End Abuse provides resources, training and technical assistance to programs serving domestic violence survivors, including survivors of human trafficking. Sex trafficking survivors face unique challenges to recovery and safety. We recognize the need to innovate Wisconsin’s service models to better serve survivors. We also recognize the need for better education and collaboration to prevent trafficking in our communities.
From Executive Director Monique Minkens:
“I personally see the abolition of trafficking as central to the work of this organization because we are reminded every day that all oppression is connected. Many people who are trafficked experience a kind of domestic violence, and repeated sexual assault.Local domestic abuse programs in Wisconsin see trafficking victims who are also victims of domestic violence. There are important distinctions to be made between these different experiences, but we know that our liberation is bound up together. This is why, as we serve survivors of domestic violence and center the lived experiences of those most impacted by all forms of oppression, we keep human trafficking as a central component of our coalition’s anti-violence work.”
Resources
We can do more to prevent human trafficking, better serve survivors, and advocate for policies to ensure survivors are not penalized but empowered to lead healthy and successful lives. Included below are a number of vital resources to help community members and service providers raise awareness, recognize and respond to human trafficking.
If you cannot find what you’re looking for below, please contact us for assistance.
Our January 2022 edition of the Coalition Chronicles educational journal provides an in-depth exploration of human trafficking in Wisconsin, and offers many helpful resources. In this issue, we hear from those whose lived experience has included trafficking through visual art, poetry and books. We have included several authors who selected books and prepared short excerpts to share in these pages. We focus on people who have experienced human trafficking, and those who advocate alongside them in Wisconsin.
FACT: Sex trafficking can happen in any community and to anyone from any socio-economic class, race, gender, or immigration status. However, some individuals face a higher risk of being targeted by traffickers, such as runaway and homeless youth and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and social discrimination, among others. Traffickers exploit vulnerabilities and manipulate victims to make them feel guilty for anything that happens to them.
We know that domestic violence is the result of an imbalance of power and control in a relationship. Victims of human trafficking experience many of those same dynamics with their trafficker. Traffickers take advantage of individuals in vulnerable situations, preying on them by promising to provide for their most basic needs, such as food and shelter. And even more diabolically, traffickers prey on a child’s need to feel loved and to be part of a family. Traffickers use these strategies to lure victims, manipulating and abusing them, often under the guise of a meaningful relationship.
FACT: Trafficking cases have been identified in all 72 Wisconsin counties. There were 53 reported sex trafficking cases in 2016 in Wisconsin alone*. Even more cases go unreported each year.
FACT: Sex trafficking survivors are often charged with prostitution and incarcerated. Wisconsin does not currently have a Safe Harbor law, meaning even a child under the age of 18 can be charged with prostitution.
End Abuse provides a variety of educational opportunities to advocates, law enforcement, legislators, and community members to enable them to better serve survivors throughout WI.
End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin mobilizes advocates, survivors, and concerned individuals to make policy changes that will support survivors and help end domestic violence.
We envision promising prevention strategies that work with people and systems to challenge gender, race, and class stereotypes and oppressive norms while defining new ways to be a more positive, equitable, and just society.
End Domestic Abuse WI has a long history of supporting underserved and under-represented communities - including communities of color, those in later life, the LQBTQI+ community, people with disabilities, children and youth, immigrants and refugees, and tribal communities - in...
Our legal team is a leader in educating advocates, attorneys, judges and others on the best responses to domestic abuse. In addition, we advocate for changes in laws and legal practices to improve the legal system for survivors.
The children and youth program offers training, information, and resources for those working with youth. Also providing leadership opportunities for teens to develop skills they can use to educate their peers.
Financial independence is key to domestic abuse survivors’ ability to live successful, violence-free lives. In partnership with local programs, we address economic needs and challenges so survivors can break free of violence.
For CCR and other DV/SA-focused multidisciplinary teams seeking to improve their community's response to domestic violence, sexual violence, and other forms of oppression.
