Social Media Safety: A Parent’s Guide
“Who’s the girl? So aware, yet so confused.” These words are taken from a poem written by Samantha, a sixteen-year-old who was trafficked for sex. It is a poem of heartbreak, strength, and lessons learned – regretfully – the hard way. Samantha was just sixteen when her thirteen-year-old friend, Megan, introduced her to a guy…
The Impact of One Person’s Empathy
This month, iEmpathize and Truckers Against Trafficking traveled to Carlsbad, New Mexico, a small town on the verge of an oil boom. We partnered with educators, oil and trucking industry leaders, and community and political leaders using BOOM, the new trucking trailer, and open forums to plan action steps and exploitation-free protocols to ensure Carlsbad remains…
FAQs about the Empower Youth Program
What age group is the Empower Youth Program intended to serve? The Empower Youth Program was designed for youth in eighth grade and up. A program for youth in fifth through seventh grade will be available from iEmpathize in 2015, so stay tuned! In addition, keep in mind that the Empower Youth Program is also…
Celebrating Mothers Who Empathize
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we’ve been thinking a lot about the mothers who make a difference in the lives of vulnerable and victimized children every day. Some are volunteers working behind the scenes. Others are advocates leading the charge for social and legislative change. Others work directly with survivors, gently and compassionately…
Announcing the Nationwide Launch of NEST
In the fall of 2014, iEmpathize’s prevention program for teens, The Empower Youth Program, will be available for nation-wide distribution. This multi-media program empowers students to develop empathy and avoid exploitation. We are pleased to announce that today marks the launch of NEST, National Educators to Stop Trafficking. NEST’s mission is to equip educators to…
Day 60: The Final Stretch
Norma Bastidas, survivor of sexual violence, abuse and attempted human trafficking, is currently on the last leg of her record-breaking triathlon. She began this journey of 3,700 miles swimming, biking and running through Mexico and the U.S. on March 1 in Cancun. Her goal is to prove that anything is possible and to inspire and…
The Final Relentless Stretch Lies Ahead!
After 122 miles of swimming the gulf of Mexico and 2800 miles of cycling from Cancun to Georgia, Norma Bastidas will now run over 700 miles to Washington, D.C. Please join us in following Norma as she completes the final leg of this record-breaking triathlon! As Norma crosses into our nation’s capital, her journey to unite…
Ready to Believe?
I don’t write many blog posts these days. Mostly, we communicate our work through film, photography and artifacts that tell the stories of ending and overcoming human exploitation. We focus on upstream prevention strategies and moving communities to empathize and engage. The video above is short but my post is not. Today, I have something…
Be Relentless Day 9
Norma breaks the 50 mile mark in her quest to complete the world’s longest triathlon to fight human trafficking. Hear what motivates Norma and one of her crew members as they battle a 122 mile open water swim in Cancun. We have raised almost half of what we need to get us to the finish…
Be Relentless: How anyone can make an impact
With five minutes and three simple steps, you can piece together an image that creates a dynamic impact in the lives of vulnerable and victimized kids. Dear Empathizers, I am writing today to ask for your help. I need you to be relentless. In just four weeks, survivor and ultra-athlete Norma Bastidas will embark on…
How to impact your city, all from the comforts of your living room
You can make a lasting and significant impact in the lives of vulnerable and victimized kids in your city, and you can do it from the comforts of your own home. iEmpathize is founded on the principle that issues of child exploitation are not just criminal problems to be solved by law enforcement and legislators,…
Marisol
Marisol Garcia Bejarano spent seventeen years in prison for a crime she did not commit. A survivor of human trafficking in Mexico and in California, Marisol witnessed a murder committed by the man who bought her for $200 when she was just thirteen years old. After years of holding her as his domestic servant and…
The Impact of Empathy Week
The October 2013 Empathy Week was the fourth of its kind that I’ve experienced as a student at CU Boulder. When I think about my experience as a student on this campus, there is no single event that has so greatly shaped my time here besides Empathy Week. For this reason, it was a bittersweet…
Celebrate 2013; Support 2014
2013 was an exciting year for iEmpathize. Here, our team members share their fondest memories from the year. Each photograph and reflection demonstrates the heart of iEmpathize: to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable and victimized kids so that exploitation will exist no more. To begin, click the button below. Then click here…
How do you fight an “Invisible Crime?”
If you want statistics on the number of homeless served at a particular shelter, you can get that information easily. If you’d like to know how many families a local food bank served in a year, the numbers are readily available. If you’d like to know how many kids attended after-school programming providing meaningful alternatives…
Somos Uno!
