The event has passed.
Check the event replay here.
———
The truth about human trafficking, and four incredible women who are bringing light to survivors.
Human trafficking is a problem we hear about, we know it exists but many of us are not aware of the magnitude of the problem, nor that this is an issue that touches us all. According to the ILO’s most recent numbers: 40.3 million people globally are victims of human trafficking. Of those trafficked, 72% are girls and women.
Giving Women, as part of our awareness building pillar, has invited three women who are actively working to support, heal, and give back the lives of sex-trafficked women:
Somaly Mam and Chan Ratana from AFESIP based in Cambodia,
Trina Talukdar from Kranti an organisation working with girls and women in the red-light district of Mumbai
Taban Shoresh the founder of the Lotus Flower based in the refugee camps in Northern Iraq.
Each one has a story to tell and courageously works to support, heal, and fight for the rights of these girls and women.
We are also honoured to have Monique Villa, who was CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation for 11 years. She created TrustLaw, Trust Conference, and together with Anish Kappor created the Stop Slavery Awards to name just a few of her accomplishments. Monique Villa is also the author of Slaves Amongst us: The Hidden World of Human Trafficking. Her in-depth knowledge of the subject will enlighten us about this hidden reality and moderate the conversation.
======================
Human trafficking in numbers
• 51% of identified victims of trafficking are women, 28% children and 21% men
• 72% people exploited in the sex industry are women
• 63% of identified traffickers were men and 37% women
• 43% of victims are trafficked domestically within national borders
(Estimates by The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC))
=======================
This event is free but we welcome any donations you feel moved to make upon registration. Your donations support our work to make a meaningful difference in the lives of girls and women in need all over the world.
(Photo credit: Kranti performing at Giving Women’s 2019 AGM)
Bios
Somaly Mam
Somaly Mam is a survivor of sexual slavery and a current-day human rights activist.
Born into a tribal minority family in the Mondulkiri province of Cambodia, she was sold at age 12, and forced to work in a brothel along with other children for nearly a decade. She was brutally tortured and raped on a daily basis. One night, she was made to watch as her best friend was viciously murdered. Deciding then that she would no longer “keep her silence,” Somaly heroically escaped her captors and began to build a new life abroad. She vowed, however, never to forget those she left behind, and soon returned to Southeast Asia. She has dedicated her life’s work to saving victims, building shelters and programs for healing, and empowering survivors to become agents of change. Her holistic approach ensures they not only escape their plight for good, but have the emotional and economic strength to face the future with hope. Somaly estimates that she has touched the lives of over 7,000 victims to date, and she has been recognized as a CNN Hero, one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and one of Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women, a Glamour Woman of the Year, recipient of the World Children’s Prize, and by the US Department of Homeland Security for her work. She has been a guest on the Tyra Banks show, Fox and Friends, America’s Most Wanted, and was featured on Oprah and CNN. She has participated in Davos activities and the DLD conference, the 2011 Newark Peace Summit (alongside the Dalai Lama) and conferences including Imagine Solutions, Womenetics, EG, and Crimes Against Children. Despite threats to her life and a complex political environment, she continues to live and work in Phnom Penh.
AFESIP Cambodia is a legally registered non-governmental, non-partisan, and non-religious organization that cares for and secures the rights of women and girls victimized by human trafficking, sex slavery and or at high risk of any of these forms of abuse. In 1996 Somaly Mam established AFESIP, a grass-roots organisation based in Cambodia. Somaly Mam herself a survivor of human-trafficking, created the organization to support the thousands of girls and women forced into exploitation in and across Cambodian borders.
To date, AFESIP Cambodia has helped the lives of over 7,000 young women and girls, who are victims of or at risk of being victims of sexual violence, trafficking, abuse or indentured slavery and exploitation, through AFESIP’s recovery centers. Several thousand women and girls in prostitution have received educational training messages on HIV/AIDs prevention, drug abuse, alcohol, negotiation, violence and rape, the new trafficking law, and general knowledge.
Chan Ratana
A survivor of sexual abuse who with the incredible support of AFESIP was able to get through her many challenges and pursue her education to become a psychologist in 2015. She is now full-time Psychologist at the center and works on the Economy Empowerment Program of AFESIP-Cambodia.
Trina Talukdar
Trina started working in Kalighat, one of Asia’s oldest and largest red light areas, at the age of 18. Her interaction with commercial sex workers spurred her passion to channel an immense strength and potential she saw in these women, towards becoming the best social change leaders of our times. As a result of her experience in Kalighat, she co-founded a non-profit named Kranti at the age of 22, in Mumbai. Kranti identifies the potential in girls who have been trafficked, to become agents of social change. These women have survived the worst social adversities, and have the passion and understanding to solve these social problems. After building Kranti for 3 years, Trina moved to Ashoka,where she was hired as the South Asia Director of Venture and Fellowship, and focused on building a social entrepreneurship ecosystem in India. During her time in Ashoka, Trina continued to work with Kranti from time to time. In 2019, after 6 years away,Trina made the decision to return to Kranti, and is employed full time with the non-profit organization.
