Employment

Employment, along with education, is also one of the most powerful ways of preventing slavery and human trafficking. We have found that if people have a choice of economic alternatives and opportunities, then they will be less likely to be sold or coerced into slavery. Therefore job programs are a vital part of our slavery prevention work. 

The Problem:

Poverty and lack of economic options, particularly for women, are root causes of trafficking and slavery, cited in almost every published study (Free the Slaves, UNODC, ILO, etc.) Even when people are rescued from slavery, they struggle to reintegrate due to social stigma, a lack of job skills, and few or no job opportunities. Thus the survivors, and ultimately their children, are highly vulnerable to being re-trafficked, or to falling into other exploitative situations.

Women and youth at the highest risk for being trafficked (such as youth growing up in red light areas or refugee camps) also need sustainable income and education, which increases their status in the family and provides a realistic alternative to slavery and exploitation

The Solution:

Made By Survivors creates job training and sustainable employment programs at shelters worldwide. We also partner with world-renowned shelters such as Maiti Nepal, Rescue Foundation, and AFESIP to support and provide business development help to their existing income generation programs for survivors. Over the past six years, we have created a network of businesses that employ survivors, making Made By Survivors® products that we market in the West, and helping survivors and shelter partners to build their own sustainable businesses.

An Innovative and Rights-Based Approach

Sojourner Truth said, ‘I freed a thousand slaves and I could have freed a thousand more, if only they knew they were slaves’. Knowing one’s rights and the laws surrounding labor and exploitation in one’s country, knowing how to read and to understand a contract: these are powerful tools which can protect a person from falling victim to trafficking. All of our employment programs offer a rights-based approach, in which we teach survivors to know their rights, to know that trafficking is illegal, and to value themselves as contributing members of society.

Benefits to Survivors

Participation in our employment and education programs has long term and measurable impact on the survivor and her community. These benefits include improved health outcomes, increased literacy and numeracy, decreased rate of recidivism into slavery or other forms of exploitation, social reintegration, and education for children of survivors. We see a dramatic change in the behavior and confidence of our survivors as a result of participation. At first they are timid and unwillingly to look you in the eye. After six months they are laughing, speaking out, and maintaining eye contact. After a year, they are solving production problems, and challenging us to match their determination and energy. We see survivors progress from shelter-dependence to total independence. Many of our survivors are remarkable for their courage in rescuing others, spreading awareness of trafficking and slavery, and advocating for the rights of women and girls.

Employment Models

Our jobs programs begin when the survivors are still living in an aftercare shelter or attending a community based prevention program. Sometimes these programs are run by social workers and activists with limited business experience so we help by providing business development support so the job training and jobs provide a real path to outside employment. We become a major buyer of the survivors handicraft products, and work together to increase production capacity, add designs for Western and local markets, and improve quality control.

In several locations, we have created our own production centers, where survivors can work as they transition from shelter to independent living. The first of these was the Destiny Center in Calcutta, which is now running independently and successfully. After 3 years, the survivors are now taking more and more responsibility for the operations of the center. In 2010 we launched two more production centers, to train and employ survivors in goldsmithing and high end jewelry making. A third employment center is opening this fall in Darjeeling, and will offer jewelry training, catering and other vocational options. Darjeeling is near the borders of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh and is a major source and transit region for human trafficking for both commercial sex and forced labor.

In some cases, we work with local fair trade business to find employment for survivors. In return for helping the survivors, we help the businesses grow their markets. Through the shelter and partnership programs, our Made By Survivors Employment Centers, and partnership with fair trade businesses, we are employing over 300 survivors worldwide, and growing.

You can support these employment programs by shopping at our store or donating online for 'Employment and Empowerment'

We believe that there are other important types of jobs programs that do not involve creating Made By Survivors products. We also help the survivors set up businesses to sell products or services into their local markets. These businesses include carpentry, catering, diary and any other business that employs survivors in the local markets. Our newest project is a program to combine a dairy business selling milk and cheese with a manure to energy faculty. This project combines local business with innovative green social enterprise. You can learn more about this project by clicking here.