January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month
The reasons for human trafficking vary from country to country, but many agree that poverty is one of the primary causes of human trafficking. Low income, unemployment, hunger, disease, and illiteracy are rampant in developing nations. As a result, poor and desperate families, unemployed youths, and school dropouts become easy targets for human traffickers.
The International Labor Organization estimates that there are around 20.9 million victims of human trafficking globally. This number has significantly increased as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions back into extreme poverty worldwide.
Vocational training can help break the cycle of poverty by creating more options and opportunities available to the poor. Those who improve their knowledge and training qualify for better-paying, more stable jobs. They have the opportunities and expertise to create new businesses and jobs. Supported by mentors and teachers from Mentors International, these worthy individuals can support themselves, their children, and extended family members. As a result, the number of poor people, primarily women, young girls, and children, who are potential targets of human trafficking, is reduced. Employment and income opportunities that traffickers use as tools for luring vulnerable people cease to be attractive.
Mentors International is serving in several aftercare facilities for young women who have been rescued from human trafficking. We teach our business skills and personal development courses to these women. We can then provide small loans when needed to help them get their new businesses off the ground.
Our mentors help these rescued survivors create a vision for themselves and their businesses while assisting them in understanding that they can do more than they think. The knowledge and encouragement Mentors International clients receive are vital to their success as they build businesses and grow in greater self-reliance.
Our mentors said their greatest joy is seeing that “light bulb moment” in a young woman’s eye. When they realize that they can become successful, they can start respectable businesses, and that it will happen thanks to Mentors International’s support. These women eagerly soak up the knowledge they receive in their business skills training classes and are enthusiastic about their chance to become more than their past.
We know that our programs work and offer long-lasting, sustainable solutions to those trapped in extreme poverty and slavery. So we plan to expand our business training classes and mentoring programs to even more aftercare facilities and serve in even more developing countries.
We stand united in the fight against human trafficking and the healing process of victims to become thriving survivors. Join us in the effort to help sex trafficking survivors discover the joys of self-reliance through MENTORING.
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