11
January
Our CEO, Shamere McKenzie’s story was featured as part of Robin Roberts of ABC’s Good Morning America Thriver Series. Click here to watch the video.
Sun Gate Foundation
07
January
4Her North Dakota, Alicia Cohen, Angie Conn, BridgeHope, Cynthia Martinez, Dr. Brook Bello, Fainess Lipenga, Freedom for Survivors, Human Trafficking Awareness Month, Jessa Crisp, Juliana Semione, Kathleen Mitchell, Keisha Head, LIFT - Living In Freedom Together, Marian Hatcher, Mikayla Nester, More to Life, Nikki Bell, Robin Miller, Telisia Espinosa, Windi Lazenko
January is declared the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Join Sun Gate Foundation in our Freedom For Survivors campaign where we will highlight survivor leaders from around the country who will answer the question: What Does Freedom Mean to You? This campaign was inspired by Juliana Semione.
Juliana is a research associate in the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham and the program developer for The Salvation Army U.K.’s modern slavery unit. In addition, Juliana is pursuing her PhD at the University of Nottingham. Her doctoral thesis centers on the question, “What is freedom from modern slavery?” Juliana’s aim is that the anti-slavery field can unite around an understanding of freedom for the good of survivors just as it has united around an understanding of modern slavery for the good of those who are victimized or vulnerable.
Further, she believes that a shared conception of freedom will raise the standard of support for survivors and increase accountability among those who provide it.
Before relocating to the U.K., Juliana worked with the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force in California. She earned her BA from Biola University and holds an MA in global ethics and human values from King’s College London. She is also an Associate of King’s College London.
When our CEO, Shamere McKenzie, met Juliana in 2018 in the UK and learned of her thesis, she immediately connected with her. Shamere feels far too often freedom is defined for survivors and many don’t fully understand freedom for someone who has escaped the atrocity we know as human trafficking.
Join us for the month of January as we hear from survivors on what freedom means to them. #freedomforsurvivors
Direct of Our Board and Survivor Leader
Policy Analyst, Victim Advocate and Survivor Leader
Case Manager and Survivor Leader
Survivor Leader
Survivor Leader
Survivor Leader
Survivor Leader
Survivor Leader
Co-founder and Executive Director of BridgeHope and Survivor Leader
Founder, CEO/ED of More to Life and Survivor Leader
Founder and Executive Director of 4Her North Dakota and Survivor Leader
CEO of LIFT (Living In Freedom Together) and Survivor Leader
Survivor Leader
Mentor and Survivor Leader
Founder of Dignity House Program in Phoenix, AZ and Survivor Leader
07
December
Alisa L. Bernard, Allison Franklin, Audrey Morrissey, Beth Jacobs, Cherie Jimenez, Eva Center, Exited Prostitution Survivor Policy Platform, Freedom From Exploitation, Kathi Hardy, Living in Freedom Together, Marian Hatcher, Marlene Carson, My Life My Choice, Nikki Bell, Organization for Prostitution Survivors, Rebecca Bender, Rebecca Bender Initiative, Rebekah Charleston, Rebekah Speaks Out, Shamere McKenzie, Sun Gate Foundation, Survivor Leadership Alliance, The Switch Anti-Trafficking Network, Truckers Against Trafficking, Vednita Carter, Vednita Carter Ministries
Abstract
“Survivors of prostitution propose a policy reform platform including three main pillars of priority: criminal justice reforms, fair employment, and standards of care. The sexual exploitation of prostituted individuals has lasting effects which can carry over into many aspects of life. In order to remedy these effects and give survivors the opportunity to live a full and free life, we must use a survivor-centered approach to each of these pillars to create change. First, reform is necessary in the criminal justice system to recognize survivors as victims of crime and not perpetrators, while holding those who exploited them fully responsible. Second, reform is necessary to assist survivors in finding fair employment by offering vocational training, financial counseling, and educational scholarships, as well as offering employment opportunities that utilize survivors’ vast array of skills and interests. Finally, standards of care for survivors exiting prostitution should focus on supporting survivors in our journeys and support short- and long-term resources that empower us. These systemic changes are necessary to recognize survivors as the valuable human beings we are and to support survivors in fulfilling our vast potential.” Read More at Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence: Vol. 3: Iss. 3, Article 10.
13
August
On July 25-26, 2018, the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons (NATFATIP) hosted the first form of its kind to be convened in the Caribbean – “The Hard Road to Recovery: From Victim to Survivor”. The inaugural international conference was held at the Melia Braco Village Hotel in Trelawny, Jamaica.
The main objectives of the conference were to:
- Increase public awareness to discourage these activities and to warn those who are unaware.
- Train officials throughout the public and private sectors on identifying victims of trafficking.
- Build capacities through legislation and institutional strengthening.
“The opening ceremony included the sashing of the island’s first-ever Human Trafficking Ambassadors, Miss Jamaica World 2017, Solange Sinclair, and Founder of The Sun Gate Foundation and human trafficking survivor, Shamere McKenzie, who also delivered the keynote address.”
“There can be no more powerful voice than that of a person who has survived and who has recovered to speak to the challenges faced by victims of trafficking on their journey to recovery from the pain and trauma they have experienced. She is one of two ambassadors who have agreed to lend their public image and voice to Jamaica’s national effort to fight against human trafficking.” Carol Palmer, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice.
“It is such an honor to serve my country in this capacity. Over the years I have been making strides in the US to combat the issue of human trafficking but deep down I wanted to be involved in my birth country. I have laced up my boot strings, put on my boxing gloves and is ready to join efforts with the NATFATIP and others in Jamaica fighting trafficking.” Shamere McKenzie
Other speakers and presenters include:
- Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, MP – Minister of National Security
- Mrs. Carol Palmer, CD, JP, – Chair, NATFATIP
- Her Excellency Ms. Magorzata Wasilewska – Head of the European Union Delegation to Jamaica
- Her Excellency Ms. Laurie Peters – Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica
- Mr. Mark Seibel – Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy
- Speakers from Romania, New York, Interpol and others
Left to right: CEO of Sun Gate Foundation, Shamere McKenzie; Ms Jamaica World 2017,, Solange Sinclair; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Chair of NATFATIP, Carol Palmer
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