A Few Final Reflections

A bad case of "travelers illness" knocked me off my feet for the entire last week in India. I have been home now for a week, and finally feel ready to post a few final reflections on the volunteer trip.

It may sound strange, but even as a case manager and therapist for trafficking victims I can avoid seeing the most graphic part of trafficking and only hear about the scariest details about my clients' trafficking situations. Many of the women I work with want to move past the most horrific parts of the abuse they suffered while being trafficked, and do not share (or show) the details. Because they want to avoid, I too get to avoid. We focus our work on moving forward in any way possible, whether it is going back for a GED, getting a physical exam, or finding transitional housing. In a way, keeping this distance allows me to do the work I do for longer.

On this recent trip to India with TEN, however, I was forced to confront the physical brutality that often exists in trafficking. Trafficked people can be burned, cut, and beaten in order to punish, brand or even entertain. Multiple children that we worked with had severe scars on their bodies - the remains of intense physical abuse. In my current position, I do not see the physical brutality of trafficking very often. I only hear about it, which lets me keep a safe emotional distance. During the first few days in India it was hard to see past the obvious scaring on the girls, because it felt so new and so raw. The easiest thing I could have done was turn away from the acknowledgement of physical abuse and keep it at a distance. I decided to stay and to push myself to acknowledge the one part of trafficking that I had been avoiding. I am glad I stayed and faced an ongoing fear of mine. Just as I began accepting physical abuse as another piece of the trafficking puzzle, the more I saw the children as so much more than just trafficking victims. I saw artists, students, athletes, and dancers. A few musicians, and a lot of comedians!

I still plan to keep up some walls and keep a healthy distance from the work I do - it is the only way that I can stay in the field for a long time. But, I am home now with my eyes wide open, willing to accept that trafficking has many cruel pieces, even if I pretend they do not exist. The easiest thing you can do now is to turn away, and to stop reading these blogs that your friends sent while they were on a volunteer trip. You can say to yourself that anti-trafficking work is a passion that one of your friends or family members has, but you could never do the same work - 'its too hard'. But, I am here to tell you that the view from this side of acknowledgment is extraordinary. You may not be interested in going on the volunteer trip and working directly with survivors of trafficking. But, you can still find your own place in this movement. Host a home party, Buy fair-labor or fair-trade products from trafficking survivors, Fundraise for TEN, Sponsor a child's education, Read and stay educated. We all have a place in the movement, and need each other to end modern day slavery.

Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible.

Namaste, Victoria