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Mistakes happen in anti-trafficking work. We must learn from them [1]

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Date: 2025-06

The anti-trafficking movement has long been divided into factions. All groups agree that no one should endure trafficking, but they break apart over the strategies to get there. For decades this has held us back.

The best-known split is between those wanting to abolish sex work and those pushing to decriminalise it. But alongside this, there are also actors advocating for a criminal justice approach, a public health approach, a human rights approach, and a moral approach. Some spend resources upstream on societal issues and primary prevention. Others work downstream to hold people accountable and provide direct services and support. Some think global, others local. These divisions have led people to focus on different areas and to prioritise different solutions, even though they say they have the same ultimate goal.

In a sense that’s a good thing. An issue this large requires a multi-prong approach, just as it requires trying, failing, and then trying something different. The anti-trafficking movement has benefited greatly from the broad support it receives and the diverse efforts to combat it. But often it feels like we spend more energy and resources fighting over areas of disagreement than working together in areas of widespread consensus. This is to the detriment of each other, our movement, and the individuals we serve.

I’ve now spent two decades in this sector, and during that time I’ve returned again and again to the same question. How do we hold space for complexity, for disagreement, for growth – and still move forward together?

I’ve come to believe that our relationships with other groups are conditioned by our own, internal humility. When we are willing to acknowledge out loud that we do not have all of the answers, that we make mistakes, and that we sometimes cause harm, we become more inclined to learn, grow and, yes, change our minds. We only become team players when we admit that we fail too.

At Love146, a US-based NGO working to prevent and provide care for those who experience child trafficking, I strive to do this.

Learning to Love146

I have now spent over a decade working at Love146. I’ve stayed not because of its mission or vision, which are similar to many other anti-trafficking groups, but because of Love146’s willingness to critique and the posture it strives to take within and outside of the movement.

Love146 has worked to combat child trafficking for over 20 years. In that time, we’ve created amazing programmes and helped a lot of children. We’ve also made mistakes. The first big one I encountered was in something as fundamental as how we told our own story.

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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/we-were-told-we-werent-trauma-informed-this-is-how-we-fixed-it-anti-trafficking/

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