We’re pleased to announce that our Executive Director, Dr. Laura Cordisco Tsai, and Clinical Program Manager, Carmina Charmaine G. Domingo, will serve as keynote speakers for the 2024 Asia Region Anti-Trafficking (ARAT) Conference. The upcoming conference presents a significant opportunity for Eleison to foster collaboration with the anti-trafficking community and contribute to the sector through our presentations on centering survivor-led solutions, as well as suicide prevention with survivors of trafficking.
The ARAT conference is an initiative of the Global Learning Community, a project of Chab Dai, and is hosted by a consortium of organizations, including The Freedom Story, Dark Bali, The Whispering Willow, and Ashray. It brings together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, including the private sector, non-governmental organizations, survivor-led organizations, academia, and government agencies. The conference encourages cross-sector collaboration to enhance the effectiveness of anti-trafficking initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region. It will feature sessions curated within four thematic areas to ensure a comprehensive exploration of the complex issue of human trafficking. These areas include organizational development and capacity building, current trends and research in the region, survivor inclusion, and collaboration and networking. By organizing discussions around these themes, the conference aims to provide participants with a holistic understanding of the multifaceted nature of human trafficking, equipping them with the knowledge and tools necessary to implement impactful and sustainable services.
As a survivor-centered organization, we are particularly keen on contributing to the discussion around survivor leadership through our keynote presentation. We recognize that survivors are best positioned to understand their needs and the types of support that would be beneficial. At Eleison, we invite our clients to assume leadership roles through our Survivor Leadership Council (SLC), an advisory board comprised of human trafficking and gender-based violence survivors who have completed at least one of our programs. Through the SLC, survivors actively and collaboratively influence and shape our work, amplifying their voices to strengthen our initiatives and address the diverse needs of survivors. Currently, SLC members are co-leading a photovoice study to explore what survivor leadership means. Based on the results of this study, the SLC will collaborate with other members of the Eleison team to develop a survivor-defined framework for survivor leadership. This framework can serve as a guide for the anti-trafficking sector globally, deepening our collective understanding of what survivor leadership means in diverse contexts and fostering a more comprehensive and survivor-centered approach to combating trafficking.
Survivor-centered approaches and collaborative efforts will create lasting change, placing survivors at the forefront of the anti-trafficking movement and ultimately dismantling the structures that perpetuate exploitation. As the ARAT conference approaches, we eagerly anticipate the rich exchange of ideas, the forging of new partnerships, and our contribution to the collective fight against human trafficking. Together, we can build a future where survivors are at the forefront in developing, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness of strategies to prevent human trafficking.
