Amiallana Justus
The Lifeboat Project “Making Waves” continued to raise awareness and support for human trafficking survivors on Wednesday, March. 4, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. where heroes and a Panel of Experts spoke.
The Lifeboat Project’s “Making Waves” is meant to break down stereotypes against those forced into human trafficking while hearing the voices of those who have fought to make it through.
The Lifeboat Project supports individuals by offering housing, mental health, and educational services for survivors. This program also teaches life skill development to aid in getting survivors support, so the risk of re-exploitation is reduced.
Melissa Morrow shared her story about surviving human trafficking at this event alongside nonprofit organizations, institutions, and partners. In order to better understand the truth behind human trafficking, recognize the signs, and why long-term aftercare and help are crucial to change.
Florida is ranked 3rd in the nation for human trafficking cases and 77% of those cases involve children. At “Making Waves,” survivors, friends, allies, and family came together to understand trafficking’s impact, share human trafficking stories, and help survivors heal from the trauma that comes with it.
Through open conversation and more perspectives, the goal of “Making Waves” is to strengthen awareness and inspire meaningful engagement through partnership and advocacy.
Protecting Human Rights and Preserving Dignity
Human trafficking survivors come from all different backgrounds and can be any gender or age.. Sex exploitation occurs all over the world and many survivors understand how difficult it can be to speak out due to fear of retaliation that might be used against them.
“We’ve been doing this work for 14 years and we provide full wrap around services that many are into the rescue part of it, but it’s about what’s next,” said Jill Bolander Cohen, Founder and CEO of Lifeboat Project. “The next thing is to be able to provide them with an education, a safe place to live, and this is what we do.”
There is only so much parents and adults can do to protect youths in society from human trafficking, but working together as a community to guide one another from harm ways can help prevent sex exploitation in our world today.
“I always tell young girls and boys to look out for each other,” said Cohen. “Especially our youth that are in the schools, to me this is what we call our first responders. They are in the classrooms and are seeing things change such as new technology, new expensive items, different things. Speaking up and being that voice for victims who can’t, such as going to a counselor and getting help for these people.”
The Lifeboat Project has helped those in human trafficking start their lives again through this program. Being more involved and less judgmental about what others have gone through can help encourage those who are too scared to speak out to tell their stories.
“The world is a scary place, but the world is also a wonderful place,” said Cohen. “I think that as Christian, I believe we need to look out for the least of these and it made me more hyper aware of watching my surroundings and helping people that are in need.”
Nancy Perez, senior case manager of The Lifeboat Project, said that getting trained and learning about how to speak with a human trafficking survivor is important to help get them on the right path to recovery.
“Be careful of who you talk to and make sure you’re actually speaking to the person you are speaking to on an app, especially on the internet because anyone can be anybody,” said Perez. “Stay in touch with the person that’s next to you, let yourself have a safety blanket like mom or a good friend, that if you choose to meet someone you pick someone to come with you. We can’t stop what’s happening, we can only make people aware of how serious human trafficking is.”
Sex crimes have been around for decades and continue to get worse as the youth population increases. With more advanced technologies, they can be used to lure children into human trafficking and cause more harm than good.
“I worked with many populations in the past few years, and human trafficking is nothing that is hidden, it is something that is just taboo,” said Perez. “In the early 1800s, this was just called slavery and there is no difference today, it’s just making people aware of the dangers human trafficking brings. The more you educate, the better chance of preventing human trafficking from happening to someone.”
Not every person who has been a victim of trafficking is ready to seek help, but it is our responsibility as a community to encourage those who are scared to speak out to find the courage to do it.
“In the last four years that I’ve been here, we have had a success rate of 93%,” said Perez. “Some are not ready to get out, but we never close the door on them for when they are ready to come back and get help when they are ready.”
The Lifeboat Project continues to inspire people to take action against human trafficking and to open minds and perspectives about not judging survivors for their stories. Instead, treating them like an individual just like the rest of us.
For more information on The Lifeboat Project, visit HERE to find more ways to help prevent human trafficking.
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