move the thought leadership in this space towards recognizing ways that we can specifically stop this problem. We really believe that institutionalized systematic slavery can end because we’ve seen it end where it’s been attacked before and that just give us a lot of hope.

Andrea: So what is your role in the different processes that you’re talking about here?

John: Victor and I together had set out the vision for the institute and the different projects we have. And a lot of my works over the last years have been building relationships with government actors in the different countries as well as in the US on bringing people together to think about how we can identify and then use these proven strategies that actually work.

And then I also lead research efforts in terms of the type of work that we’re putting out on understanding the cases here in the United States where justice is going so that we can use these as examples in the developing world when we work with leaders.

Andrea: And I’ve also seen a number of news articles that the Human Trafficking Institute has shared that indicates that you have been at a United Nations, you’ve been at the White House, you’ve been sharing this thought leadership in these various faces what’s that been like?

John: It’s been so inspiring. There really are people of goodwill who wanted to do this work. And so yes at the United Nations, there’s amazing group of people that have been carefully thinking about this issue for a long time. We were very grateful that the White House wanted to call together leaders and just got a briefing and learn about the issue of trafficking. We were happy to participate in that and just share of what’s happening in the field and what’s actually going on the ground.

We’ve also met with prime ministers, attorneys, and generals from different countries and we just hosted two cabinet level, guests from police here in Washington D.C. One thing, Andrea, that is so important is that all of this is driven by people. There are people in government, in places of influence who have a voice on this issue and there are people who are trapped in slavery whose voice is currently being muted.

And the desire is how do we use the voice that is out there from leaders and from the general public as a springboard to un-mute that, to stop the traffickers from actually harming those victims. It’s been a great honor and privilege to have had a career building the relationships that are allowing us to do that.

Andrea: I want to come back to this idea of un-muting voices a little later, but I want to ask you how did you really get involved with human trafficking in the first place? You went to India 15 years ago, you said, and I’m curious why? What brought you to that point where you were ready to go to India and start learning about this?

John: That’s a great question. My wife and I, we’re processing it at the time with our friends and we really felt compelled to go. It was very simple and clear in so many ways. You know, I’ve been practicing law for about four years. We had worked hard and paid off all our school loans, and so we were to taking a fresh look at where do we want to be and what do we want to do. My wife was actually eight months pregnant when we left the United States to move to India.

Our second child was born in India, and she actually never even been in the country before. She went on faith and she went on a belief and a strong, clear compulsion that we could do something to stop slavery. And what was amazing is we had never met a slave before. We had never been involved in this work. I have been doing commercial litigation and employment law but it really sprung from seeing with real clarity the need that exists and then thinking how do we move to a solution. And we’ve been so up close as I began to travel in India and China and different places that there was such a need. There are people who are suffering because they don’t have food or water or shelter and there’s been a natural disaster and those people need aid and we can help them.

But then there’s this whole other set of people whose main problem isn’t that they don’t have food, shelter, or water, their main problem is that an individual is oppressing them and those people aren’t able to get the development aid that is out there. They’re not able to participate in the food program or this child’s fostership program or to go to the educational institutions that are nonprofits funded. They’re trapped.

And so how do we move in to solving that problem. We really feel like it was quite simple. There were lots of lawyers that wanted to work at my law firm. They were really smart and their resumes would flood in, but there wasn’t a whole lot of lawyers that wanted to go and say “We wanna be a part of changing this system. We wanna be a part of liberating individuals in restraining perpetrators.”

And so we thought “Let’s give that a shot.” And so it went and honestly, we built vision, we built strategy, and we built our understanding of the issue after we started. It all wasn’t clear. It was sort of like you start with a limited amount of information and as you go it becomes more clear.

Andrea: So you had this desire to change the world in a different kind of way. There’s such a tendency for people I think to get comfortable and stay where they’re at and a fear of adventure or moving fast where they are in order to be able to do some things significant. What was it about the two of you, you and your wife that made you willing, desiring to do that?

John: I think it was a couple of things. One was this understanding of the status quo not existing that there’s nothing stays the same. I think our desire to not venture out or the desire to not start something new is because we’re worried that it may not work out or that we may lose the safety security or comfort we’re currently experiencing. And the truth is it may not work out, so the risk is real in launching, in going forward. But the lie is that the status quo is real as well. There’s nothing really stays the same. If I don’t take the risk, I’m not guaranteed to have my current status quo remains. Everything is always changing.

The number one running back in the NFL this year is guaranteed not to be the number one running back in the NFL 10 years from now. Life changes: car accidents happen, unemployment, jobs shift, everything is a risk. And so once you realized that “I can’t really keep the status quo, I can’t, in the sense have an ice cream cone on a hot summer day and just hold it and expect it to stay the same. I can either enjoy the tasty treat or I can end up with a mess all over my hands,” right? The reality that if we’re not moving forward, we’re going to deteriorate. And I think that launching forward to do something really stands from the idea that we’re risking far less than we really think we are.

