AFTERCARE FOR SURVIVORS
THE REAL need
Eradicating slavery means a commitment to combating the underlying causes of exploitation and recognizing that the road to true recovery for survivors is one that does not end with emergency aftercare. The question really is: "How do we empower survivors to the level that they can achieve real long-lasting success and live normal lives?" This is a need that must be acknowledged.
The sad truth is that many survivors are re-trafficked. They are incredibly vulnerable to re-exploitation. People are often surprised by this. They don’t understand how someone who survived such an ordeal could make the kinds of decisions that take them back into situations where they are vulnerable to trafficking. That is because, while we love the cowboy sort of rescue, we struggle to understand the need for long term care and long-term social and financial empowerment.
Aftercare services for victims of sex trafficking are desperately needed! It is not just about getting them out of bondage, it requires healing them physically, mentally, and spiritually. Very few places across our Nation offer this and none in the National Capitol Region. It is important because not only have their bodies been through HELL, but their minds have also been damaged. Most victims walk away with some form of PTSD. Mental health services must be provided in a trauma-sensitive way which encourages all involved to understand complex trauma symptoms and behaviors, possible outcomes, reasons for silence, as well as victim thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. Therefore, knowledge and sensitivity are needed in the provision of aftercare services for those exiting a life of victimization.
Ezer's House mission is to provide a holistic trauma-informed aftercare. With services for surviving victims that cover a multi-tiered approach. To help them through their varying stages of recovery. Our goal is to help each survivor create a life of self-sufficiency, success, independence, and worth, in a safe environment. Survivors needs a place to heal from all the trauma they experienced.
Our eighteen – thirty-six-month program provides everything needed for total healing and restoration, with an environment that offers the healing and wholeness needed, i.e., medical assistance, education, career training, job placement, security, friendship, mentoring, counseling, and the acceptance they need in a safe environment. There is no other facility that offers all of this in the National Capitol Region.
EZER'S HOUSE
WHY US? WHY NOT US?
Our mission objective is to fill the gap between incarceration and societal rehabilitation by graduating female survivors, of human trafficking, to a restored life that has meaning. One where they can offer positive social contributions and become self-sufficient, happy, and live a life of freedom!
There are many individuals working hard and tediously to put an end to the heinous act of human trafficking, in all it’s forms – (sex, labor, marriage, and even organ harvesting). We as a civilized society should be ashamed that we allow the peddling, selling, and buying of flesh in the United States? There are many on the forefront trying to prevent and stop trafficking, but it seems like an uphill battle. When individuals can get away with buying and selling flesh for gain, they think why stop? It has become a multi-billion-dollar industry.
The law and lawmakers make it difficult for the victim. It seems to always be easier for the buyer, the john, and the pimp. The laws need to be revised. The government officials, senator’s, and judges need to make it harder with stiffer penalties for those caught selling and buying of human flesh. The courts and lawmakers should give the victims an opportunity to break free and be rehabilitated instead of punished. For many the only way out is the prison system. Unfortunately for many others they only found freedom through death! This is a scourge against our society! A stain that will never be removed. We still have slavery it has just put on a different face.
No one thinks about it happening to their, mother, daughter, sister, wife, etc., but no one is exempt. It does not matter what religion, race, creed, nationality you are. It does not matter what part of the world you live in. Your age does not matter. It can happen to anyone at any time. The perpetrators are becoming bolder and bolder. They are in our schools, neighborhoods, and malls. They are in magazines and all over the internet. They are buying homes in subdivisions and making brothels out of them. So, if not NOW – WHEN? If not US – then WHO? Will you stand up for those that have lost their voice, for those that cannot speak for themselves? Will you join in the fight to help heal the lives that have been shattered by human trafficking? Will you stand with us to help survivors gain their freedom, dignity, and life back?
