Since participating in Dressember 2018 she has opted to wear dresses and fundraise for an entire year to contribute to the fight against modern slavery.
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When I think of freedom, I think of it being a part of the human experience. However, that is not the human experience for many. According to the A21 Campaign, there are millions of slaves in the world today. And only 1% are ever rescued. As part of the 1% who was rescued, it is my duty to, collaborate and form alliances with others to put forth action in producing an ongoing plan to end human trafficking, prevent adverse childhood experiences, and prioritize the safety, health and education of every child. To better understand the need for collaboration, I’d like to take you on a journey through the mind of a survivor and what she had to go through to end up on the other side
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Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lilliam Baez. Lilliam is an amazing makeup artist who has mobilized her creative gifts and social media presence to speak publicly about a variety of social issues.
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The Dressember team, Team Freedom Fashion, illustrates this point even further. I had the pleasure of hearing from one of the team members, Sonia Maslovskaya, about the milestones and goals they have been able to reach together - including raising over $40,000 last Dressember.
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I was born into a system of exploitation and control, but I wasn’t aware until my mid-twenties. In my late teens, my heart was seized with a passion to help survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse because of the stories and documentaries about the survivors of this horrific abuse I had seen. Up to that point, I had not yet connected within myself the reality that I, too, was a survivor, sexually exploited by a family member.
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Once I understood that my advocacy was a mixture of many different things, the more eager and motivated I became to participate with Dressember. I began to feel more comfortable with myself and took time to focus on the process it was leading me through. Now I know it is okay to struggle as an advocate sometimes. It gets difficult believing in the change for such a major issue. But with dedication and unbreakable passion, advocacy can become a major constituent to freedom.
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A decade ago, I was 11-years-old. A decade ago, I was on a sailboat at summer camp. A decade ago, I was laughing and sailing the days away with someone who would impact my life in a way I never expected.
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Enter Julia Mooney. Wearing a dress for 31 days is nothing to this New Jersey middle school teacher who created a personal project to wear the same dress for 100 days.
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The terms human trafficking and prostitution are often used interchangeably with one another. When we do this, we make inappropriate distinctions between two similar, but very different, realities. While this seems insignificant on the surface, the consequences of using the wrong terminology can be detrimental.
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And then the Dressember team announced that we could run in our own towns! I think I screamed with glee, or at least wanted to. Organizing a race here in Dover, DE would be a great way to get my own community involved in the fight to end trafficking. I was left with no excuse.
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Andrew’s courageous approach and heart for others are encouraging to anyone seeking to make a difference. His interview is a powerful example of how people simply caring in their everyday lives can make a difference. Dressing up, beginning conversations, and having a heart for the dignity of others are all a Dressember advocate needs. We are all, with Andrew, “everyday advocates.”
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Has anyone ever told you that you’re too young to change the world? Let me introduce you to Corah Stephens, the 9-year-old world-changer who is shattering that lie. This is her first year of Dressember advocacy, but she is already making a huge impact through raising $800 in the first 10 days of December, and boldly talking about human trafficking in her daily encounters.
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Then her wish sparked an idea, and Lesley embarked on “Skirtvember”–wearing a skirt every day in November to give her practice for Dressember. Before November even started, Lesley matched her skirts with an outfit for each day so the decision was already made each morning.
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There are times that we let things get in the way of our influence. There are times when we use excuses like, “I don’t have enough time,” or “I don’t know enough,” or “I’m not old enough.” These thoughts can get in the way of raising our voice when we see something unjust, but today we want to let you know that it doesn’t have to be that way. Whatever time you have to give, whatever knowledge you have, however old you are - you can be an advocate fighting against trafficking.
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From the time I applied to go to Cambodia I began using the topic of human trafficking for just about everything. If I needed to write a paper - that was my topic. If I needed to do a report - it was focused on human trafficking. If I needed to give a presentation - you bet I was going to find a way to work human trafficking into it.
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Why, when there are so many different issues our world faces, have I stayed engaged with anti-human trafficking efforts, especially when it can seem like there is no chance of eliminating this industry?
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This is uncomfortable for me to write. It is uncomfortable for you to read. I know that. But discomfort is where growth occurs. What haunts some of our nightmares is the stuff of other’s waking reality.
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I am an advocate because I grew up reading and learning about men and women who did not turn their backs when the world proved to be a dark place. They saw the barbarity and nefarious actions of their fellow countrymen and took a stand. Humble but steadfast, they fought for their ideals - knowing full well that they may never see them in their lifetime, but discerning that fighting for anything less would be to lose the battle from the beginning. To compromise even in the slightest when it came to the matter of human souls would be to concede the crusade altogether.
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I didn’t know how much one issue could touch my heart or how freeing it can be to fight for the freedom of strangers. One simple ‘yes’ was all it took to open the door to a beautiful pathway that I could see only when I stopped looking for it.
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I advocate because there are so many people who don’t realize that this injustice is happening right in their cities and neighbourhoods. I speak from personal experience, because for a long time I was completely unaware of human trafficking. And even once I had heard about it, I didn’t think too much about it because there was no way that it was happening in Calgary, my hometown. As I continued through school, my youth group went on several inner-city missions trips, and it was there that I came face-to-face with the stark reality that human trafficking and prostitution do, in fact, happen in my hometown.
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