The other thing that motivated us, honestly was our faith, we were motivated by a really clear vision for what could be and by the sense that if I was stuck in slavery, if someone was trapping me or my family, I would want people to go and stop them. I want people to come for me. I want people to love me in a demonstrated way, not just by wearing the right color ribbon on the appropriate awareness day, but I want someone to make my pain stop. And if that’s true for me, I bet it’s true for those 20 million who are currently trapped. And believing that people have value really is a fundamental philosophical pivot point that allows us to confront evil.

Andrea: So you came back and you started working for the justice department at that point, right?

John: I sure did.

Andrea: And you started working with victims, talking to traffickers; what do you bring to those conversations? What did you get out of these conversations?

John: Oh I got so much. But what I brought honestly was time and availability. I’m going to make myself available and I’m going to spend a lot of time with the victims and hear their stories and allow them to tell their story at their pace. So it’s not rush in “Just give me all the facts.” If you ask someone to open up about some of the most traumatic abuse that they’ve ever experienced, it’s going to require a relationship. It’s going to require time of moving forward slowly to help them feel like they’re in a position where they can tell the truth they don’t want to share initially.

And with traffickers, it’s very much the same. It’s coming in and listening to their stories and hearing where they’re coming from and how they approach their crime, what they thought about and how they profit it. And understanding the crime from their perspective, add so much value as we try to stop others from committing it. But I learned a great deal about evil and trafficking and abuse from all of these conversations and then my job was to try to bring empathy.

Try to understand the situations that we could create for juries who are sitting in judgment in these cases and create empathy within them for what the victims have experienced and help them understand kind of how non-violent coercion works. How manipulation really works, how the traffickers was able to solve quickly sometimes to get the upper hand and control someone when it just doesn’t make sense to the averaged person. And so I think creating empathy for people is a real pathway for truth to be shared.

Andrea: At what point did you start thinking there’s another step beyond this one for me and my work in this particular realm and you have this friend, Victor, at what point did you guys start to dream of this Human Trafficking Institute?

John: It was in the last few years that I was at the Department of Justice. The first seven or so years was me just learning how to be an effective prosecutor and working these cases kind one after the other. In the last half of my time where I began travelling a lot internationally and I saw what we were doing to educate and help empower criminal justice systems around the world. We would go into these two or three days seminars or weeklong seminars and then we come back and work our cases and I saw very little changing. It just didn’t seem to have an impact the way we wanted it to and I worried that there was a lot of busyness but there wasn’t a lot of progress.

So we just begun to think “How could we impact this in a more substantial way?” About that time, we were ruling out a new program at the Department of Justice to improve the federal approach to prosecuting human trafficking cases and they were called the ACTeams. And the director of the Human Trafficking Prosecution unit at DOJ pioneered this and I was lucky enough to work with her. We developed the advanced curriculum and we basically created specialized units of federal agents from the FBI and Homeland Security and federal prosecutor counterpart in the region.

We took those groups to an advanced human trafficking course that I got to produce in developing and delivering. And then I would get on the plane fly to those districts and we would work cases together, either I would be on the ground doing the case with them or just advising and helping shepherd those cases and we saw dramatic results, Andrea. In two years, we had six districts that were selected. There are 94 total prosecutorial districts in the United States, six of them agreed to participate. We took them through this and create specialized unit, have significant academylike training and then we have people working cases within day in and day out.

And when we did that, we saw a 114% increase in two years in the number of traffickers charge in those six districts. The other districts saw a 12% increase. So they still improved some but the difference between a 12% increase and a 114% is tremendous. And what’s most amazing is that those six districts which represent about 5% of all the districts in America were responsible for over half of all the human trafficking convictions in those two years. 56% of all the human trafficking convictions came from those six districts alone.

And so we were like “Wow, this system really works.” And we realized there is nothing like that in the developing world where right now trafficking is exploding. Traffickers feel absolutely no risk that any law enforcement agency is going to come in and restrain them and stop them from making money by harming others. And so where traffickers seeing no risk where you are actually more likely to get struck by lightning than prosecuted for openly owning a slave, traffickers just operate with impunity. They can do whatever they want. So we thought, “we want to change that calculus. We do not want traffickers operating with impunity. We want them to feel a very real risk to engaging in their crime and we want to do it in a way that honors and values the victims at every stage of the process.”

Andrea: Wow, so at that point you guys started thinking about how do we do this? How do we turn this into a global effort?

John: Exactly!

Andrea: And how did you choose the model?

John: So we’re not for-profit organization. And we chose that I think because we wanted to work with government throughout the world. We wanted to work with the government here in the United States. And to that effectively, we thought the nonprofit model was far better than a for-profit structure. It would allow us to engage a whole community of people in this process as partners with us.

And so we are building a small army of individuals that are passionate about this issue and they want to make a difference. They’re tired of just people constantly telling them stories about injustice and then they don’t know what to do. They don’t know how to engage or how to really make a difference. There’s a lot of passion about ending human trafficking but there’s not a lot of clear structured plans about how to make that happen.

I think we just get fatigued sometimes. We experience in a very real way compassion fatigue or awareness fatigue. We feel like, “stop just making me aware and to know more stories in the sense of another 13-year old girl in a moon by brothel. Stop making me aware and making me feel like I don’t have a place to go with my awareness.” We want people to feel that there is hope because we can draw near pain if we have hope. It’s really hard to draw near the pain and have compassion if you think nothing could be done.

