Shifting the Narrative & Centering Black Survivors of Sex Trafficking

In the second conversation in the Let’s Link Up series-on the National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness-we discuss the urgent need to shift the narratives around sex trafficking.
The public perception of people who have survived sex trafficking often does not reflect the reality of who is actually trafficked in the U.S. The real facts: ​
--Black women make up 40% of people who have survived sex trafficking.
--Black youth comprise 51% of all prostitution arrests for those under age 18-more than any other racial group. ​
We must end human and sex trafficking, stop the criminalization of Black survivors, and create healing-informed responses to support Black women and girls who have survived commercial and sexual exploitation.
Featuring
--Dr. Jennifer B. Lyle, executive director of MISSSEY, misssey.org/
--Dr. Stephany Powell, Western Area of The Links, Incorporated Human Trafficking Chair, walinks.org/
--Tika Thornton, crisis response case manager at Journey Out, journeyout.org
--Dr. Sydney McKinney, executive director of the National Black Women's Justice Institute, nbwji.org
This is part of our event series "Let’s Link Up - Your Voice Gives Me Strength." Join the National Black Women's Justice Institute and the Western Area of The Links, Incorporated in building our collective power to take on critical issues that impact the health, wellbeing, and livelihood of Black women and girls. In this series, we talk to Black women who are leading healing-centered work in their communities and striving to create safe and supportive spaces for Black women and girls.
Together, we can create a world that honors and uplifts Black women and girls and where real justice is healing.
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At the National Black Women's Justice Institute, we research, elevate, and educate the public about innovative, community-led solutions to address the criminalization of Black women and girls. We aim to dismantle the racist and patriarchal U.S. criminal-legal system and build, in its place, pathways to opportunity and healing. ​We envision a society that respects, values, and honors the humanity of Black women and girls, takes accountability for the harm it has inflicted, and recognizes that real justice is healing.