Jobs and Empowerment Create New Futures For Survivors

Made By Survivors is the core program of Made By Survivors Network, a US based NGO that works internationally with survivors of slavery and human trafficking.  Founded in 2005, our mission is to end slavery through economic empowerment and education, giving survivors and people at the highest risk the tools they need to build safe, independent, slavery-free lives. MBSN currently operates programs in six countries, with a concentration of programming in India and Nepal. We offer job training and fairly paid employment to survivors, and provide intensive business development support to our core programs and partners. We market and sell the survivors’ products in the US, and also assist them in finding other buyers.

We currently sponsor 200 child survivors and children born into brothel communities to attend school for the first time. We lead volunteer trips to provide therapeutic arts and life skills workshops to survivors. We provide funding for medical and emergency needs, start-up capital for employment programs, and whenever possible, we fund projects to increase capacity at our partner shelters for rescuing and housing more survivors.

Our beautiful fair trade jewelry items, handbags and gifts are made by survivors of slavery at shelters around the world, offering them sustainable income, dignity, and a bright future free of slavery

FAIR TRADE JEWELRY                     FAIR TRADE BAGS                                  FAIR TRADE GIFTS

Our jewelry is made in Thailand, India,Cambodia, and Nepal by women and girls who have been rescued from brothel slavery or quarry labor, or child soldier slavery in Uganda.  Many are now living in shelters or refugee camps, or struggling to live independently.  They face tremendous stigma and many are traumatized by their experiences - yet they get tremendous support from each other, from the counselors on staff, and from the creativity and dignity of their work.  With the relatively low cost required to set up a workshop, jewelry-making is an excellent and sustainable choice for a survivor business.

Stitching, sewing and embroidery are popular indigenous craft traditions everywhere we work.  Our bags are made by survivors of slavery for domestic service or the flesh trade, as well as very high risk women in India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia and Uganda.  We use organic and traditional cotton, hand-loomed silk, satin and buffalo or goat leather (using leather from cows would be offensive or even illegal in many of the countries where we work), and even loom-woven recycled trash!  Our designs range from fashion-forward designs that have been featured in Glamour and on the TODAY show, to traditional cross stitched bags from the Akha and Lihu hilltribes of the Golden Triangle, or barmir mirror embroidered IPOD cases from Northwest India near Pakistan.  Whenever a group of women sits in a circle and stitches, they connect to a universal sisterhood that goes back for centuries, across all cultures.  Our survivors are literally creating new lives for themselves, out of whole cloth, and we are consistently amazed by their courage and creativity.

Our handmade paper products illustrate our commitment to environmental responsibility.  All are made from renewable resources - the Daphne plant - which grows wild all over Nepal, making it a very affordable raw material for survivors to access.

Blockprinting is a highly respected, and traditionally male art form in India.  Many of our survivors will ultimately return to remote villages where this skill will be marketable, and they take tremendous pride in their skill. They  incorporate historically accurate turn-of-the-century Bengali prints in many of table linens.