But I think what is animating about this is that we not left just to deal with the consequences, just to mitigate the outcomes of traffickers. So it’s not like a natural disaster where we don’t know how to stop earthquakes. So when earthquakes happen to the country, we all rush in with food and water and shelter and try to help out.

Unlike earthquakes, human trafficking is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. It’s not a weather pattern. It’s not like a tsunami or typhoon or a hurricane, it’s a choice that an individual is making, and it’s a crime and we know how to stop crime. It’s just question of are we going to do the things necessary that we know where to stop this criminal activity that is trapped in 20 million people.

Andrea: The hope that you talked about, part of it comes from this idea that we’re not victims to the idea that it’s just going to keep happening and we don’t have any control over but there is something that we can do.

John: Absolutely, and I think where there’s hope we can come up with a plan. And when we can clearly identify what the problem is and we believe that a solution is possible, we can figure this out. I think the hard part is that you see a problem, even clearly see a problem but if you think “there’s nothing I can do,” it’s not really going to make a difference. And that causes people to give up and move on to another structure or another project.

I think that people trapped in slavery are worth our consorted intentional efforts over a long period of time, or what Eugene Peterson called “A long obedience in the same direction.” Like if we have longevity in this space and we are willing to commit ourselves, we can see massive change in the next few decades.

Andrea: I’ve also heard you say before that slavery have been around forever and it’s only recent phenomena that we begin to really realize that this is wrong. Could you talk about that?

John: Absolutely! This is one of the reasons for hope. So for most of human history, slavery has been legal. It’s been on every continent, in every culture from the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Romans, and the Greeks and all over. It’s been enshrined in our own US constitution. Slavery has been assumed as something that is always there and it’s been supported even by people of faith. It wasn’t until about 250 years ago that countries began to say “Wait, we think slavery is wrong.” Not that it needs to be regulated or the impacts of it needs to be minimized but just that it is illegal and what is stunning is most of human history, thousands and thousands of years, slavery has been legal. In the last 250, we’ve seen every country in the world pass a law that says slavery is illegal.

That is why in its major pivot point, historically where at least now we have the laws that say, slavery is wrong. Now, we need to take those protections of law that are written on parchment and extend them down to the people they were intended to protect. Now we have a delivery system challenge. How do we get the legal protections that say every human being has intrinsic value and should not be owned all the way to the people that need those protections?

That’s what we get to be about. I think the historic part of that is inspiring because it shares with us that this is doable, where there’s a special place in history that there’s never been a better time to fight human trafficking. As our friend, Gary Haugen has said “It’s not a question of whether trafficking would be defeated, it’s whether this generation will be a part of sweeping it into the dustbin of history.” And I just find that concept motivating and inspiring and it makes me want to move forward.

Andrea: Oh yeah, definitely. Somebody like me who isn’t on the frontline of this is thinking about this problem and feeling guilty, feeling stuck in my own inability to make much of a difference. What kinds of things can I do to help, you know, aside from giving money to organizations such as yours, what else can I do?

John: I think there are a number of things that can be done. One is to get informed about it because there’s human trafficking happening in the United States, in Western Europe but it’s exploding throughout the world. We’ll begin the process of understanding how the problem looks and what it’s like. There’s a lot of myths about human trafficking, a lot of misunderstandings about it and so kind of deconstructing those is a fantastic use of time because it means that we’re going to be able to detect it and we’re going to be better able to understand the scope of it and what strategies would work. So getting people informed really matters.

The second thing that you can do is think about how their talents could be employed in this fight. I think a lot of people think “Well, I’m not an FBI agent and I’m not a prosecutor, how do I get involved?” Or “Maybe, I’m not a trauma certified counselor or how do I help individuals.” But the reality is if you’re a web designer or you’re an accountant, all of these skills sets need to be employed in this fight.

We need forensic accountants. We need all sorts of people who can communicate the vision clearly, who can tell the stories and who can honor these survivors. And so I think thinking through and inventory of our own skills and talents and then beginning to explore “How do I get involved?” Or “How do I encourage young people to go become FBI agents. How do I encourage young people to go and engage as a career these big, hairy global issues and take them on.” So I think that is something that individuals could do.

I think individuals can also find organizations and there are so many good ones out there who are active in this fight and come alongside and learn from them. You mentioned earlier that there’s a group of people that have been joining us as justice partners where there’s sort of a monthly communication about what’s happening around the world with trafficking. There are many organizations out there that they could connect with the local and global and I think that matters.

The other thing that I think people can do is develop a culture of justice in their own lives and in their own communities on issues that are far ranging not just limited to human trafficking. And what I mean by that is that pursuing justice, seeking justice can become a habit. When I was studying philosophy in college and when I was learning about these things, people would bend themselves into pretzels trying to understand what is justice and it’s so unhelpful.

