Resilience Rising

Give Out Day - Support LGBTQ Survivors of Trafficking

Due to systemic discrimination, familial rejection, and sexual abuse, youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) are at higher risk for child welfare involvement, homelessness, and sexual exploitation and trafficking. Particularly for LGBTQ individuals in the sex trade, they may refrain from reaching out to service providers due to lack of trust with systems, fear of discrimination, and risk of additional victimization and violence. Despite their higher risk of sexual exploitation and hate violence, LGBTQ survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking are an under-served demographic. Anti-trafficking resources are overwhelmingly faith-based organizations, and most do not provide outreach or services to transgender individuals. Most adult homeless shelters offer gender binary spaces, leaving transgender women without safe spaces to seek agency. LGBTQ survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking, especially transgender women of color, need gender-affirming environments where they can find safety, healing, and empowerment. Resilience Rising is a queer-founded and run organization that hires a diverse staff team including transgender women and women of color, ensuring representation and visibility. Of the youth survivors served at Resilience Rising, 67% have identified as LGBTQ. We take pride in being a place where LGBTQ youth and young adults are not only accepted and respected but celebrated and honored. For more on LGBTQ and trafficking, click here. 

Mission

Resilience Rising combats the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children in the United States by providing residential and mentoring programs with opportunities for safety, healing, and empowerment. For more on our mission, click here.

Need

Sexual exploitation is inherently a system of gender-based inequality and violence, existing at the intersection of sexism, racism, and classism. The sex trade preys upon marginalized populations like homeless youth, foster youth, and sexual minorities as well as vulnerable women - those with histories of sexual abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, mental health conditions, substance use disorders, disabilities, and immigration status. Ongoing research illuminates that the vast majority of those in the sex trade want to leave but lack the options, resources, and agency to safely and successfully exit. For more on commercial sexual exploitation in the United States, click here.

History

In 2017, Resilience Rising opened a residential childcare facility (RCCF) licensed by the Colorado Department of Human Services to serve female-identifying survivors of trafficking and exploitation ages 11-21. In 2020, at the height of a global pandemic, Resilience Rising decided to close its residential program in Colorado to relocate to the ocean in California. Simultaneously, we expanded our services to include community-based alumnae mentoring for survivors who have been through our residential program, providing life-long access to social recovery capital, case management, and crisis support.

Project

Resilience Rising’s adult residential facility (ARF) will serve female-identifying survivors of sexual exploitation, trafficking, and the sex trade. The six-bed facility will provide 24-hour care, supervision, and treatment for young adults ages 18-25 with mental and behavioral health needs. It will be licensed through the California Department of Social Services. For more on our residential program, click here.

Objectives

Using a harm reduction approach and evidence-based interventions, we aim to equip survivors with coping and life skills needed to break intergenerational cycles of abuse and trauma. With an ultimate goal of increasing a client’s social recovery capital, we can reduce the vulnerability and risk factors for recidivism of substance use, homelessness, survival sex, and sexual exploitation.  For more on our interventions, click here. 

Fight Trafficking

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