In organizing HERA’s own new social enterprises, we assess the demand to determine who can most benefit from HERA’s entrepreneurship training, mentoring and grants. All women survivors of trafficking, violence, and exploitation, and young women at risk of trafficking are not the same -- even those originating from or settling in the same country. They vary from young women at the start of their careers, who have little formal education and work experience to those who have completed MBAs and other advanced degrees and training. Often, they have faced poverty, but others, especially refugees and displaced women, may have been well off in their earlier lives. The women also vary from those who have already launched successful ventures to those who are still uncertain of their career plans.
In designing our own “products”, HERA needs to respond and adapt to the local demand. This requires both on-the-ground research and investigation and often, trialing a small pilot first. To address the needs of a given market, we work with established local partners and collaborate closely with them. In some places, including the UK, Georgia, Moldova, and Armenia, we have established very good, long term partnerships. In others, such as the US, Ukraine, and France, we are still developing a track record and proving to our partners that we can contribute to their work as well.
For our entrepreneurship training, HERA has developed two distinct models. Our 17+ training programs for 518 women in eight countries, to date, reflect one of these two models and in a few cases, a mix of the two. The first model, the “business school model”, provides intensive classroom-based, entrepreneurship training at an established university (Imperial, Sciences Po, Seattle, and IESEG). The training is conducted by local business school professors and trainers in the predominant language of the country. This model is most relevant for young aspiring entrepreneurs, who have not yet launched their venture. They may have a concept for a venture but are still assessing and determining their exact career plans.
The second model, an “after hours for working woman”, is usually held for women who are poised to launch a venture or have an established business that they are ready to scale up further. These women, already employed either part- or full-time, have work experience in the local economy. The training, focusing on specific knowledge about the local market, may be provided through a mixture of translation and the local language. We bring in our own teams of trainers and assessors and invite local established women entrepreneurs to share their experiences. This model of training has taken place in varied settings, including a refugee/IDP camp, NGO, bilateral aid, consulting firm, orphanage, and universities. The women, who have attended such trainings, have ranged in age from 16-60. The majority are in their late 20s to late 40s, a key time for many women entrepreneurs worldwide.
With either model, women benefit from gaining access to a wider professional network, sharing knowledge, and from the mentoring or coaching that often ensues. With the “after hours” model, coaching and mentoring are often informal and organized by the women themselves. HERA has also developed the “after hours” model not only to respond to the women’s work schedules but also, to increase and encourage more women who can benefit from our grants program. This training has extended the benefits of our grants’ program through sharing of new technologies, marketing techniques, and financial/cost analysis. In Armenia, Ukraine, and Moldova, women with established ventures are also helping those launching new ones.
Recent developments in London, New York and the international grants program this past quarter point to the critical importance of choosing the model and refining our operations to respond best to the local demand. We have gained an increased appreciation of our local partners and their commitment. Without their help and input, women’s entrepreneurship to counter trafficking would not be a reality.
In London, for this year’s recruitment, Sarah Videau, our program director, has reached out to 19 counter trafficking charities, including Medaille Trust, NIA, Caritas Bakita Project, Helen Bamber Foundation, Human Trafficking Foundation, Catholic Workers Farm and Stop the Traffik, to recruit a class of 25 women. For the first time, we are holding the three-week training at Imperial College London’s White City campus. As this new campus is being furnished, this year’s class will be smaller than in previous years. HERA has benefitted greatly from the support of Provost and Vice President, Professor Maggie J. Dallman, OBE and we are helping to spearhead the university’s commitment to engage in the wider community (including those affected by the fire in Grenfell Tower). This year’s program, to be held in July, will be directed by Filipa Figueira, an economics professor from University College London.
In NYC, a HERA team collaborated with Restore, a leading counter trafficking NGO, to develop a “business school” entrepreneurship training for trafficked women survivors at Columbia Business School. We also reached out to Catholic Charities to recruit young refugee women, who had similar experiences of violence and exploitation. Although we originally expected to hold this classroom-based training this July, Restore’s current client group has an average age of 38. Most do not speak English, are working full or part time and cannot afford time off work. Restore already provides a year-long, employment readiness training so some of our classroom-based training would have been repetitive. We offered to design an “after-hours” program; however, Restore and HERA committed to holding this program at Columbia; and Restore, to expanding their own network and outreach to a broader group of young women trafficked in and to NYC. Our final, joint decision is that we will take the time to develop the program well and based on CBS’s availability, aim for July 2019.
