Why I Advocate for Dressember: 5 Reasons to Join the Fight
By Caitlin Kinder
Have you ever felt like an issue was too overwhelming for your voice to make an impact? That’s precisely what I used to think about human trafficking. It’s an immense injustice that often feels abstract and beyond our reach. I believed that there were more qualified people who should handle the issue, and I wasn’t equipped for the task. However, I couldn’t have been more mistaken. The fight against human trafficking isn’t just within my reach; it’s a cause I can wholeheartedly champion with Dressember.
5 Reasons Why You Should Become a Dressember Advocate
1. Access to Empowering Resources
Human trafficking is an issue that demands attention, and Dressember equips advocates like me with the resources needed to meaningfully engage in the fight. Dressember empowers us to learn from and amplify the voices of survivors. Through my advocacy, I’ve learned to harness the power of knowledge while embracing my own voice in this battle. Keep an eye out for Dressember’s Fundraising Toolkit in October, which provides all the tools you need to advocate during the 2023 campaign season.
2. Guidance in Conscious Consumerism
When I learned about human trafficking, I felt a compelling need to take immediate action, but I didn’t know where to start! Through my Dressember advocacy, I discovered that the journey to combat trafficking begins with our everyday choices. What we purchase matters, and we can support fair labor by becoming more conscious consumers. Valuable tools like GoodOnYou and Dressember’s Ethical Fashion Directory can you in supporting ethical brands.
3. Practice Sustainable Advocacy
While human trafficking is a grave issue, our advocacy doesn’t need to take a consistently heavy toll. Dressember paves the way for everyday advocates like me to learn about and raise awareness for this issue while embracing slow fashion without intimidation. The Dressember style challenge seamlessly merges creative advocacy with ethical fashion and extends an open invitation for others to join you!
4. Your Dress Makes a Difference
Each of us has unique experiences and spheres of influence. Initially, I questioned whether wearing a dress or tie every day for a month and leveraging my social media could truly make a dent in this massive injustice. But together, our voices create a chorus for change. Dressember is not just about the conversations that your dress sparks; it’s about the many dresses that people wear around the world in solidarity. It’s a collective effort to change lives.
5. Join a World-Changing Community
Human trafficking is just too big for any one person to fight alone. Dressember collaborates with anti-trafficking experts around the world for precisely this reason. It is vital that we stand together against human trafficking, embracing discomfort (sometimes in the form of a dress in cold winter!) as we confront the harsh realities of this issue and engage in critical conversations about how to prevent and end human trafficking. And throughout the entire month of December, we face this challenge together.
Thanks to Dressember, I now firmly believe that my advocacy against human trafficking matters and can make a substantial difference. I know I am exactly the right person for this mission—and so are you! Join the fight against human trafficking by becoming a Dressember Advocate for the 2023 campaign season. Together, we can put an end to human trafficking in our generation.
About the Author
Caitlin Kinder is a third-year advocate for Dressember because she believes that all people have inherent dignity and value. She recently graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor’s degree in English Creative Writing and is now an editorial intern for Dressember while she remains in Lubbock, Texas, investing in her local community. Caitlin enjoys dancing, hiking, painting, and sitting around a dinner table with her friends. You can find her at @caitkind on Instagram.