Transforming survivor livelihoods: Meeting market demand and breaking exploitation cycles

In collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), GFEMS is working with Seefar to expand LIFT: Transformational Livelihoods for Survivors in India. LIFT, which uses a trauma-informed livelihoods model, will provide support to survivors of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in both Kolkata, one of the largest source areas for CSE victims. and Mumbai, one of the largest destination areas for sex trafficking.

Seefar, a social enterprise with a vision for a world where vulnerable people have more opportunities to advance themselves, will contribute its valuable experience as implementer with comprehensive contextual knowledge of forced labor, modern slavery, and sex trafficking to the delivery of this project.

To date, many livelihood opportunities for CSE or trafficking survivors have failed to meet a market need and therefore lacked sustainability. To address this gap, Seefar leverages the global freelance economy to provide opportunities to create sustainable income. The model aims to create sustainable income options for survivors and prevent further exploitation. 

LIFT uses adaptive counseling to provide a foundation for stabilizing CSE survivors before embarking on employment opportunities. LIFT supports CSE survivors through adaptive counseling and employment language training, and skills training tailored to market demands. By fostering long term career preparation and growth opportunities for survivors, this project decreases risk of re-trafficking and sustainably reduces the long-term prevalence of CSE survivors. Finally, Seefar builds intervention sustainability by training other anti-trafficking organizations in the LIFT approach. 

In addition, the LIFT project includes a rigorous learning phase in which GFEMS and Seefar will gather data to better understand key factors on which training environments and resources are most effective to support these populations. 

With this project, GFEMS and Seefar aim to reduce the risk of re-trafficking, breaking the cycle of exploitation to reduce the prevalence of CSE among survivors. LIFT’s holistic trauma-informed approach supports employment opportunities with sustainable incomes for CSE survivors.

GFEMS looks forward to sharing the successes and lessons learned from the LIFT project and working successfully with our partners at Seefar towards our mission of ending modern slavery by making it economically unprofitable. Learn more about the Norad partnership and the GFEMS portfolio.

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