Taban Shoresh
Former child genocide survivor, Taban Shoresh is the founder of The Lotus Flower, a non-profit for women and girls that currently supports survivors of conflict in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq and Germany. Taban first established The Lotus Flower in London in 2016, after witnessing ISIS committing genocide in her homeland, some three decades after she endured similar atrocity and devastation during Saddam Hussein’s reign. With a tight-knit community of colleagues and advocates, Taban enables women and girls to flourish safely and on their own terms. As a fledgling charity, they have little funding but are making a significant impact. A hardworking network of staff deliver a host of programmes on the ground in Kurdistan which drive wellbeing, social and economic change through projects such as the Women’s Business Incubator, Boxing Sisters, Sewing Sisters and Baking Sisters, which empower women to learn skills that they can use to earn a living. To date The Lotus Flower has helped more than 26,000 women and girls in under two years.
Monique Villa
Monique Villa is a global leader in the charity world, an esteemed journalist and specialist of press freedom and the author of ‘Slaves Among Us’. She has been ranked among the world’s 100 most influential people in Business Ethics by Ethisphere since 2014 and was fourth in the UK’s 2018 Top 100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers’ Index. Villa received the Champions for Change Award in 2015 for her vision and effort in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery, and was the recipient of ECPAT-USA’s inaugural Freedom Award in 2017 in recognition of her leadership in the fight to end child trafficking. She is also a Champion of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Villa was the CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation from 2008 to 2019. During her tenure, she transformed the Foundation, creating a number of high-impact programmes including TrustLaw, the biggest global legal pro bono service that operates in 175 countries, and Trust Conference, a world-leading human rights forum. Villa is also the creator of the Stop Slavery Award, which she founded with the artist Anish Kapoor.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Villa was Managing Director of Reuters Media and Chairman of Action Images. A French national, she rose through the ranks of Agence France-Presse (AFP) where she held a number of senior journalistic and management positions. She reported for a number of years from Paris, Rome and London where she was Bureau Chief from 1991-1996. She then became Director of Strategy and Business Development at AFP Headquarters in Paris with responsibility for the agency’s major partnerships worldwide.
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Add to Calendar
Check the event replay here.
———
The truth about human trafficking, and four incredible women who are bringing light to survivors.
Human trafficking is a problem we hear about, we know it exists but many of us are not aware of the magnitude of the problem, nor that this is an issue that touches us all. According to the ILO’s most recent numbers: 40.3 million people globally are victims of human trafficking. Of those trafficked, 72% are girls and women.
Giving Women, as part of our awareness building pillar, has invited three women who are actively working to support, heal, and give back the lives of sex-trafficked women:
Somaly Mam and Chan Ratana from AFESIP based in Cambodia,
Trina Talukdar from Kranti an organisation working with girls and women in the red-light district of Mumbai
Taban Shoresh the founder of the Lotus Flower based in the refugee camps in Northern Iraq.
Each one has a story to tell and courageously works to support, heal, and fight for the rights of these girls and women.
We are also honoured to have Monique Villa, who was CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation for 11 years. She created TrustLaw, Trust Conference, and together with Anish Kappor created the Stop Slavery Awards to name just a few of her accomplishments. Monique Villa is also the author of Slaves Amongst us: The Hidden World of Human Trafficking. Her in-depth knowledge of the subject will enlighten us about this hidden reality and moderate the conversation.
======================
Human trafficking in numbers
• 51% of identified victims of trafficking are women, 28% children and 21% men
• 72% people exploited in the sex industry are women
• 63% of identified traffickers were men and 37% women
• 43% of victims are trafficked domestically within national borders
(Estimates by The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC))
=======================
This event is free but we welcome any donations you feel moved to make upon registration. Your donations support our work to make a meaningful difference in the lives of girls and women in need all over the world.
(Photo credit: Kranti performing at Giving Women’s 2019 AGM)
Bios
Somaly Mam
Somaly Mam is a survivor of sexual slavery and a current-day human rights activist.
