Ultra.
We are a community of international advocates utilizing fashion + creativity to help end human trafficking.
In 2009, Dressember CEO/Founder Blythe Hill challenged herself to wear a dress every day of December (hence: Dressember). Every year since then, more people joined in until Blythe’s one-person challenge blossomed into an international movement to fight human trafficking. In 2013, Dressember officially became a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and now, we’ve raised millions to support victims and survivors around the world.
According to the International Labour Organization, human trafficking is a $150 billion dollar industry. Our goal is to disrupt it. What may seem like a silly style challenge, has collectively raised over $16MM to fight human trafficking around the world. When enough people use their voices to advocate for change, things begin to shift. Dressember is much more than an awareness campaign; we’re a social movement rooted in the belief that all people deserve to be free.
Every December, advocates from all over the world pledge to wear a dress or tie for the 31 days of December. We’ve had over 21,000 people join us since 2013. Some plan their outfits ahead of time, others challenge themselves to wear the same dress or tie during the whole month, and others enjoy mixing and matching with things in their closet each morning. Rest assured, you do not need to go buy a whole new wardrobe to participate. Part of the fun is using what you have right where you are. Simply create your own campaign page to get started! That’s the beauty of the challenge: you make it your own.
When you fundraise with Dressember, you are a part of strategic local and international impact.
We know that trafficking rarely occurs as a lone injustice; it is an intersectional human rights issue preying on individuals with compounding vulnerabilities. With this in mind, we prioritize resourcing programs that address human trafficking systemically.
Through collaborative conversations with experts, survivors, and leaders in the space, we discover the areas of greatest need and communities experiencing the highest levels of vulnerability. We identify the most impactful organizations doing this work and invest in them financially to help scale their impact. We vet our partners annually internally and in collaboration with Dressember’s survivor-led Grant Advisory Committee. We are in ongoing contact with Dressember Network partners through field updates, program audits, and financial reports, ensuring that resources are channelled to the designated impact areas.
It requires a significant amount of collaboration between organizations, individuals, and policymakers to create necessary change and disrupt a criminal industry. Together with allies, advocates, and survivor leaders, Dressember addresses anti-trafficking work collaboratively and strategically.
In order to support initiatives that impact change, we resource localized anti-trafficking work around the globe using sustainable methods with proven impact. Our local partners are the leaders in their communities with field staff representing country nationals.
We identify under-resourced program areas for victims and survivors of trafficking and build internal programs to rally our community to meet the need.
Our Programming is Centered Around 4 Key Pillars:
01: ADVOCACY
We mobilize the public to learn, stir public interest, and demand change by providing reliable data for ongoing learning, followed by action steps and campaigns to stir change and raise vital funding. When we collectively advocate, we put pressure on the current system to dismantle injustice.
02: PREVENTION
Our prevention work is focused on addressing the root causes of trafficking to prevent people from becoming victims in the first place. We look upstream to address factors and systems that make certain groups more vulnerable to trafficking.
03: INTERVENTION
Our intervention work involves working with local organizers to remove child victims of trafficking from situations, as well as providing support and exit pathways for trafficked adults. Our local Network leaders lead these initiatives through culturally sensitive and appropriate methods.
04: SURVIVOR EMPOWERMENT
We empower survivors’ sustained liberation through capacity-building initiatives to build long-term stability. Resources include holistic aftercare, job skills training and placement, therapy, education, basic needs support, and more to ensure survivors’ are empowered to make their own choices.
Your fundraising and/or donation has the power to:
$30 - TRAUMA THERAPY
Can provide one trauma-informed counselling session in an aftercare center
$80- SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Can provide a child trafficking survivor with school supplies for one year
$125-TRIAL FEES
Can cover court fees for a child’s exploitation case to ensure that children and families can get the justice they deserve
$200-URGENT MEDICAL CARE
Can provide access to critical medical attention for a youth survivor of violent abuse
It’s not too late to sign up! Join us as we celebrate 10 years of impact with Dressember to support victims and survivors of trafficking around the world.
- Watch the Dressember Documentary
- Check out the Dressember Podcast
- Start a fundraising stream with Streamlabs Charity
- Download the Overlays
- Install the Charity Alerts into Streamlabs Desktop
- Add the Charity Alerts to other broadcasting software