But oh yes, justice is quite simple. Justice is making wrong things right. It seems something wrong and working to make it right; big things, little things, local things, or global things. And I think if people want to develop culture of justice, they start making wrong things right in their community. They’re identified on their street, on their neighborhood, on their school system, or on their companies and they see problems and start working to make them right. And as we build a culture of justice on the local level in the little things in our lives, we build the muscle and create a platform that allows us to seek justice and make the wrong things right on the big picture global level including trafficking in persons.

Andrea: I love this. There are a couple things that come up as questions for me as you’re talking about seeking justice in our own personal spaces. And one of those is that I see a lot of people struggling to know what to do with- recently this issue in Charlottesville, the event that took place in Charlottesville with white supremacy- and there’s a lot of angst and confusion about how to approach the subject.

And for this one thing, I might be against this other things that matters to me too and there’s so much confusion it seems about when to speak out and not to speak out, when to do something about it, and when not to. Do you have anything to say to this confusion that we feel and conflict that we feel about things that might in some ways feel wrong but then another aspect of it feels wrong too, so we’re not sure how to deal with that?

John: I would say where there is that conflict, move towards it. We move towards that conflict because it’s going help us clarify where we’re at. And I think we have to be able to embrace nuance, that there are different positions or different thoughts even within ourselves. But I think the other thing to move forward is really clearly and boldly identifying what is wrong and identifying what is right and then speaking to that. And I think that oftentimes, we don’t want it in their end because we don’t want to even admit to ourselves sometimes that these are paragraphs answers in a Twitter sort of world, right?

Andrea: Yeah.

John: These things aren’t solved with 140 characters, it takes more information and more new ones but once we process it, I think worth understanding in our own hearts that we want to move towards love. We want to move towards good and I think we go there full esteem ahead. We want to see the problems of the world and we want to bring hope by the truckload, I mean just lots of it. And where there is pain and there’s suffering, we want to push that away and resolve it.

I think that sometimes, we over complicate things. I think sometimes, we want to access that everyone on the team that there’s white hats and black hats out there, good guys and bad guys, and the reality is there’s a lot of us who are just gray hats. We’re messed up and we need to move for its clarity and truth and we’re going to address the issues in our own hearts and address these issues in our culture.

Andrea: I find that for myself it was difficult… You know, couple of years maybe when I was still trying to figure out what do I do with this voice of mine. It was difficult for me to want to identify my voice with any particular issue because I was afraid of being thrown into a box, categorical box and then I would only have a voice with those people in that particular box. So religious, political, whatever it might be but usually a combination of those two things, how do we have a voice of justice to sort of transcends these boxes so that we can actually have dialogue that’s going to move things forward?

John: Hmmm that’s a great question. I would love to learn from you as you maneuver through that. I believe that if we’re going to develop expertise, if we’re going to develop experience in a space, we have to dive in and get into the deep end of whatever pool that we’re going to swim in and figure it out and develop mastery. And so I would, in some ways, tell people don’t worry about getting in the box. Go deep into an issue. Work over the long term and really become good at it. But then find that principles that make it work because the principles out there that are going to really allow you to do well at a specific thing are going to have general impact and applicability across the board. In a sense, they’re going to work in lots to different boxes.

So the real principal behind the idea of trafficking is that people has value and that we should go love other people in a demonstrated way that we can go and actually change systems to benefit people. Well, those same principles applied to lots of things. People have value. We should go address and meet the needs in other spheres and in other topical areas. So I think diving in deep is worth because I think it builds expertise, it builds credibility, and you can have a greater impact on a specific thing, but then find those threads that are common to all and they’re always there. Speaking up close to encourage others in this big, big fight to go and seek justice around the globe.

Andrea: Yeah. You’ve mentioned before this idea of different hats that we see people wearing, these teams that we feel like we’re on and I guess that was sort of the same thing as this box that I’m picturing. But I think we’re looking for identity, wanting to identify ourselves with something that’s bigger than ourselves. And it’s tempting to have it be a pat or box rather than a principle because principles seem to be a little bit more messy. If you’re in a box, you know what the rules are and you just follow these particular set of beliefs or things that we’re supposed to do or to be and to talk about. But if you focus on a principle then you have to kind of wrestle with every issue that comes up based on that principle. It’s just more complicated it seems.

John: Right. I mean, every relationship is complicated and messy and unstructured and these principles of joy, hope, love, and truth that are going to win the day. And so I think that the great joy of life is getting in that mess of all of these principles and figuring them out in midst of all these wonderful relationships and seeing them grow and flourish. When you think about that who would want a tidy little wife inside a small box? It would be much more fun to live out our days pursuing something bigger and more joyful than that.

Andrea: Yes. And I love that you can bring the philosophical side of things but also you’re taking massive action. I don’t know, when we talk about peace, joy, love these sorts of things, it feels a little you know heady and not practical but you’re making it very practical.

John: It is in the practice. It’s in the day to day kind of ordinary moments where I think these ideas are really refined and shaped. And I think that people do want to see practical actions. People want to have concrete plans that they can take and things that they can do and they’re there. If there’s a destination that we want to get to, we can find a path to get there and it’s just going to be a question of are we going to do the hard work of finding that path or creating that path and I think it’s worth it.

