Why we still partner with faith-based organizations even though we don't think it's ethical to push religion on survivors
By Dressember CEO and founder Blythe Hill
In 2005, I first began hearing about the issue of human trafficking. Despite my deep sense of urgency to do something, I felt helpless. But four years later, in 2009, I challenged myself to wear a dress every day of December (hence: Dressember). Every year since then, more people joined in until my one-person challenge blossomed into an international movement to fight human trafficking. Dressember became a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 2013, and since then, we’ve raised over $10MM for anti-trafficking efforts around the world.
I have never hidden the fact that I am an individual motivated by my faith. Because of this, people sometimes ask if Dressember is a faith-based organization, and the answer is no. This was a distinct decision I made early on, and one that I continue to feel a strong conviction about. For us, human trafficking is a global issue that should be addressed no matter your faith or background. This is about the dignity of all people, regardless of race, religion, or sexual identity, and we need as many people as possible advocating alongside us.
Dressember’s first programmatic partner was International Justice Mission, the world’s largest and leading anti human trafficking organization. IJM works internationally to find and rescue victims of trafficking, bring criminals to justice, and strengthen justice systems. While IJM is faith-based, they are committed to advocating for the freedom of all, no matter their faith background. While their motivation may be one that is faith-informed, their work is focused on bringing people out of trafficking situations, and caring for their physical and emotional needs in the aftermath of their trauma—not evangelizing to them.
Since partnering with IJM, we’ve expanded the Dressember Network to include a variety of organizations (both faith-based and not). We work hard to annually vet the organizations we partner with to make sure they are doing good work in their fields of expertise and spheres of influence. We believe that if your organization is motivated to do good work and you’re doing it well, then it shouldn’t matter if that motivation is informed by faith or not.
“This is about the dignity of all people, regardless of race, religion, or sexual identity, and we need as many people as possible advocating alongside us. ”
One caveat we have to working with faith-based organizations is that they do not participate in or support proselytizing to survivors. The organizations we partner with do not push religion on survivors, and like us, they believe in advocating for the dignity of all people no matter their beliefs or value system. They prioritize care for survivors without strings attached. Since many survivors of trafficking have experienced extreme trauma and are likely to view anyone who removed them from the trauma as a sort of hero, we don’t believe it’s ethical to proselytize survivors in any situation or scenario.
If you have further questions about where your money goes when you support Dressember, read our blog post on the Dressember Network here. We assure you that we take all resources given very seriously and continue to monitor the relationships we have with partners worldwide.