Guest Blog Post by Melissa Wuske
“I have found great freedom. I want to give God thanks. He has given me good things—health, peace, a good husband, a good family.”
—Ashoka, survivor of the sex trade in Kolkata, India
At Stop Traffick Fashion, we’re all about women around the world like Ashoka. Started in 2009, Stop Traffick Fashion provides opportunities and hope for survivors of human trafficking, while offering women stunning ethical fashion. Survivors and those at-risk of human trafficking make all of our products and are paid a fair wage for their work. This empowers them to create a sustainable income and live a free, happy life. In addition, a portion of all sales revenue is donated back to organizations that rescue victims and provide rehabilitation and training for victims of human trafficking. So whatever you buy, from T-shirts to handbags to jewelry, you’re helping someone make a fresh, free start in life—and freedom is a beautiful thing.
We’re working toward cultivating and expanding our custom line of bags, jewelry, and t-shirts in order to bring socially conscious, fashion conscious women products that tell a story of freedom. We want every piece in our collection to be so striking that it starts a conversation, opening an opportunity for people to talk about human trafficking.
At STF, we’re passionate about helping people use their unique skills and interests to fight against human trafficking and become everyday abolitionists. We’re not all lawyers and social workers living on the frontlines of the fight against trafficking, but each one of us can take small steps toward big change. Our founder, Emily Hill, lives out her love of ethical fashion and social justice through STF. As the communications director, I combine my writing skills with my compassion for exploited people. It’s exciting to know that I can equip people to end trafficking by blogging about ethical fashion, human trafficking, and empowering women.
This excitement to mobilize all types of people makes us so excited for The Defenders movement. Men are a powerful and needed part of the anti-trafficking movement, and while STF’s approach is decidedly ladylike, we love to see men taking a pledge to action.
Melissa Wuske, Communications Director at Stop Traffick Fashion. Melissa loves merging her passions for writing and for helping provide restoration for exploited people. She graduated from Miami University with a degree in Adolescent English Education and is a former middle school language arts teacher. She now works full time as a freelance editor and lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Melissa has visited Fresset, one of STF’s partners, in Kolkata, India.
