The Project
Provide a training to women in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa to facilitate the Girl Empowerment Curriculum with their young girls to prevent sex trafficking and domestic abuse.

The Problem
According to the Trafficking In Person report on Cote d’Ivoire, traffickers exploit Ivoirian women and girls in sex trafficking, especially in Abidjan. Traffickers are increasingly using technology to fraudulently recruit victims for jobs and subsequently exploit them in sex trafficking. They bring girls from rural Cote d’Ivoire and other West African countries to Abidjan ostensibly to go to school or receive professional training but subsequently exploit them in domestic servitude; these girls are also vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Children living in Cote d’Ivoire without identity documents cannot enroll in school past the elementary level, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking.
According to the 2023 Trafficking In Person report on Cote d’Ivoire, the government maintained insufficient efforts to prevent trafficking. They have increased their efforts, but more is needed.

Ultimate Goal
To prevent girls and women from being trafficked. Through their engagement with the Girl Empowerment training, girls and women will learn to recognize if someone is trying to groom and recruit them, practice using their voices and asserting their boundaries, recognize signs of someone who is being trafficked and exploited, identify a list of safe people to address difficult situations, and be able to identify and avoid or thwart abusive or unhealthy relationship patterns.