Awareness Parties of The Emancipation Network

TEN helps survivors of human trafficking, and women and girls at high risk for being trafficked, by offering them a means for self-sufficiency and an economic alternative to further exploitation. TEN partners with anti-trafficking organisations and women's craft collectives around the world, purchasing handicraft products from those partners and then selling them at Awareness Parties across the United States, educating and mobilising people at the same time. The core strategy here involves drawing on the energy and commitment of concerned individuals to bring members of their community together to learn and take action; the home party model is shaped by the understanding that people are most responsive and interested in the issue when it is presented by someone they know.

Organisers explain that an Awareness Party can be formal or informal, large or small, and that each individual can integrate his or her own interests and personality into the event. TEN provides each host with the tools to educate his or her guests about trafficking, including a video, a speech to read, printed awareness materials, recipes, catalogues, brochures, and handicraft products to sell. There are no sales pitches or product demonstrations, and there is no pressure to buy; the goal is to offer information about slavery and human rights in a way that is not overwhelming or depressing but empowering. One of the goals of an Awareness Party is to invite attendees to go on to host parties of their own - thereby disseminating the messages even further.

TEN maintains a website and a monthly email newsletters through which interested persons can learn about trafficking, stay abreast of worldwide news and legislation affecting trafficking, and get news from overseas partners and from TEN volunteers across the USA.

Human Trafficking, Rights, Economic Development.

TEN explains that South Asia and Southeast Asia are two regions of the world with the most severe sex trafficking problems; the common age for girls sold into brothels in countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, and India is 11 to 14 years old. TEN hopes to be a source of economic opportunity for young women in these and other areas who are vulnerable to trafficking. TEN purchases handicrafts from organisations which also provide trafficking survivors with a safe place to live and a full range of support services to help them heal and reintegrate. Some also operate trafficking prevention programmes for children born into brothel districts, or for girls in remote, impoverished villages where they are likely to be sold into slavery. Donations from TEN support these rescue and trafficking prevention efforts.

Click here to request information on hosting an Awareness Party.