Our SIM workers are currently serving in over 70 countries around the world. Many of our workers are in communities where locals are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. SIMaid’s Building Freedom Fund supports projects that are working with SIM’s For Freedom ministry to protect those they serve from this outcome through vocational training, education and holistic care.

One project in this fund is SIMaid’s Equipping for Trafficking Prevention (ETP) project. This project enables SIM workers globally to establish trafficking prevention programs in their existing ministries. The focus of this project is to provide funds for these ministries to develop layers of protection around vulnerable people and communities. This is achieved through equipping our mission workers to grow community resilience while working together with locals to address trafficking risks. The ETP project will enable For Freedom to have the resources needed to develop responses and strategies to prevent trafficking with the ministries they are supporting. Karine (For Freedom co-lead) has recently been journeying with SIM mission workers in Peru. 

Prevention Work in Peru

Jhonatan and Eveline are a couple serving with SIM in a jungle area of Peru. They serve in a ministry that journeys with teenage mums and their families. Some of the young girls in the ministry have to leave their community to find work elsewhere. Being isolated and away from their families leaves the girls vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. After the couple completed their first For Freedom online training, the For Freedom team met with them online to think about how they could implement prevention strategies in their ministry.

Karine shared, “Jhonatan shared how doing the course helped him see the broader range of what trafficking looks like. He learnt more about how common forced labour is, and that it’s not just women and girls who are at-risk of being trafficked and sexually exploited.”

As the For Freedom team talked with the couple, they helped them think about how they can have helpful conversations with the families they serve, particularly before their daughters may go away for work. Karine said, “There can be a disconnect with families not always knowing where their daughters went, not being able to answer: What sort of work are they in? Are they safe or not safe?”

“We discussed what prevention work with the families and the local communities could include. We plan to develop safety tips that can be shared with the girls, before they leave home and travel for work. This will include information about their worker rights and who they might be able to contact in an emergency.”

The For Freedom team will continue to journey with this ministry in Peru to provide resources, strategies and support them in their prevention efforts. The ETP project will enable the For Freedom team to continue to journey alongside SIM ministries that are working with vulnerable people and implement strategies in their unique context to prevent trafficking and exploitation.

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PRAY: Join us in praying for our SIM ministries around the world that are serving vulnerable people. Visit www.sim.org.au/pray. 

GIVE: Do you want to help SIM equip communities to prevent human trafficking? You can give a tax-deductible gift to SIMaid’s Building Freedom Fund by visiting www.sim.org.au/buildingfreedom.