When we think about healing, we often think about the big milestones: leaving an abusive or exploitive situation, finding a safe place to live, securing employment, or reaching an important personal goal. However, healing can also happen in the smaller moments. Through Purple Lotus, our survivors have the opportunity to create handmade items, such as bookmarks, that are sold through our social enterprise. While a bookmark may seem like a simple item, there is something powerful about...

Leaving sounds simple until you understand the barriers to leaving and what is being left behind. There may be fear, financial dependence, isolation, threats, or nowhere safe to go. An abuser or trafficker may control a survivor’s money, identification, transportation, or communication. Survivors may worry about their children, where they will live, or what will happen if they try to leave. Over time, they may even be made to believe they cannot survive on their own. Even when survivors...

July 30 is recognized as World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, a day dedicated to raising awareness about human trafficking and recognizing the experiences of victims and survivors. Human trafficking continues to impact people around the world and can take many forms, including forced labor, sexual exploitation, and other types of exploitation. Human trafficking often involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit individuals for the benefit of others. Traffickers may target...