January was Human Trafficking Prevention Month, but this is an issue that needs more attention than 31 days can offer. A study released in 2018 shows that in a four-year period, 340 adults and children under the age of 25 were victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee. And that only includes the people that reached out to the police. There are many individuals in the city who are deeply invested in this issue, but one person who deserves the spotlight is Dana World-Patterson, founder of Foundations for Freedom, Inc. The mantra of the organization says it all: “One less victim in Milwaukee. One less victim in the world.”
Started in 2014, the organization focuses on prevention with the goal of strengthening women and girls. As World-Patterson explains, building self-worth and confidence makes women less susceptible to the coercion of a trafficker, also known as a pimp. The perpetrators take a lot of time to look for and groom someone they can easily manipulate. “It’s that place of vulnerability that will cause someone to do something that, in their stronger space of mind, they would not consider,” she says.
World-Patterson started her work with young women long before she knew what human trafficking was. In what she calls Etiquette and Image, she teaches girls to find self-esteem and love for themselves. When Martha Love approached her and asked for help fighting human trafficking, World-Patterson saw a natural way to blend the two lines of work and extend that teaching to women in the sex trade. They began learning as much as they could about the issue and speaking with women willing to talk to them that were “in the life” or forced to sell their bodies for money. They contributed to founding of the County Human Trafficking task Force 13 years ago, which became the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee two years later. It was in that transition that World-Patterson became the chair.
From Surviving to Thriving
For years, World-Patterson has been helping women move from a space of victimization and survival to a space where they can thrive. The prevention work she does with Foundations for Freedom, Inc. is only half of the battle. The organization also seeks out hotbed areas for trafficking and introduces themselves to the women involved. It is a slow process of gaining trust and providing resources, making sure they do not force or pressure the women to do anything.
“If we’re able to come into their world and offer peace and not harm, I believe that one day they’ll call us, they’ll remember,” states World-Patterson. Once the women are ready to come out of the life, Foundations for Freedom, Inc. finds them resources that offer therapy for trauma relief, housing, care for their children and anything else they may need.
In December, the organization hosted an event called Strength for My Sisters in which they handed out boots and jackets to women on the streets that they collected from donors. Since the summer, they have given away more than 500 shoes and 600 coats to women and men in need. At the end of the event, one woman came to World-Patterson to say, “I am sick and tired of this life.” She was ready to accept the help she needed to escape.
“That is why we do this,” World-Patterson explains. They reach out to as many women and girls as possible in hopes to help one more woman in need. Their never-ending work to make people aware of this dire issue, which is so close to home, is all for the goal of having one fewer victim.
Learn more about the Foundations for Freedom, Inc. at foundations4freedom.org or call the human trafficking hotline for help at 888-373-7888.
Read this story on the Shepherd Express, part of the column Hero of the Week.