Born into a tribal minority family in the Mondulkiri province of Cambodia, she was sold at age 12, and forced to work in a brothel along with other children for nearly a decade. She was brutally tortured and raped on a daily basis. One night, she was made to watch as her best friend was viciously murdered. Deciding then that she would no longer “keep her silence,” Somaly heroically escaped her captors and began to build a new life abroad. She vowed, however, never to forget those she left behind, and soon returned to Southeast Asia. She has dedicated her life’s work to saving victims, building shelters and programs for healing, and empowering survivors to become agents of change. Her holistic approach ensures they not only escape their plight for good, but have the emotional and economic strength to face the future with hope. Somaly estimates that she has touched the lives of over 7,000 victims to date, and she has been recognized as a CNN Hero, one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and one of Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women, a Glamour Woman of the Year, recipient of the World Children’s Prize, and by the US Department of Homeland Security for her work. She has been a guest on the Tyra Banks show, Fox and Friends, America’s Most Wanted, and was featured on Oprah and CNN. She has participated in Davos activities and the DLD conference, the 2011 Newark Peace Summit (alongside the Dalai Lama) and conferences including Imagine Solutions, Womenetics, EG, and Crimes Against Children. Despite threats to her life and a complex political environment, she continues to live and work in Phnom Penh.
AFESIP Cambodia is a legally registered non-governmental, non-partisan, and non-religious organization that cares for and secures the rights of women and girls victimized by human trafficking, sex slavery and or at high risk of any of these forms of abuse. In 1996 Somaly Mam established AFESIP, a grass-roots organisation based in Cambodia. Somaly Mam herself a survivor of human-trafficking, created the organization to support the thousands of girls and women forced into exploitation in and across Cambodian borders.
To date, AFESIP Cambodia has helped the lives of over 7,000 young women and girls, who are victims of or at risk of being victims of sexual violence, trafficking, abuse or indentured slavery and exploitation, through AFESIP’s recovery centers. Several thousand women and girls in prostitution have received educational training messages on HIV/AIDs prevention, drug abuse, alcohol, negotiation, violence and rape, the new trafficking law, and general knowledge.
Chan Ratana
A survivor of sexual abuse who with the incredible support of AFESIP was able to get through her many challenges and pursue her education to become a psychologist in 2015. She is now full-time Psychologist at the center and works on the Economy Empowerment Program of AFESIP-Cambodia.
Trina Talukdar
Trina started working in Kalighat, one of Asia’s oldest and largest red light areas, at the age of 18. Her interaction with commercial sex workers spurred her passion to channel an immense strength and potential she saw in these women, towards becoming the best social change leaders of our times. As a result of her experience in Kalighat, she co-founded a non-profit named Kranti at the age of 22, in Mumbai. Kranti identifies the potential in girls who have been trafficked, to become agents of social change. These women have survived the worst social adversities, and have the passion and understanding to solve these social problems. After building Kranti for 3 years, Trina moved to Ashoka,where she was hired as the South Asia Director of Venture and Fellowship, and focused on building a social entrepreneurship ecosystem in India. During her time in Ashoka, Trina continued to work with Kranti from time to time. In 2019, after 6 years away,Trina made the decision to return to Kranti, and is employed full time with the non-profit organization.
Taban Shoresh
Former child genocide survivor, Taban Shoresh is the founder of The Lotus Flower, a non-profit for women and girls that currently supports survivors of conflict in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq and Germany. Taban first established The Lotus Flower in London in 2016, after witnessing ISIS committing genocide in her homeland, some three decades after she endured similar atrocity and devastation during Saddam Hussein’s reign. With a tight-knit community of colleagues and advocates, Taban enables women and girls to flourish safely and on their own terms. As a fledgling charity, they have little funding but are making a significant impact. A hardworking network of staff deliver a host of programmes on the ground in Kurdistan which drive wellbeing, social and economic change through projects such as the Women’s Business Incubator, Boxing Sisters, Sewing Sisters and Baking Sisters, which empower women to learn skills that they can use to earn a living. To date The Lotus Flower has helped more than 26,000 women and girls in under two years.
Monique Villa
Monique Villa is a global leader in the charity world, an esteemed journalist and specialist of press freedom and the author of ‘Slaves Among Us’. She has been ranked among the world’s 100 most influential people in Business Ethics by Ethisphere since 2014 and was fourth in the UK’s 2018 Top 100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers’ Index. Villa received the Champions for Change Award in 2015 for her vision and effort in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery, and was the recipient of ECPAT-USA’s inaugural Freedom Award in 2017 in recognition of her leadership in the fight to end child trafficking. She is also a Champion of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Villa was the CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation from 2008 to 2019. During her tenure, she transformed the Foundation, creating a number of high-impact programmes including TrustLaw, the biggest global legal pro bono service that operates in 175 countries, and Trust Conference, a world-leading human rights forum. Villa is also the creator of the Stop Slavery Award, which she founded with the artist Anish Kapoor.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Villa was Managing Director of Reuters Media and Chairman of Action Images. A French national, she rose through the ranks of Agence France-Presse (AFP) where she held a number of senior journalistic and management positions. She reported for a number of years from Paris, Rome and London where she was Bureau Chief from 1991-1996. She then became Director of Strategy and Business Development at AFP Headquarters in Paris with responsibility for the agency’s major partnerships worldwide.