Andrea: I do too. I really also appreciate the fact these threads that you said run throughout other things. They really reached to a personal level as well and so I’m curious how you and your wife’s values about the importance of human life and dignity and voice, how these things reached into your own home?

John: Hmmm. You know, it has a huge influence. In fact, the way we parent to our kids and the way we think about our marriage and the way we think about finding trafficking are so inextricably intertwined and I don’t know which feeds the other. They very much go together and our kids have lived this life with us as we have been working on these cases and travelling the world and obviously their time growing up in India has had a big impact on them.

But I think it comes in some really clear ways. We have a group of kind of family rules that apply to every phase of our lives and they really shaped how we think about each other in our marriage but they also impact how we think about work. And so like one of them is that people are more important than stuff. So we have a choice to make and it could be reduced down to whether we’re choosing people or stuff. We should almost always choose people.

And so when we think about what shall we do on this next case, how do we approach this? What’s the cause of it going to be? There’s a person at risk there and we’re going to out that person who’s a victim ahead of stuff or material interests. We also applies that at my kids when they were learning as toddlers to share, building that friendship is more important than who’s playing with that toy. Or it applies as we plan out, now that we have adolescence and two kids and high school, like how we’re dealing with the demands of their schedules and thinking about how we value people at each turn.

And so I think that these ideas of making wrong things right and honoring individuals as well as respecting systems and authority and thinking about innovation or how we want to refocused on getting things done more than the forms that we’re building. Each one of these ideas is just another step towards integration and flourishing and that’s what we want to be about. So we’re really happy to be engaged in this journey both as in the messy parts of resolving conflicts at home and loving each other well. Or the messy parts of resolving conflict at work and loving our team well but also loving survivors well and trying to demonstrate what real love looks like to traffickers.

Andrea: It’s beautiful! So what’s the future for the Human Trafficking Institute and how can we get involved or support you?

John:   Right now, we’re in the process of working with agreements with a couple of countries that are interested in building out specialized units and having them trained and having _____ and really trying to end the impunity that traffickers enjoy. So we’re very excited over the next few years to see the results that can come in the individuals that will be free but also how deterrence and ending impunity can be reflected.

We got a group of amazing law students who are joining us in the next few weeks at Douglass Fellows and Dr. Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist who went on after he had gained his freedom and taught himself to read and write. He ended up being; I think most people don’t realize this, the chief law enforcement officer for the District of Columbia. He was a United States Marshals and he had just this amazing life. In his honor and with his family’s initiatives, with their participation, we formed the Douglass Fellowship and we got some law students who are going to be Douglass Fellows this year doing research and writing and helping us build out these practices.

I’m excited that new process and we’re excited about that new process and we’re excited for people and your listeners to join in this movement. They can join us as justice partners on our website and connect to a monthly community that is thinking about this in finding new ways and innovative ways to tackle this problem. And we’re excited for what’s going to come over the few years. We got a great lean team that we’re building. We’re developing the model that we think can have the greatest impact.

Andrea: I love it. I love every bit of it. Is there anything else that you wanted to mention before we sign off?

John: I’m just so grateful for you, Andrea, and for letting your voice into all this and encouraging people to have the influence in the communities that they’re engaged in. I think that as more and more people stepped forward and say they want to be a part of making wrong things right, the world is going to continue to become a better place.

Andrea: Well thank you so much for your time here today, John. I really appreciate the way that you’re using your voice in the world.

John: Thanks Andrea! I’m glad to be with you!

 

 

END

It’s Bigger Than A Dress: Part 3

As a team, we declare that every woman, man and child is valuable, no matter their socioeconomic status, culture, race, age or gender. Every voice, every life, every heart matters. We do not speak for others, we can only hope that our voices (what we say and do) will turn our ears to hear the voices that are hidden, diminished and abandoned.

The boy sent out on the small boat to fish 14 hours a day.

The girl whose manipulative relative visits her room at night for his own pleasure.

The man who is told he must work or his family will be killed.

The woman who gives herself away to pay for the medical needs of her young child.

What you can do:

  1. Recognize the power you have and use it to empower others.
  2. Refuse to use other people to make yourself feel more valuable.
  3. Don’t blame victims.
  4. Believe you have dignity so you can recognize the dignity of every other human being and help them recognize it.
  5. Support – through prayer, relational interaction and finances.

What’s better than raising $1,000 for a cause? Doing it arm in arm with others. Donate through our Dressember team to International Justice Mission and A21 here: #YourVoiceMatters team page.

If you are inspired to donate to another organization fighting human trafficking (there are many!) or to act/think differently, would you let us know? It would be so encouraging for us to hear that our advocacy is making an impact.

Stephanie Sutphin, Wife/Stay-at-home Mom/Lover of crafting

StephanieWhy did you decide to participate in Dressember?

I saw a blog post about Dressember through a friend. I wanted to join in right away! Human trafficking has always been something that deeply bothered me, and learning more about the injustices people are enduring daily made me want to fight for them, do anything I could. I rarely wear dresses and am nursing my baby girl so I knew it would be a challenge for me. That made the choice to participate even more meaningful. I choose to put on a dress every day because there are millions out there who don’t get a choice. I am also making decorating glass candle holders to raise money that are available to buy here: Etsy Candle Holders.