The international grants program has greatly benefitted from many local partners in this year’s Annual Competition. The active outreach of Ecaterina Schilling in Ukraine and engagement of several other assessors with established relationships in Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova has led to 125 grant applications from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Eight international HERA assessors will review and score every application. From July to the end of September, four teams of two assessors each will visit the top scored applications on the ground. Former grantees, Anna Hovhannisyan and Gayane Simonyan in Armenia and Tatiana Policarpova in Ukraine organized seminars for local women entrepreneurs to apply to this year’s program. Several NGOs, including AGBU, HDIF, and Luys Foundations in Armenia, REAP and CTC in Georgia, and Fermerieul du Sud in Moldova, recruited applicants for the 2018 Competition, our sixth to date and ninth international grants round. By providing “after hours” entrepreneurship training sessions for 12 women in Armenia, 57 in Moldova, and 27 in Ukraine, we are also generating more interest and applications for the international grants program, helping to develop new businesses and products and services, and strengthening local networks and markets.
By providing the appropriate entrepreneurship training model to the target population, HERA’s training, mentoring, and grants are yielding outcomes. By 2017, we had followed up on 81% of the ventures funded from 2010 - 2016. We found that 93% have been sustained, including 63% that were successful in providing employment and opportunities for young women; and 14%, highly successful in growing their business operations 10% or more. Tracking our 2017 UK classroom-based training, we have found that the majority are furthering their careers. Those without asylum status are gaining knowledge online and/or attending our monthly seminars. One woman has gained a fellowship to study at the SOAS (University of London), another has been accepted into management and finance programs at Bristol and SOAS, and a third has registered and opened her own counter trafficking NGO in Nigeria.
We could not deliver these results without the generous in kind and financial support of many individuals. HERA’s overhead and administrative rates continue to be low, less than 3%. To maintain such low rates and the trust and generosity of many private individuals, we must continue to be extremely cost effective. That means building and developing good collaborations on the ground and meeting the effective demand with the right intervention.
HERA (Her Equality Rights and Autonomy) mobilizes business, third sector, and academic expertise, creativity, and resources to prevent and redress the $150 billion/annum business of human trafficking and re-trafficking. HERA assists women survivors of trafficking, conflict, and all forms of violence and young women vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation to pursue their aspirations and ambitions for a better life.
In celebration of the International Women’s Day themeof “Press for Progress” on 8 March 2018, we outline for you, our contributors, how HERA plans to “press” ahead. We have also compiled some of HERA’s achievements, which have established our solid track record and made us the partner of choice for providing women survivors’ entrepreneurship training and mentoring. We focus on the bottom line, transparency, and a solid return on our investment in bringing together corporates, academics, and partner NGOs. As social entrepreneurs, we seek to be cutting edge and dynamic in our own organization and work. Therefore, we are always focused on leveraging our experience and model to address and counter trafficking more widely and to have a greater impact. Based on what has been accomplished to date, we hope that you will weigh in as well with your advice and contributions from March 1 to 15, to help us support these courageous women survivors and all who work to prevent and redress the economic drivers of trafficking.
#PressforProgress
In HERA’s “press for progress”, we have several activities planned for the coming year and beyond. Our London program will organize more on site corporate training so that women have exposure to many different work sites and careers. On March 7th, HERA UK will hold its Fourth Annual Women’s Day Panel with a group of inspiring business and third sector women. Held at Salesforce at Heron Tower in the City, the panelists will address “Press for Progress”.
HERA organizers in the US are teaming up with Restore NYC, a counter trafficking NGO, that identifies and fully supports trafficking survivors. Together with the NYC business community, we plan to deliver entrepreneurship training and mentoring for 20 young women this coming summer.
