Bloom Asia

I've signed this petition, and you should too! Did you know that Australia is the third largest sender of payments to the Philippines for online child sexual exploitation, with half a million Filipino children trafficked in 2022 to meet global demand? Did you also know that child sexual abuse materials are being created, shared and stored on everyday social media, video chat and file storage services, and tech companies can do more to prevent this from occurring? Join me in calling on the Australian Government to require tech companies to prevent the online sexual exploitation of children on their platforms. https://lnkd.in/g9vXG-sn

Last night in Brisbane I was super pleased to see Bloom Asia's new short-documentary Free to be Me, an outstanding example of survivor-led story telling on the reality of the trafficking of girls and women for sexual exploitation in South East Asia. You can see the trailer here: https://lnkd.in/gYA2dXvJ Bloom Asia is a not-for-profit organisation which has been supporting the recovery of survivors of sex-trafficking for over 14 years (www.bloomasia.org). I have had the pleasure of seeing their incredible training school 7 years ago and have been inspired since. I also had the immense honour of meeting Nary, who has decided to share her story through this film in order to empower others and create lasting change in the lives of many other survivors of sex trafficking. Sold as a young child into a brothel, Nary's journey to freedom is equally as challenging as it is inspiring and she is now taking the lead in advocating for trafficking survivors worldwide! She is an example of a woman who has overcome so much and is now living a life of entrepreneurship, agency and freedom. Hundred's have turned up during Free to be Me's opening nights in Brisbane, and everyone present has learnt about the importance of long lasting trauma-informed care from Bloom founder Ruth Larwill and CEO Dave Saxby. I am constantly in awe of their passion, service and commitment to the women and girls who are referred to Bloom, and their advocacy for excellent aftercare for all survivors of human trafficking Having first heard about Nary's story through my prior work with International Justice Mission and the personal recount of her initial escape from IJM's CEO Gary Haugen and Sharon Cohn Wu, it felt like going full circle to actually hear directly from Nary in person. Don't miss the chance to go and see this important documentary for yourseld in the coming weeks near you - it is such an important film: Sydney (i'll be there!) – March 19th – https://lnkd.in/gHcDSSHh Melbourne – March 20th – https://lnkd.in/gvnphVDW Gold Coast – April 5th – https://lnkd.in/gAe8paca Canberra – April 16th- https://lnkd.in/gD8eZQVH Sunshine Coast – May 7th – https://lnkd.in/giVnVb3q Alternatively, you might like to host a screening yourself at your work place, church, school or university. Reach out to Emma Hall from Bloom if so and she'll make it happen! Well done Nary, you are a champion.