OUR CHALLENGES

In 2020 alone there were over 60 million Child Sexual Assault Material (CSAM) images or videos reported by authorities across the globe. While the legal definition of CSAM varies by country, the common denominator is an image or video that shows a child who is engaged in or is depicted as being engaged in explicit sexual activity.

CSAM can be found on pretty much any storage or communication system – from social media and email, to file & image hosting and messaging – putting so many at risk.

DIRECT IMPACT

Named after our country director in NFS Thailand, where it all started in 2007, our latest venture Krunam was created to combat the growing cases of CSAM online. With 82% of the total number of children appearing in CSAM aged 7-14 and 92% of them young girls, it’s a massive global crisis that needs attention. We’ve joined forces with VigilAI – a London based leader in AI/Deep Learning and computer vision, and JustBusiness – a bay area based leader in founding and supporting impact focused businesses. With our joint expertise in technology, business development and survivor services, Krunam is designed from the ground up to address the complex ecosystem that surrounds the fight against CSAM.

Current technology identifies less than 10% of CSAM, and we’re committed to doing better by moving on to the next generation of CSAM detection – our VigilAI CAID Classifier. Developed in collaboration with the UK’s Home Office, our Classifier pushes the boundaries of perceptual hashing only able to identify previously known CSAM, since it uses visual cues learned from being trained on CAID’s dataset (the Home Office’s Child Abuse Image Database and the largest database of CSAM in the world) which contains millions of CSAM examples.

Our work impacts the many that are at risk – survivors of assault who are re-victimized by the distribution of CSAM, content moderators who are damaged psychologically while reviewing CSAM in order to find perpetrators and remove it from digital platforms, and businesses that risk damaging the brand and online community they’ve spent years cultivating.

OUR CHALLENGES

In urban centers, child traffickers will force boys, refugees, orphans and children with disabilities to beg on the streets. Girls are most commonly trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation or domestic work. Sex trafficking victims are at risk of forced drug use as a means of control. 

Mozambique’s poor, rural population are at high risk – children and young adults in particular are often trafficked to South Africa for forced labor in agriculture, street vending and commercial sexual exploitation. In farms and mines, men and boys from Mozambique will work without pay for months before traffickers turn victims to South African police for deportation as illegal migrants to avoid paying them, and the cycle begins again.

OUR WORK

We partner with the organization Surfers Not Street Children who have been working on the rights of street children in South Africa and Mozambique for over 25 years. Our outreach program combines surfing lessons with mentorship, working to reshape the future of the most at-risk children. We empower ex-street children and children at risk of street connectedness (when children rely on street for their livelihood) through surfing and mentorship. The SNSC drop ins are safe spaces where children will learn important life skills. Through advocacy, we aim to change the societal view and treatment of street children. 

Girls Surf Too launched in 2019 to address the particularly vulnerable girls living on the streets. And, we launched our English language program in 2019; the youth in Mozambique requested we teach English as it enables them to be more meaningfully engaged in the tourism industry.

OUR CHALLENGES

In the refugee camp of Kyangwali, Uganda, there are approximately 40,000 Congolese refugees that have fled civil war, ethnic cleansing and related atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From a very young age children across Uganda are exploited for labor in industries from agriculture and mining to street vending and domestic service, refugees are particularly vulnerable. In Uganda, it is estimated that there are between 7,000 to 12,000 children involved in prostitution. Traffickers also target children from the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan.

OUR WORK

With our partner, CIYOTA, a non-profit established by refugee youth, we provide housing, educational opportunities and support to children from the Kyangwali Refugee Camp who have been trafficked or are vulnerable to exploitation. Often schools, housing and food programs are unable to accommodate the vast influx of refugees and many children are left behind. 

In 2019, we increased the number of children able to attend school from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Burundi. A new dormitory is being built to house an additional 100 unaccompanied minors and orphans to our primary school. Unlike other schools, we are able to provide meals for our students. 

We also operate entrepreneurial leadership programs and facilitate community service and support. In partnership with Spence Diamonds – a lab grown diamond company – we are investing in social enterprises created by refugees. Though our work with young entrepreneurs, Not for Sale is able to create safe and stable employment opportunities.

OUR CHALLENGES

In 2019, a little over half of trafficking victims in the Netherlands was female and most victims are from Nigeria, the Netherlands, Uganda, Poland and Romania. Approximately 57% of trafficking victims are forced to work in the sex industry. The second biggest field of exploitation was forced crime and then forced labor, for example in the transport industry, cleaning industry and hospitality.

OUR WORK

The Dutch foundation Not For Sale has been providing survivors of human trafficking with vocational training since 2012. It started with a soup making program to empower victims residing in a safe house in Amsterdam. Achieving a certificate by finishing the soup program, made the participants feel proud and useful and helped in their recovery: they could envision a new future with a dignified job for themselves. The soup they made was sold to create a financially self-sustainable model. In 2015, this model was scaled up by opening up a brunch café in Amsterdam, Dignita, and a vocational job skills academy, the Dignita Academy, was founded. 

Within the Dignita Academy participants can learn professional cooking, barista and beauty skills. To empower their situation in society, they receive training in life skills, such as citizenship, administration and taxes and health and first aid.

Survivors, and people at risk of falling victim to human trafficking because of their vulnerable position in society, can put the knowledge and skills they learnt in the Dignita Academy into practice in three Dignita restaurants in Amsterdam and with partner companies and organizations. All profits from Dignita are returned to the Dutch Not For Sale foundation to continue to fight trafficking worldwide.