Prevent Human Trafficking through Economic Opportunity

[Confederate Kahanist]

http://www.care2.com/causes/trailblazers/blog/prevent-human-trafficking-through-economic-opportunity/


by Eve Blosson, Founder, Lulan Artisans

Lulan Artisans is a for-profit social venture that designs, produces and markets contemporary modern textiles. We work with over 800 weavers, dyers, spinners and finishers in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and India. One of our main objectives is to prevent human trafficking by creating economic options and stability to communities

We use natural or low-impact dyes and source fibers locally. Our years of in-depth work with Lulan's weaving partners has led us to understand that true sustainability has four critical components-economic, cultural, environmental and social. We hire both men and women artisans, pay ample wages and open new markets, and then we go further, discerning the specific needs of individual communities we work in and offer tailored benefits, such as education and housing allowances. We believe beauty is intricately interwoven with sustainability.

Lulan Artisans' goal is to use artisan skills and design to make systemic social change. We are not just creating a set of designed textiles or only a sustainable model for artisan products, but something even larger: an ecosystem design solution that works at the product, service and community levels across economic, ecological, social and cultural systems. This approach makes sweeping, systemic change using design at the core.

Our "bottom up" approach invigorates artistic processes that have been passed from generation to generation and provides economic stability. Safety comes from the whole community. This approach is a way artisans participate in the global economy: this is their seat at the table. We create value by honoring values. Our holistic approach adds purpose, meaning and vitality in the larger cultural context. To us it is all interwoven- the beauty of experience, the experience of beauty.

Witnessed Firsthand Human Trafficking

In the early years of my career, I had the opportunity to work in the US, Russia and Vietnam as a trained-architect. When I was living in Hanoi in 1995, I witnessed firsthand human trafficking: a European man bought a local girl for sex. I tried to intervene and ended up risking my life as well as failing to change the outcome for that girl. This event changed my life and my career. I decided I had to play a role in the prevention of human trafficking.

Experiencing this event up close and personal, I couldn't erase it from my mind. I wanted to understand what the motivation was. I started to research human trafficking and saw human trafficking as a marketplace, where, unfortunately, the commodity is a person. Since the sale of a person is a business transaction, I couldn't let go of the idea of setting up a company that would offer people at risk an alternative. Once this idea was in my mind, I knew I had to create a company to do just that. It would be a long journey-nine years of collecting information, connecting with different people and waiting for the right time in the market to launch such a company.

In my research on human trafficking, I learned that prevention is key because the traumatizing effects are devastating. Also, urban migration trends play a role. When people move from the village to the city, they are especially vulnerable at that juncture. I found that artisan communities are at risk since they are without economic stability. During these years of research, I built relationships with artisans, cooperatives and then designed a business model that aligned with the artisans needs and created economic options for these communities. These artisans do not think of themselves as poor but rich with skills.