Survivors: Life Beyond Exploitation
At Causeway we have supported thousands of people who have experienced exploitation to get their lives back on track.
Sometimes they come to us hours or days after being rescued, sometimes it can be months or even years before they tell anyone what happened to them, and are referred for support.
Everybody’s journey is different, but the one thing everyone agrees on - they are not what happened to them. Their abuse or trauma does not define them.
They are people first, survivors second, and each one has goals, hopes, and dreams for a future that goes beyond recovering from the shadow of modern slavery.
Our campaign, Survivors: Life Beyond Exploitation, was created to mark Anti-Slavery Day on Wednesday 18th October 2023. As part of the campaign we spoke to three people who are using their own experiences to raise awareness of modern slavery and trafficking, support others going through the same thing, and show that there is life beyond exploitation.
Ilja, Sosa, and Emily* do not know each other, but they are connected by the similar experiences of being groomed, traumatised, or let down as children by older adults in their lives. It was these early experiences that increased their vulnerability to exploitation, and what is now the driving force behind their shared desire to protect other young people from exploitation.