We’re working to create a world where no person is bought, sold, or exploited. Read more about our latest efforts here.
Now & Next: The 2019 World Without Exploitation Convening will bring together a national community of coalition members and allies to explore what’s new and what’s next in the movement to end human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Now & Next will be both aspirational and practical, homing in on actionable ways to make our movement and our membership more effective.
This year, World Without Exploitation - the national coalition to end human trafficking and sexual exploitation – created more change in more ways and places than ever before. What made that possible? The survivor leaders who inspire and drive our work. The 135+ member groups at the heart of our national network. And people like you.
Five decades after writer and activist Gloria Steinem began raising her voice for equality while championing the voices of others, her vision feels more urgent than ever. Gloria’s life’s work and philosophy on the necessity of conversation as a catalyst for change are both timely and necessary right now. Which is why GLORIA: A LIFE – a play written by Tony Award-nominee Emily Mann and directed by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus - is a must-see for WorldWE members and allies. On December 7th, please join WorldWE and Apne Aap for a special performance of this groundbreaking play, followed by an audience talk-back featuring actor and activist Ashley Judd.
t’s time to talk. About why, in 2018, millions of people across the globe are still being bought, sold, and exploited. About what the stories of survivors can teach us about the root causes of commercial sexual exploitation. And about how we can finally end the demand for prostituted or trafficked persons. Respectful, impassioned conversation is what our first-ever WorldWE Youth Summit was all about. Hosted at the Brooklyn Historical Society in July, this day long, youth-driven, survivor-centered event featured panel discussions, strategic storytelling workshops, and advocacy trainings for over 200 activists and artists, ages 16 – 28, seeking to engage more effectively in the fight to end exploitation.
“One is not born, but rather becomes a woman,” the French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir wrote in her 1949 classic, The Second Sex. Her book is a historical exploration of the ways female identity is shaped, a reminder that girls come into the world a blank slate, but don’t stay that way for very long. Brenda Myers-Powell, the founder of Dreamcatcher Foundation, an organization fighting sex trafficking in Chicago, has lived what de Beauvoir explores in print. She grew up on Chicago’s West Side, survived childhood sexual violence, and entered the sex trade at the age of 15. Twenty-four years later, Brenda finally had the courage - and the social and economic support necessary – to exit. “Most women don’t want to be in prostitution,” Brenda says. “Help them find options, and that can lead to a whole new life.”
How do we change federal law? We don’t start by lobbying. We start by listening. To survivors who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. To parents whose children’s lives have been irrevocably harmed by — and in some cases lost to — the online sex trade. And to the advocates, health care providers, and members of law enforcement who bear daily witness to the lasting damage done to those who have been bought and sold. The stories from survivor and movement allies served as the driving force behind World Without Exploitation’s fight for passage of FOSTA-SESTA. Three of those survivor leaders — Nikki Bell, Autumn Burris, and Marlene Carson — recently sat down with World Without Exploitation founding co-chair Rachel Foster, to talk about the diverse national coalition that fought for the passage of FOSTA-SESTA, how their personal stories inspired political change, and what’s next for our movement.
In every life there are key moments, from birth to childhood, when everything can change. Moments when systems and institutions - including school, foster care, housing, and law enforcement - can intervene to help a woman or girl who is vulnerable to being sexually exploited. Or, as is too often the case, fail that woman or girl. The Life Story: Moments of Change was created to deepen public understanding of this truth through the stories of those who have survived sexual exploitation. These stories bring us close - at times painfully close - to the root causes and consequences of sexual exploitation. And they challenge us to think differently about the systems and solutions we need in order to create a world where no one is bought, sold, or exploited.
The multi-billion-dollar global sex trade is being increasingly powered by the internet, where classified advertising websites make buying vulnerable human beings for sex as easy as ordering a pizza. That's why amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, by passing the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, S.1693 (SESTA), is so critical. In service to that goal, on January 11th World Without Exploitation headed to Washington, DC for a rally, briefing, and lobby day.
