Seven Ways to Advocate Beyond Dressember
At Dressember, we say that wearing a dress and tie throughout the month of December are the training wheels for year-round advocacy. With that being said, “taking off the training wheels” and finding ways to fight injustices can be difficult, but with just the right amount of guidance, advocacy never has to stop!
Below are seven ways you can advocate for justice whenever, wherever:
1. Read Dressember’s blog!
Our blog consists of material that ranges from ethical chocolate consumption to raising awareness of what human trafficking truly consists of. Being well-read in these subject matters can help you become a better advocate all year. Be sure to check out our blog on a weekly basis because new content is constantly being published by our interns all across the world!
2. Subscribe to Google Alerts.
At any given time, you can set up Google alerts that send you an email with the top stories relating to a specific topic. This is a great way to stay in the know about cases and instances of human trafficking in your area and around the world. In your Google alerts you can include phrases such as, “Human Trafficking in [insert name of city]” or “Human Trafficking” / “Modern Slavery” to stay up-to-date.
3. Find and volunteer for a local organization.
Check to see if there is a shelter or organization nearby that could use a helping hand. The work of homeless services and foster care services all help to prevent individuals from entering human trafficking. Usually, volunteer opportunities are posted at your local library, so feel free to stop by and ask if your library has a bulletin board with places that you can volunteer at all year. There are also great websites that can connect you to volunteer opportunities near you. One such website is VolunteerMatch.
4. Run a 5k!
Mark your calendars, there is a 5k walk/run in LA for Dressember on April 13th! Both the Spring and Summer seasons are a great time to run or walk in 5k’s to support your favorite organizations.
5. Plan an event.
Preparation and communication are key components of being a good advocate. To mesh both of these components, you can plan an event to keep your community engaged. Setting up a booth or a presentation about the vulnerabilities associated with human trafficking, and sharing this information to a mass audience are just a few examples of events that can raise awareness about the fight to end modern slavery.
6. Shop fair trade and avoid fast fashion.
Though the use-and-throw fashion mentality is prominent in this day and age, it is pivotal that ethical fashion be promoted. The fashion industry relies heavily on fast labor which is a direct result of labor trafficking to mass produce trendy attire. A simple lifestyle commitment to shop fair trade and bolster its significance to your community can make a lasting impact in the industry.
7. Follow activists and advocates on social media to learn how they stay engaged.
One of the best ways to be an everyday advocate is to follow any activists or advocates that you may admire on all social media platforms. This will enable constant updates of the work to end human trafficking that is happening worldwide. With an army of advocates, you will never feel alone, but instead, you will feel perpetually empowered to advocate.
Hopefully, these seven tips will serve as a helpful guide for ways in which your Dressember advocacy can take place all year and not just during the winter season.
About the Author
Mrinalini Nagarajan is a junior at University of Maryland, College Park studying Criminology & Criminal Justice as her major, and Cybersecurity and Spanish as her minors. In her free time, she likes to work for her school's athletics department, watch Game of Thrones, only seasons 1-8 of How I Met Your Mother, Friends, Dexter, and Parks & Recreation, plan creative events, and take really long naps. She is super excited to be partnering with Dressember to publish educational content regarding the fight to end modern day slavery.