In their words

Listening to survivors allows us to understand the various forms trafficking can take. It also informs what we can do when we suspect that someone we meet might be a victim of trafficking.

Francisca Mbuli travelled to Kuwait from Cameroon with the hope of earning a decent salary. She ended up being trafficked and only made it home with the support of Freedom For All. She subsequently set up Survivors’ Network, a women-led organization that focuses on providing empowerment programs, vocational training, and microfinance to human trafficking survivors. She has been recognized by the US State Department as a Trafficking In Persons Hero, and is an Obama Foundation fellow.

Shandra Woworuntu is the founder of our partner organization Mentari. Originally, she thought that she was moving from Indonesia to the US to work after paying a labor broker $3,000 to find her a job. When she arrived in the US, there wasn’t a job and she was forced into prostitution. She escaped her traffickers and has ever since been on a mission to provide vocational training to trafficking survivors in NYC. She was recognized by L'Oréal Paris as a Women of Worth honoree for her extraordinary efforts in combatting human trafficking.

Evelyn Chumbow was trafficked to the US from Cameroon when she was just nine years old. A recruiter had approached her family with the promise that Evelyn would receive an education here. But instead of an education, Evelyn was forced to cook, clean, and take care of her recruiter’s children every day for seven years. She never received a salary.