7th March 2013

Trafficking Survivor Stories

To draw international attention to the experiences, needs, and demands of women and girls who have faced commercial sexual exploitation firsthand and to call on policymakers and top officials to enact policies and laws that take survivors’ voices and experiences into account, Equality Now launched “Survivor Stories” in March 2013.

Key takeaways and recommendations

The campaign features 18 first-hand narratives from survivors of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation from 12 countries around the world. The narratives document the many forms of exploitation and violence women, and girls experience and follow their evolution from victim to survivor, often highlighting the impact the legal framework had on the survivor.

The series also highlights survivor and our NGO partners’ critical grassroots work to assist women and girls in the commercial sex industry.

The campaign was supported by: The Book Club – based in Los Angeles, CA, this club of seven women is dedicated to creating a kinder, more equitable world, Chime for Change, founded by GUCCI and our Catapult project donors.

(Note: Additional information provided with the downloadable stories may be slightly altered from the original online version.)

Explore more resources

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The United Nations Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls (WGDAWG) 

The United Nations Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls will visit Zimbabwe to understand issues related to discrimination against women and girls.

Telling stories, driving change: A toolkit for ethical gender-based violence cases documentation

This toolkit helps young activists and civil society actors across MENA safely and ethically document cases of SGBV in a survivor-centered way.

Kazakhstan – Information for Consideration by Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at its Pre-Sessional Working Group in July 2025

In our submission, we detail concerns regarding laws related to sexual violence and child and forced marriage, as well as procedures and practices that effectively deny access to justice for women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence and child and forced marriage.

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