Native Intergenerational Mentoring Helps Prevent Human Trafficking

January is the National Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month. During this time it is important to educate ourselves on what human trafficking is and what we can do to prevent it and/or respond. This year, the theme — Activate Connections to Prevent Human Trafficking — strongly resonates with the work we do at the Indigenous Justice Circle to protect Native girls through a reactivation of intergenerational mentoring networks.

According to various studies, Indigenous youth comprise 30 to 40 percent of human trafficking survivors in the United States. Given that American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) peoples make up approximately 2 percent of the total United States population, the risk factors of human trafficking are disproportionately affecting Native communities.

Historically, Indigenous communities have been systematically oppressed and fractured, which has directly created vulnerabilities that led to staggering rates of trafficking and exploitation of Native people. The best way to prevent and reduce human trafficking is to provide resources for tribal communities to renew the protective sociocultural systems that were eroded by assimilationist programs and policies.

January is also National Mentoring Month, and during this time we would like to highlight the work that our partners and Native Girl Society fellows do to strengthen protective socio-cultural systems for Native girls through intergenerational mentoring and the reclamation of matrilineal traditions. Through the Indigenous Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Network (IMAGEN), we help Native communities make female inter-generational mentorship more reliably and systematically available, increasing access among the most marginalized and least connected. IMAGEN’s approach is gender-expansive and identity-inclusive, designed to reach Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ youth, Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) girls, as well as those who are justice system involved, recovering from substance use, at risk for school dropout, and most at risk for trafficking.

Girls participate in an arts and craft activity inspired by the REDress Project while learning about the MMIWG crisis. This activity was organized by the Girl Society at our partner organization Oklahoma City Indian Clinic (OKCIC). Photo credits: OKCIC.

The IMAGEN model works to build resilience supports, the reservoir of inner and outer resources, capacities, skills, and knowledge a person, or group of people, can draw upon to effectively navigate life’s challenges, setbacks, and adversities. It represents a collection of tangible and intangible assets that enable individuals and groups to adapt, bounce back, and thrive in the face of difficulties. Resilience supports serve as a reservoir of capabilities that enable us to work together to overcome obstacles, learn from experiences, and grow stronger. Groups of girls with enhanced resilience across various aspects of their lives and environments are better equipped to help one another and confront the unique challenges that Native girls face, such as the increased vulnerability to human trafficking and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Crisis.