We are proud of our team members who recently served as keynote speakers at the 2024 Asia Region Anti-Trafficking (ARAT) Conference in Bali, Indonesia. The ARAT Conference, an initiative of the Global Learning Community, serves as a vital platform for collaboration across the Asia-Pacific region, bringing together experts and advocates committed to eradicating human trafficking through knowledge sharing and collective action. This event provided a valuable opportunity for us to present our insights on survivor leadership, advocate for survivor-led solutions, and highlight our crisis response efforts.
As a survivor-centered organization, we are deeply committed to advancing survivor-led solutions. In our keynote presentation, we presented on our recent photovoice research study pertaining to survivor leadership in the anti-trafficking movement. This arts-based research study was co-led by our Survivor Leadership Council (SLC), an advisory board comprised of survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence who have completed at least one of our programs. In this project, survivors took photographs and shared their own experiences and reflections about the meaning of survivor leadership and how to promote survivor leadership in the anti-trafficking movement. Several survivors were trained in how to conduct data analysis, analyzing all study data in collaboration with other members of the Eleison team. In our ARAT keynote presentation, we shared recommendations for strengthening survivor-led solutions and invited dialogue with conference participants on how we can collaborate in centering survivor-led solutions in the Asia Pacific region.
Additionally, our Program Director presented at ARAT about our work to prevent suicide among survivors of human trafficking. In this presentation, she shared with participants why suicide prevention work should be prioritized in the anti-trafficking sector and walked the audience through evidence-based approaches in assessing suicide risk, conducting suicide prevention and intervention services, and providing ongoing monitoring and supportive services to clients who are suicidal. She introduced Eleison’s capacity building program in suicide prevention and intervention, which is available to advocates and direct service providers both in-person and online globally.
In the ongoing fight against human trafficking, we hope our team members’ presentations inspired others to adopt survivor-led, evidence-informed, and trauma-informed approaches. If you are interested in learning more about our advocacy and research pertaining to survivor leadership or our intervention and training on suicide prevention, please contact us here.
