Anti-Trafficking Organizations and the Ethical Engagement of Survivor Leaders in Practice
M. Elizabeth Bowman, PhD & Brittany Dunn, MBA | September 23 | 3:15-4:15 pm
Topic: Direct Service | Knowledge Level: Intermediate
Anti-trafficking organizations, in recent years, have increased their use of survivor voices in fundraising, hiring of survivors, and increased survivor visibility within organizational teams. While empowerment is the goal, tokenism can be the outcome when organizations do not engage survivors ethically. This session, led by sex trafficking survivor and professor Dr. Beth Bowman, and Safe House Project COO Brittany Dunn, seeks to improve survivor engagement practices in organizations. Recommendations for avoiding re-exploitation by ethical survivor engagement, inclusive practices which benefit both survivor leaders and organizational mission, and organizational culture and power dynamics will be reviewed. The target audience for this workshop is organizational leadership at agencies which may serve trafficking survivors (or overlapping populations such as DV, child welfare, or criminal justice).
Presentation Objectives:
· Describe current efforts to engage survivors in informing policy and practices
· Define the concepts of ethical engagement, trauma-informed, empowerment-based, and organizational culture
· Discuss research related to ethical engagement of survivors as staff in anti-trafficking work
· Describe recommendations for practice