HERA volunteers from the French Association will investigate opening a new training and grants program in Albania. Along with new grants’ programs, we will continue to deliver intensive entrepreneurship seminars, training, and business networking events for young women at risk in France and in Central and Eastern Europe. In so doing, we will engage entrepreneurs we have already funded and/or trained to share and profile their experiences with others.
Most trafficking prevention interventions to date focus on the “demand” side of the equation. They counter violations in supply chains, internet abuse, and users of trafficked women and through law enforcement and policing. “Supply” side interventions have largely focused on knowledge and information campaigns, and hotlines to prevent trafficking and to identify those at risk. Although these interventions are all critical, they alone cannot address the profit motives underlying trafficking as a major business operating in local, national and transnational markets.
Each day, women are duped; some sold by family members and boyfriends. Young women fleeing conflict, famine, domestic violence, and/or extreme poverty are at greatest risk. Some feel obliged to help their children and other family members by finding employment abroad to send remittances home. Ambitious, young, and increasingly well-educated women are willing to risk dangerous migrations to find employment. These conditions, along with rising income disparities and migration barriers, are further fueling the economic incentives underlying trafficking. To make a difference, we need to find economic and lasting alternatives and to provide more choices and opportunities.
HERA is a leading model of social entrepreneurship for the prevention of trafficking and re-trafficking. By being entrepreneurial, young women, who may be at risk, can realize their rights. They in turn provide economic opportunities for others and contribute to their local markets and communities. HERA’s unique contribution is to press for all women’s economic autonomy by supporting young women’s entrepreneurship and by being entrepreneurial in what we do.
HERA’s Achievements to Date
Founded in 2005, HERA (formerly Women-to-Work) has provided 505 women in eight countries with entrepreneurship training to level the playing field and promote women’s equality, rights, and economic autonomy. HERA teams, with leading universities, business professors, foundations and local charities, have delivered entrepreneurship training and/or mentoring for women survivors or at risk of trafficking in: Belgrade (2005-6), London (2008-2018), Boston (2009), Tbilisi (2010), Paris (2014, 2016-17), Seattle (2015), Yerevan (2010, 2016, 2017), Cahul (2017), and Kiev (2017).
HERA UK Program
Since 2008 HERA has developed, tested, and refined its intensive entrepreneurship training for women survivors at Imperial College Business Schoolin London. Each summer, faculty from several leading business schools, trainers, students, and companies have volunteered time and expertise to produce innovative entrepreneurship training for a highly motivated group of primarily young women survivors. HERA has also trained an equal number of business volunteers to coach and mentor each woman who successfully defends a business or career plan by the end of the training before an expert panel and their fellow students. Throughout the year, HERA then organizes monthly evening and weekend seminars and events for the women, their mentors, MBA students, and others. Trainers have come from the private sector, UK and US Governments, international institutions (IFC, IOM, and EBRD), and the following universities: Imperial, IMD, Cranfield Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School, London Business School, and Sciences Po Paris.
With significant in-kind support from many individuals and organizations, HERA is remarkably cost effective. This year’s cutting edge, three-week UK entrepreneurship training, year-round career seminars, and mentoring cost $1445/participant. That amount included materials, transport costs, food, and childcare grants for 34 young women, originating from 18 countries, to attend the summer training and monthly seminars.
Following the training and mentoring, 85% of UK women survivors followed to date report positive outcomes including: finding work, piloting a venture or self-employment, being admitted into higher education and training, and/or advancing their careers through apprenticeships and internships. Over 75% of mentoring relationships complete the one-year cycle and 33% continue for a second year or more. Describing this year’s program, one woman writes:
With the help of HERA, I am progressing professionally as an intern, so I can strive for an even better opportunity. This experience really gave me confidence and was very unique. I haven’t come across another organization that offers that service to refugees. Your organization is to the point, and it is really great.
Although at times challenging, many mentors are enriched by the quality and professionalism of their mentoring relationships. One mentor this year reports:
She always surprises me with her energy and her ambitions. It’s been wonderful seeing her evolve throughout the year!
