Interviews to Raise Awareness About The Impact of Human Trafficking
How art and mental health intersect with the Dressember movement
This will be a series of daily-ish posts throughout December to raise awareness about the Dressember movement to fight human trafficking through fashion. These interviews remain connected to the heart of my mission here - raising awareness about the complex relationship between art and mental health. However, if you aren’t interested in receiving them, that’s okay, you can opt out here.
On the other hand, if you love this work, consider a paid subscription. I am donating ten percent of all December Substack income to Dressember. PLUS, for every five new annual subscriptions this month, I’m immediately subscribing to another Substacker to support other creatives writing about art and mental health.
A few years ago, I decided to participate in Dressember. This is an annual December fundraiser project to raise awareness and money to combat human trafficking. The idea is seemingly simple - wear a dress (or a tie, or something handmade) every day of the month of December, share that with others, and spread the word about the project. People join teams, do really creative fundraising projects, and share lots of great fashion to soften the blow of learning about some of the really horrifying truths about human trafficking. This year, I’m joining again, but in a different way - utilizing my skills in writing and interviewing to highlight other individuals who are participating in Dressember this year.
What to Expect
Daily or near daily posts throughout December. None from this section the rest of the year.
Interviews with individuals who are participating in Dressember about the project, their reasons for participating, and what any of it has to do with the relationship between art and mental health
Additional information about the Dressember cause - issues related to human trafficking, particularly in relation to creativity and/or mental health
A soft invite, but absolutely no obligation, to contribute to the Dressember fundraisers of any of the people interviewed for the project. It’s about raising funds but it is also about simply raising awareness so don’t stop reading just because it’s a fundraiser.
Why Do I Care About This Cause?
Well, honestly, how can we not care about human trafficking? There are human beings of all ages and genders who are being forced into unpaid/underpaid labor and sex work around the world but yes, right here in the United States.
I worked briefly with a refugee services agency when I was in my early twenties. They had a lawyer on staff who dealt with these cases. That was when I learned firsthand that yes, this is real, it’s happening, today.
Dressember has a history of addressing the issue directly by raising awareness as well as money and the money goes to legitimate sources that fight human trafficking. Obviously, we can never quite know where our money goes when we donate, but I’ve done my research and I feel confident in what they do.
So What Is Dressember?
Are you participating in Dressember?
Want to get interviewed? Start here.
This is a much bigger problem than most people realize and affects all kinds of people - not just young women. I live in Michigan, where the easy access to Canada makes us more vulnerable to this. I was horrified to learn that one of our most popular places - Mackinaw Island - provides a prime setting for traffickers because of its closed off access. Thank you for doing the research on this so we know this is a cause we can support.
I've never heard of Dressember, loving that you do so much to raise awareness and bring people together.