Our Grantee.
Survivor Speak USA (SSUSA)
, based in Maine, is a survivor-led movement focused on ending sex trafficking and sexual exploitation through centering the experiences, healing, voices, and leadership of survivors.
Their Concern.
SSUSA addresses the root causes of “sexploitation”:
- systemic poverty
- racism
- misogyny.
SSUSA provides outreach, education and training, policy advocacy, intensive survivor mentorship and leadership development. The Survivor Advocacy and Leadership Training (SALT) follows a curriculum that enables survivors to heal, build fellowship, and develop into leaders prepared to educate the public, formulate and advocate for policy changes and continue to grow new leaders.
We're Helping.
This year we provided $10,000 in general operational support to help further their mission.
We've Learned.
Their campaign for vacatur would allow survivors to ask the court to set aside any criminal records they might have as a result of being sexploited. This would allow survivors and their families access to housing and work opportunities which are currently unavailable to them.