What does the phrase “your voice matters” mean to you?

It never seemed like my voice could matter. I’m not on the front lines with IJM helping people, or even a writer who could raise awareness. Recently I learned that sex slavery is happening in the United States, not just the rest of the world. That really hit me, but I still didn’t see how I could change things. Participating in Dressember has made me feel empowered. My voice does matter. I can make a difference by being an advocate to people who are treated wrongly, by valuing myself and others, and by raising my family to treat every single person they meet with dignity and respect.

Rosanne Moore: Homeschooling Mom of 4, Reading Instruction Specialist, Writer/Editor/Spiritual Director

RosanneWhy did you decide to participate in Dressember?

I think I grew up with the wrong belief that women involved in the sex trade did so as a matter of choice. As I became more involved in ministry that allowed me to sit with women of a variety of backgrounds and hear their stories, I learned about the realities of human trafficking and have prayed for opportunities to do something about it. Since becoming a single mom about 4 years ago, I live with a strong awareness that single mothers in other parts of the world – women who are without my family support and educational opportunities – are incredibly vulnerable to sex trafficking. And as a follower of Jesus and the mother of a daughter, I want to intervene on behalf of victimized girls and women with the same passion that I would want shown by others toward me and my daughter, if we were being harmed. Dressember offers me an opportunity to support my sisters around the world actively.

Andrea made me aware of Dressember last year, and this year, I decided to participate as well. Seeing Andrea’s daughter Amelia involved made my middle school-aged daughter decide to join me. It’s been a stretch for us both as she’s active kid and I haven’t worn dresses much since my kids were born. (I spent too much time on the floor w/ little ones!) However, we’ve both unexpectedly discovered a new freedom to embrace and celebrate our own femininity during this time of solidarity with our sisters around the world.

What does the phrase “your voice matters” mean to you?

There have been some dark seasons in my life during which I surrendered my voice, both with God and others, because I felt powerless and discarded. Believing my voice matters is tied to a greater hope – that no matter what the result of speaking truth looks like in the short-term, in the long-run God hears and answers our cries. He is always at work to make all things new, and when I refuse to be silent in the face of injustice or deception or the status quo of self-interest, I affirm the truth of His character in the midst of circumstances would otherwise call for despair.

Living in the US and having spent some time in a 3rd world country also gives me a sense of responsibility to use the place of blessing that I’ve been given as an opportunity to serve those in far more challenging circumstances. All that we have, both in terms of material possessions and of options unknown to most of the world, are gifts that we can steward for God’s eternal purposes. What a privilege that is!

It’s Bigger Than A Dress: Part 1, Part 2

It’s Bigger Than A Dress: Part 2

We didn’t know who he was, but someone else at our workshop pointed him out. On the way out to lunch Aaron and I walked over to John Cotton Richmond and thanked him for his work as a federal human trafficking prosecutor and former International Justice Mission-India director. We visited for a few minutes, astounded at the his confidence in the idea that it really is possible to end human trafficking, and end it soon. I’m not sure I would have believed it coming from anyone else.

IMG_5044“What can we do?” I asked. He encouraged us to support those doing freedom work and participate in Dressember again. He’d just visited with Blythe Hill, founder of Dressember, the week before.

I admit, that’s not what I wanted to hear. I was leaning toward not participating this year. Though we’d raised $1,000 last year for International Justice Mission, I remembered how discouraged I was through most of the month, wondering why I bothered wearing dresses when most people didn’t realize why I was doing it. Most of December 2014 I felt discouraged, uncomfortable, frustrated, ignored and insignificant. But then I remembered that those very feelings are what gave me a sense of solidarity with others fighting for freedom. Maybe participating in Dressember is worth it.

So this year when it came time to register, I took a bit of a leap and created a team #YourVoiceMatters. It is  a phrase used in other contexts, but it has great personal meaning for me. I not only want to believe that my voice matters, I want to encourage others to believe their voices matter, too. It’s one of the themes of my life. I was surprised when we ended up with 13 participants on our team. A couple of women even did it because they saw me do it last year. Maybe my quiet month of everyday-advocacy did make a difference. Maybe my voice matters.

December is the giving month. It’s the month that every non-profit hopes to collect what they need to make it into the new year. It’s the month that we look at our pocketbooks and wish we had more to give. But don’t let the enormity of the need and the smallness of your ability keep you from believing that you can make a difference. Your $5 , $10 or $100 matters. Your attitude toward others matters. Your prayers matter. Your word of encouragemet matters. Whatever it is, your offering matters.

Donate here: #YourVoiceMatters Dressember Team

In Part 1, we heard from four of our Dressember teammates. Allow me to introduce you to two more impactful young women in North Platte.

Alena Evans: Reader/Writer/Chinese Restaurant Hostess/Babysitter/Home-school Student

Screenshot 2015-12-16 at 5.58.47 PMWhy did you decide to participate in Dressember?

