A WORD FROM OUR FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, COURTNEY ALBERT
What a wonderful time of year! The snow has melted, the weather is getting warmer, and the trees and flowers are beginning to grow and start anew. GWTF has had a productive start to 2025. We facilitated numerous trainings and have been exploring new ways to make positive change by directly addressing risk factors and vulnerabilities to trafficking. A training opportunity of note this quarter was that both Courtney Albert and Edith Klimoski were invited to present on two different trafficking related topics at the Massachusetts Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office Conference – From Awareness to Action. You can read more about our training sessions below.
TRAININGS & AWARENESS
Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, VT
In January for National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, GWTF partnered with Marita Canedo of Migrant Justice and ULIFT of St. Michael’s College to hold an informative awareness event; “Conversation about Human Trafficking”. The conversation was followed by a Red Sand Project art installation.
Champlain College, Burlington, VT
Also in partnership with the Red Sand Project, Edith screened “We Ride With Her” and facilitated a robust discussion with Professor Faith Yacubian for her social justice class. The students gathered to create a Red Sand Installation in a campus quad around the statue of Samuel Champlain.
Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office Conference, MA – From Awareness to Action
This conference prioritized increasing The Cape & Islands’ capacity to address human trafficking mitigation. Human trafficking professionals, including survivors, provided best practice approaches to combat trafficking and improve survivor support. The sessions were geared toward area law enforcement, service providers, healthcare workers, and community members in an effort to help them gain knowledge and increase their capacity to serve victim/survivors and to prosecute perpetrators. GWTF was honored to present two different 1.5-hour presentations at the conference. Courtney joined forces with Chief David Ryan to present “When Crimes Converge: Human Trafficking and Intimate Partner Violence”. This training focused on the intersectionality of human trafficking and intimate partner violence and provided a deep dive into the complexity and power of coercive control and the impact of interpersonal trauma, as well as the importance of a survivor-centered multi-disciplinary approach. Edith partnered with Erin Albright of New Frameworks to facilitate a participatory session, “Human Trafficking in Airports & Transportation Hubs: Now What?”, where they talked about airport response protocols and workshopped best practices for awareness signage.
Partnership with Freedom Insight (formerly Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition)
Give Way to Freedom is still so appreciative of our work with Freedom Insight.
January 24th, also to acknowledge National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we co-presented an awareness training virtually hosted by SSi (Safety and Security Instruction) for their customers from all over the United States. We went through the basics on trafficking, then had a practical discussion on the importance of training airport personnel and appropriate signage.