Anti-Trafficking Talks and Networking at the Kennedy School

Image by Thomas Hawk

Last night in Boston was cold, rainy, and inspiring; I spent it at a networking event on anti-human trafficking at The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Panelists included Cherie Jimenez of Kim’s Project, Jeff Gulati, who is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bentley University, and Katherine Chon, President and Co-founder of Polaris Project.

This was a much better dialogue than the last Harvard event I attended, focusing on practical issues rather than terminology/semantics. The speakers were from very different backgrounds and are currently playing various roles in the fight against trafficking, and they each had interesting things to say. I jotted down some notes as they were talking and wanted to share the highlights with you below.

When discussing the strengths and skills needed to be in a career that fights trafficking, Cherie, who founded Kim’s Project based on her own experience in the sex trade, said that first and foremost there is a need for compassion and understanding of how to empower people. One of my favorite points that she made throughout the night was that “just as everyone has a story for how they ended up in the sex trade, they will each have a different story for how they get out.”

Jeff talked about how people who are going to engage in fighting trafficking have to be willing to take the long view—and need to understand that making a large-scale difference in this process won’t yield immediate returns. This isn’t a light-switch sort of problem. Katherine proposed that those interested in an anti-trafficking profession need to identify answers to three preliminary questions:

• What’s already out there, being done, from an organizational standpoint?
• What are my particular passions/skill sets?
• How much of my life am I willing to/want to put into this?

The conversation then shifted to discuss the challenges that we currently face in fighting trafficking—including sex trafficking, forced labor, adoption trafficking, even organ trafficking. Cherie talked about how crucial it is that we examine and identify the root causes that lead to trafficking, and then attack those. While we often get caught up in “trafficking” as a standalone entity, it is really an amalgamation of much deeper issues, and we need to change the systemic elements (extreme poverty, lack of education, a growing individualism that lacks any outer societal responsibilities) that are actually creating the industry.

Jeff added to this point by mentioning that he often examines how the issue of human trafficking is portrayed in the media. It’s something that I will be more aware of as I read news stories: Are gender/race inequalities being addressed as part of the larger picture of systemic causes, or does most of the coverage solely center on the problem being built out of organized crime?

Based on her years running Polaris Project, Katherine discussed the challenge of experiencing secondary trauma in a job that makes you face the brutalities of human trafficking day in, day out—and the importance of finding the right balance. She mentioned how sad it is to see brilliant, caring people become burned out and leave, and that working with survivors of human trafficking will never be a 9-to-5 job.

Finally, an issue that came up repeatedly was how divisive the activism field can be. People will always have differing ideas of how and why to get something done, and it can get nasty dealing with politics—especially if you’ve invested a lot of yourself. Anti-trafficking organizations need to pay their own bills and be sustainable, but we can often become lost in our own branding, reputation, and individual strategy instead of how we can most effectively attack the problem from a collaborative standpoint.

After the panel we had the opportunity to meet others who are interested in taking a role in anti-trafficking activism, and I had a number of conversations with some great people, including law students, future policy makers and even one of the representatives from Minga. Most encouraging was the turnout—the room was full, and interest was high.

A special thanks to each of the panelists and to Christina Bain at the Kennedy School for a night that has given me a lot to think about.