Let’s see…last year my friend posted a picture in her dress with the Dressember link. She never wears dresses so this really caught my attention. When I read about what she was doing I was kind of like “That’s interesting.” and moved on–the issue at hand didn’t really stir anything in my heart. I saw Andrea post a picture about it too and I remember feeling like maybe I should pay attention to this, but I really didn’t.
Then over the summer another friend of mine went on a missions trip to Thailand, and when she came back she talked about how much human trafficking there is in Thailand. She told me about a woman she had met who had been able to get out of trafficking, and about just the way these girls end up there, and it was all so heartbreaking to me!
Well I had forgotten all about Dressember until November when Andrea posted about starting a team. I actually kind of wrestled with it the moment that I saw your post, because it didn’t seem like I would be doing a lot, and it’s not like New Mexico where you can get away with not wearing pants in the beginning of the winter–I live in Nebraska! But then I thought, ‘Get a hold of yourself! This is what you’ve been waiting for, and you wear dresses for work half the time anyway.” So I jumped in, and I’m really glad I did! It feels great to be a part of the team, instead of on my own.

What does the phrase “your voice matters” mean to you?

I guess to me that means that I can have influence over people with my words, and so I should be careful with what I say. The way I speak and what I pipe up about matter because it is what the Lord cares so deeply about. At least, I want it to be that way.

Megan Wullschleger: 17 year old Avid Writer/ Lover of Stories/ Blogger/ Musician/ Student

HaitiWhy did you decide to participate in Dressember?

My friend, Olivia Youngs got me involved with Dressember. I didn’t understand what it was all about until I had watched the video on her blog of what Dressember was and I fell in love and I knew that I really needed to do this. I knew it was going to be a challenge, and it is! But it is for such an amazing cause. And it holds a place in my heart.

www.bonafidemegan@blogspot.com

What the phrase “Your Voice Matters” means to you?

At times we feel as though we aren’t heard. And though we may feel that, we really can be even though we think we aren’t. That’s how the victims of sex trafficking feel and so through this we are showing them we care and that they are heard…your voice matters in any situation. And someone does care.

It’s Bigger Than A Dress: Part 1

It’s Bigger Than A Dress: Part 1

Dressember

Sometimes I scare myself. I think of crazy ideas to connect people and make an impact on the world but then every once in a while I actually say them out loud. Eeek!

After participating in something called “Dressember” last year, it occurred to me: “It would be awesome to gather a team of people to participate in Dressember with Amelia and I next year!” All they would have to do is wear dresses every day in December, raise money and spread the message. Right? By this November, I was nervous as all-get-out to throw the idea out to the world. What if no one joins us after I put myself out there and actually ask for help? But I was committed, so I explained our mission and invited others to participate with us (read more about Dressember here). After a few days with no response, a number of women and some of their friends joined our team called #YourVoiceMatters. These women are passionate and powerful and I am thrilled to introduce some of them to you in a couple of posts entitled It’s More Than A Dress.

As of today, our team is comprised of 13 adults and two girls. We have raised $975 of our $3000 goal! Check out the creative ways each of these women are using their voices and their gifts to amplify the voices of others. Each woman has her own fundraising page that connects to our overall #YourVoiceMatters team page. Donate through them and you’re donating through our team.

Olivia Youngs: Wife to AJ, Mom to two girls, Writer and Coffee Lover – View More: http://a-momentphotography.pass.us/olivia-editpassionate about simplicity        North Platte, NE

Why are you participating in Dressember? 

My roommate from college participated in Dressember last year, but because I was breastfeeding my oldest daughter at the time, decided not to join in (wearing a dress isn’t the most convenient choice for breastfeeding moms). This year though, as I’m nursing my second baby, I realized that it was too great a cause and too huge a problem for me not to participate. I’ve blogged about it here and am selling handmade items to fundraise here.

What does the phrase “your voice matters” mean to you?

“Your voice matters” is an incredibly empowering phrase. To me, it means that I have the ability to make an impact; that my words mean something, no matter how inadequate they may feel.

Rachael Miller: Author, Artist, and Wife to a green-eyed Tolkien enthusiast.    Greeley, CO

Why are you participating in Dressember? IMG_0776

I was approached by my sister-in-law Olivia Youngs about joining Dressember. She was really passionate about participating this year, and wanted to know if several of her friends and family members wanted to join. At first, I was hesitant about joining the movement. Though I do care about the issue of sex trafficking, I didn’t feel passionate about it like I thought I should. The “challenge” of wearing only dresses for a whole month was intriguing, but I wanted my heart to be in it for the right reasons. I didn’t want Dressember to become just another thing I was doing because my friends were doing it. Also, I lived far away from the other members of the #yourvoicematters team, if I were to do this, I would be practically alone.

Even now, though I still do not feel a burning inside my heart for the cause, I’ve realized that supporting something can function a lot like love. When you love someone, you may not always feel passion for them; love is a choice to remain committed. From the moment I put on my first Dressember dress, I was choosing to offer more than my passion. I was offering my support and my commitment to ending this great evil of our time.

I’ve made origami dress ornaments available for a donation of any amount to the cause.

What does the phrase “your voice matters” mean to you?   

It means that whoever you are, whether you have a large circle of influence or a small one, you still leave your mark upon the world. Choosing to speak up or remain silent—both have an impact on the future.

