18 Jul Join Project India: Support Our Global Arts & Empowerment Initiative
At Beauty for Freedom, we believe in empowering communities effected by the ravages of modern-day slavery and human trafficking through our advocacy, activism and art therapy programming. Please read more about our upcoming program Project India in partnership with New Light, a registered public charitable trust operating from the terrace of a temple deep inside the red-light district of Kalighat, Kolkata that offers comprehensive community development services. Please email us if you’re interested in volunteering, donating and/or sponsoring our project this Fall.
Monica Watkins
Executive Director | Beauty for Freedom
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About Project India 2016
Trafficking of persons constitutes the third largest global organized crime. It is a 10-billion-dollar a year criminal enterprise fueled by a poisonous cocktail of factors including poverty, uneven development, corruption, gender discrimination, harmful traditional and cultural practices and a lack of political will to end it. Almost 80 per cent of all worldwide trafficking is for sexual exploitation, with an estimated 1.2 million children being bought and sold into sexual slavery every year. Extensive research has shown that art therapy can help victims overcome trauma. Unfortunately, most non-government organizations (NGOs) exclude art therapy from their advocacy material. These NGOs are ignoring the benefits that art therapy can have on trafficking survivors. Some of the most common forms of art therapy include drawing, painting, music, photography and poetry.
Project Overview
To sustain and grow their empowerment initiatives through the arts, NYC based anti-trafficking non-profit Beauty for Freedom in collaboration with Kolkata, India based community development project New Light will be producing a series of music and photography workshops meant to promote self-esteem and self-expression for the at-risk youth and survivors of human trafficking of New Light.
“No child, no woman, no human being should be selling their bodies for survival.
I want to empower the survivors to stand up and say no if they want to say no.”
-Urmi Basu
Founder of New Light
Project Leads
Monica Watkins- Executive Director/Beauty for Freedom
Scarlett Etienne- Ambassador/Beauty for Freedom
Suwana Perry- Ambassador/Beauty for Freedom
Project Goals
The workshops aim to help at-risk youth and survivors of human trafficking creatively express themselves while discovering their potential, learning about and embracing their inner beauty and increasing their self-esteem.
Project Components
Music Theory/DJ Workshops – Music instructors Scarlett Etienne will work with the youth teaching basic music composition and DJ techniques and will help them to create a final compositions at New Light’s facilities.
- Photography Workshop – Photographer Alessandro Simonetti will teach basic photography techniques and work with students who will openly and freely learn how to create and express their own vision through portraiture and fine art photography.
- Jewelry-Making Workshop – Artist/Designer Jules Kim will teach workshops facilitating original jewelry design and creation by the at-risk youth of New Light. The products created will be used as a fundraiser for New Light.
- Mural Workshops – Artist WhIsBe will teach workshops facilitating mural design and creation by the at-risk youth of New Light. The mural will launch for the New Light youth and the community at the workshop’s end in a community celebration.
Sponsorship Opportunities
We are always looking for support and for partners who share our vision and love for nurturing and cultivating youth through the arts. As recognition, Beauty for Freedom and New Light India would be delighted to acknowledge our supporters on our sites and on social media. Event sponsors will be included in all promotional materials and press kits. For all inquiries, please email: info@beautyforfreedom.org
- All donations and sponsorships are tax deductible.