Our Project
Social Transformations to End Exploitation and Trafficking for Sex (STREETS) is contributing to the end of human trafficking through education and action research that is grounded in the perspectives and preferences of survivors. STREETS aims to be an effective voice in the academic, legal, and policy realms, impacting communities locally and globally through creative collaborations. Through this work, STREETS has built a community of engaged scholars, practitioners, and survivors from around the world whose continued collaboration is centered on survivor-led policy and programs for healing and growth across the life course.
Next Steps
1. Further develop educational content and training materials related to sex trafficking such as K-12 curricula and tools for trauma informed care.
2. Expand internship program and create student networks at UW and throughout the Big 10 Academic Alliance.
3. Strengthen research to practice connections with government and nonprofits to combat sex trafficking locally and globally.
4. Deepen and expand the STREETS network through international meetings, digital media, and the arts.
Activities and Impacts
Since its inception in 2015, STREETS has made significant contributions to the research, education, and training materials available on sex trafficking, as well as strengthened local and global partnerships and provided credit-bearing educational opportunities for UW-Madison students. Activities and impacts include:
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Sustaining Networks of global opportunities and research-to-practice efforts
• Convened survivors, scholars, and practitioners from around the world for the STREETS of Hope II Forum to explore best practices and policy recommendations related to victim identification, case management, and trafficking in the context of migration (July 2018).
• Hosted exchange with survivors and advocates from Minneapolis based survivor support organization, Breaking Free, at the 4W Summit (April 2019).
• Organized webinar to follow up with Fora participants in the US, Japan, and Spain and to plan future collaborations and convenings. Participants shared updates related to human trafficking course development, research publication, fundraising
and advocacy efforts, and the development of new partnerships for survivors (March 2019).
Developing research, educational content, and training materials
• Completed summative report of STREETS of Hope Fora hosted in 2015 and 2018 as part of a working paper series for the UW-Madison UNESCO Chair on Gender, Wellbeing and a Culture of Peace
• Implemented comparative cross-border research agenda on US/Mexico and Spain/Morocco borders
• Completed research study for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to explore barriers to identification of sex trafficking from provider perspectives, and to provide recommendations for provider screening questions and onboarding training.
• Analyzed survey data from the Dane County Youth Assessment to identify high school students who may be exposed to or involved in trafficking situations.
• Developed partnership with northeast region of Wisconsin and the first anti-trafficking regional hub in Outagamie County. STREETS leader Lara Gerassi worked to strengthen service providers’ use of evidence-based practices for discussing
sex trading and other stigmatized behaviors, as well create regionally relevant training to be disseminated and adapted by other regions in Wisconsin and beyond.
Providing education and mentoring for students
• Created a new undergraduate field course for UW- Madison students on the transnational challenges of human trafficking in Spain and the Mediterranean, with a particular emphasis on the use of theater and art for healing and truth telling.
Check out this article about the undergraduate field course, “The Circle of Care for Global Health and Human Rights”
• Hosted 4W STREETS Project Assistant Lauren Vollinger, a visiting scholar from Michigan State University with a focus in gender-responsive programming and trauma-informed care for survivors of human trafficking.