Jenny Maestas: Lactation Consultant (I help moms breastfeed their babies)       Lincoln, NE

IMG_0991Why are you participating in Dressember?

I would hear about human trafficking, but really had no frame of reference for it. I didn’t really know any of the statistics or have an idea of how wide spread it was. I wanted to be forced to really look at the issue and learn more, that putting on a dress every day wouldn’t just be a normal routine in my day, but would serve as a reminder to look outside of my everyday and see what was really going on in the world. I work with babies every day in my job, and I want to play a part in creating a safer, more secure world for them in the future, as well as for my own children.

What does the phrase “your voice matters” mean to you?

It’s so easy to listen to all of the horrible news around the world and in our own backyard and think that there’s really nothing you can do to make a difference in it. It’s easy to live in fear. But that’s a lie that I can so easily believe, when in reality, each of our voices collectively has the potential to create real change in our world. We can give a voice to those who are unable to speak for themselves.

Lanae Pierson: High School Biology Teacher     Columbus, NE

Why are you participating in Dressember? 10317804_10204216190274706_8704194780087415230_o

I saw that my friend Jenny Maestas was doing Dressember.  I spent a few days thinking about whether I should donate to her campaign or just join her team.  Since ending human trafficking is something I believe strongly in, but have never done anything about, I decided to join her team.  Though I do want to raise money to help International Justice Mission and A21, my primary reason for joining the Dressember campaign is to build awareness.  I’m doing so by taking a daily picture of me in a dress holding a sign that gives a fact about human trafficking.  I further expand on each fact in my blog (lifelogoflanae.wordpress.com).

What does the phrase “your voice matters” mean to you?

It means that although the issue of human trafficking is huge, what I have to say about it is important.  I, as a single person, can make a difference in this world.  This is why I didn’t just donate money to the Dressember campaign; I became a part of it to build awareness.  My voice matters (and yours does too)!

 

Click here for the #YourVoiceMatters Dressember Team page.

A Short Message for LEADERS

 

I know. I need this message more than anyone else.

There is a place for self-evaluation and growth. But when self-awareness turns into self-deprecation, you turn into someone who JUDGES.

Belittling yourself in front of other people makes you UNSAFE and influences others to believe that it is normal and even good to belittle themselves.

I want to see people grow in their positive impact on the world. I want to see an END to slavery in my lifetime. But my voice is counterproductive to the #enditmovement when it is self-deprecating.

So I’m calling all leaders and all activists and all mothers and fathers and older siblings and anyone who has influence over anyone else…

If you want to be a leader and make a difference in the lives of others, take this to heart:

build up - tear down

Let’s end it.

A Call To Dignity

Sometimes the written word just doesn’t cut it for me. Today I made a video. Please watch to the end. And regardless of how I feel about how I look or sound in this video, I care about the message and I want to get it out. So please share it if you are inclined to do so. (Transcript below.)

Love,

Andrea Joy

p.s. If you want to make a donation to our Dressember campaign this year, follow this link:

https://support.dressemberfoundation.org/fundraise?fcid=382025

Dignity

Transcript of the video: A Call to Dignity

This morning my 8-year-old daughter is playing with play dough and listening to Kids’ Bop music while 2 million girls as young as my daughter’s age…MY daughter’s age…wake up believing they have no choice but succumb to sexual exploitation to pay back a “debt” or earn their freedom or keep their families from being killed. Most of these girls are under the age of 12 and serve up to 1,500 clients a year.*

Sometimes hearing numbers makes me numb to the need. I get so overwhelmed with the horror that I turn and walk the other way because I can’t handle it.

Did I just say that?

I can’t handle it?!

And yet an 8 year old woke up today believing she is nothing other than an object to be intimately violated – and may not even realize that she has anything so sacred that could be violated.

While my daughter plays with play dough.

I don’t like to wear dresses because they make me feel vulnerable. I am stronger and more protected in pants. I don’t call attention to my own beauty in pants.

But every day in December I have slipped into vulnerability to declare its dignity. I have put on clothing that makes me feel weak and unprotected to begin to identify with women and children who feel helpless – who no one protects. I have “dressed up” and put effort into my appearance, proclaiming that beauty can be enjoyed without being objectified and exploited.

And my 8 year old wore dresses nearly every day this month in her own innocence – because she likes wearing dresses and wanted to identify with her Mommy.

Each one of us has the opportunity to fight for dignity and freedom and justice of all people. You don’t have to donate to International Justice Mission through our Dressember campaign to make a difference. There are LOTS of worthy organizations that live as bright beacons of light in the darkness of horror. There are LOTS of horrors in the world to fight – that we each unknowingly contribute to every day.

If you want to have a significant impact on every single one of them, you can…

BELIEVE in your OWN dignity and beauty.

BELIEVE that you have something sacred that can be violated.

BELIEVE that when you objectify another, you diminish your own humanity.

BELIEVE that when you put yourself down, you influence others to question their own value.

BELIEVE that you really do make a difference.

BELIEVE that you are Loved.

Because you are.

And in so doing, we will change the world.