CAMP SOMOS UNO This last summer (2013) we had the privilege of working with kids from age 11-17 years old for a three day camp piloting our prevention work in Mexico City. These kids were from a school in Chimalhuacán, one of the largest slums in Latin America. No strangers to sexual violence and poverty,…
From Victim to Survivor Forum: Mexico City
In the summer of 2013 iEmpathize was invited to attend the “From Victim to Survivor Forum” being held in Mexico City. The list of speakers included the Mayor of Mexico City, the president of the Human Rights Commission, and our partners Rosi Orozco and German Villar among many others. By far the most notable participants…
Tijuana Marathon
Long distance running is kind of an obsession. It doesn’t matter if it’s 0 degrees or 100, pouring rain or sleeting, calm winds or 30 mph winds, 5am or 10pm, on vacation or at home; long distance runners will find a way to run. As a long distance runner myself, I can relate to the…
Engaging & Inspiring 80,000 Truckers
Two Toledo teens are trafficked at truck stops, motels, and travel plazas. One trucker’s phone call saved their lives…Watch the film here. Few industries convene on such a massive level the way the trucking industry does. We just returned from the Mid America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY where 80,000 industry professionals from Germany, the…
Arizona Empathizes
Kicking off April, I gathered with some local advocates in Tucson, Arizona for an Engage event. Last year, iE was at the University of Arizona for Empathy week. It impacted many of the people there deeply. It is because of that event that this gathering, a year later, was easily put together. I shared an…
2012 A Year in Pictures
To say it has been an incredible year is an understatement. 2012 was an amazing year expanding our work of addressing the needs of vulnerable and victimized kids and inspiring culture to empathize and engage. The year was all about empowering teens, investing in survivors’ futures, engaging truckers in the fight against child exploitation, developing…
At Risk Teens become Advocates and Abolitionists
Training At-Risk Teens to Recognize and Respond to Exploitive Situations “In the years that I have taught here, this is the first event we have ever done that students are actually talking about.” -Teacher at New America School Denver Campus We spent last week equipping an entire high school in Denver to recognize and respond…
Survivor Gallery
Our priority is to prevent child exploitation and trafficking from ever happening, but there is an immediate need that must also be met. That’s where the Survivor Fund comes in. It addresses the gaps in the US system… very few survivors are being placed in safehomes in the US. Instead, children are typically placed in foster…
Mexico Raids
There were three rooms decorated in Disney motifs and next to each bed was a stash of condoms, lubricant, and lingerie. A call to the new anti-trafficking hotline in Chiapas had given authorities a lead on three possible child trafficking victims. It was reported that the girls were being forced to work as waitresses in…
Newsweek Features iEmpathize
Here’s the deal… I have always been surrounded by powerful women: my wife, daughters, mom and sis; resilient women/girls who experience diminishment and survive victimization; and relentless women advocates and leaders. iEmpathize was privileged to participate in Newsweek’s Women in the World Summit which honored some of the world’s most amazing women and leaders. The summit…
UofA Empathy Week
University of Arizona students participate in our anti-trafficking demonstrations. The UofA Union Gallery brought iEmpathize in to educate and engage their student body in the fight against child trafficking and sexual exploitation. Empathy Week is our outreach to universities. Events include our mixed media exhibit, an academic forum, a mattress vigil, and flash mob. The…
Empower Teens at Risk
EMPOWER YOUTH: Empowering youth and equipping educators to recognize and respond to teen trafficking. Thousands of US minors are victims of trafficking each year. The FBI has rescued over 1,500 kids through their Innocence Lost initiatives in the last few years. They believe they are just scratching the surface. Unfortunately, these numbers are from just…
Experience: Immersive
The Empathy Experience is a large room installation of the mixed media Empathy Exhibit adding live art, music performances, talks, and idea exchanges. This event is immersive and interactive. Films, photography, and artifacts tell the specific stories from the exact locations of the kids we serve. The compelling mixed media narrative has child protection, intervention,…
Experience: The Exhibit
Exhibit: film, photos, artifacts An intimate installation of our films, photography, and artifacts telling the specific stories from the exact locations of the kids we serve. The compelling mixed media narrative has child protection, intervention, and restoration themes. The exhibit has been installed at museums, galleries, universities, conferences, festivals, government venues, and more. To book…
US Artifacts
Historically media has been used to articulate the voice of justice movements and inspire involvement. During the transatlantic slave trade, actual slave artifacts and media of the day were key in awakening people to abolition. Since we can’t always bring you to the kids, we bring the kids to you. We use a mix of film, photography,…
Mexico Media Premier
Mexico’s Commission to End Human Trafficking and the Attorney General hosted iEmpathize for the launch of media tools aimed at educating and engaging government and the public. The event was help at Congressional Hall with key leaders and press in attendance. Historically, media of the day has been a voice of movements fighting injustice and…
Experience Scooter Hero
The Scooter Hero event is a mass awareness and fundraising event inspired by Yeng who is featured in the film. He rides a scooter to villages to protect kids from traffickers, we ride on behalf of the kids he protects. If you are interested in hosting the Scooter Hero Ride and Walk in your city…
Explore The Issue
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the…