Many mentors say that they receive as much, if not more, from the relationship than they give to their mentees. Realizing some of the obstacles that the HERA graduates have overcome gives mentors a new perspective on their own lives and many mentors have further developed their own careers through this experience. Some mentoring relationships evolve into friendships while others continue as professional colleagues over several years.
Following the entrepreneurship training and mentoring, HERA women have reported finding employment in accounting, finance, nursing, medicine, law, international development, human rights, linguistics, social work, IT, retail, fashion, the arts, humanities, charities, and services. They also report launching their own ventures in the arts, storytelling, accounting, health care services, gardening, social services, and catering. Many go on to higher education and obtain further degrees and/or professional training.
From this past summer’s UK program, a graduate has already applied for a MA in Finance and Accounting. Another has been accepted for a BA in Finance and Accounting. One has completed formal training in beauty services and another in baking. The impact of HERA goes beyond the critical year after the entrepreneurship program. An earlier graduate, who works as an accountant and financial officer at one of UK’s largest banks, has volunteered to mentor in the coming year.
HERA France Association
In collaboration with Sciences Po Entrepreneurs, their graduate students, and Le Bus des Femmes, HERA France Association organized evening and weekend entrepreneurship seminars and mentoring for eight women originating fivecountries, including China, Senegal, and Kenya. One of the HERA participants has already launched her beauty services. With the help of her mentor, she is looking at how best to attract more customers and establish herself as a sole proprietor entrepreneur in France.
With new regulations that support and encourage entrepreneurship in France, HERA France Association's work becomes more meaningful and relevant for women survivors. At the same time, despite the more liberal regime, many refugee and irregular migrant women still continue to work in the informal economy. Through HERA's seminars and training, we try to ease their entry into the formal economy as becoming a serious registered entrepreneur also helps with obtaining the right to remain and eventual citizenship.
HERA International Program
Starting in 2010, HERA awarded grants to women’s ventures in five Eastern European countries to prevent dangerous migration and trafficking. To date, HERA has awarded over 208 grants, at an average cost of $782 per grant, in: Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. These grants allow women owners to purchase essential capital equipment to sustain and grow their businesses. Some owners are trafficking survivors themselves or at high risk of trafficking. All grantees agree to work to prevent trafficking wherever possible by training and employing young women (25 and under) at risk of trafficking and re-trafficking.
These grants have generated at least 376 new jobs, in addition to the entrepreneur’s own employment, and sustained many women-owned microenterprises. The majority of enterprises are in agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, services, and education (primarily preschools and English language programs). These women-led ventures primarily provide essential goods and services for their local communities. Thus, they continue to have a demand when there are economic downturns. Increasingly, women owners are selling their products on line to reach bigger markets and international customers. By bringing vacuum packaging for cheese production in Georgia and Moldova, HERA helped to extend the farmer-to-market distance and change that industry nation-wide. HERA-supported Moldovan cheese can now be bought in Rome. A few ventures have grown from micro to small enterprises and provided employment for several dozen new employees. The primary limitations on growth of the microenterprises remain the hidden costs and risks of expansion. Of 81% of the ventures evaluated through 2015, 93% were sustaining or growing their ventures. Preliminary results from the 2017 assessments suggest a similar success rate.
This year HERA’s international grants’ teams of volunteers, in collaboration with local organizations, offered intensive entrepreneurship training for young women in Armenia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Successful women grantees shared their experiences with the trainees. A HERA team also held its third networking event in Tbilisi for grantees selected in collaboration with USAID’s REAP program in Georgia. At HERA’s first program in Kiev this November, 27 young women, who had been displaced by the conflict, gathered at only a day’s notice to attend an intensive one-day training in a basement room. In Cahul, Moldova 57 young adults participated in an entrepreneurship training this past summer. There is a strong, unmet demand in all countries for further training and networking opportunities. Since starting the program, several grantees have started their own business clubs and nonprofit organizations. Two women owners reported that they have adopted the HERA model and provided grants to other women’s ventures. Many have mentored others and there are “HERA” branded products including cheese, woolens, candles, and scarves.
Campaign Ahead
HERA’s overhead is extremely low (below 1%)and therefore, our direct support to women high. For our international grants program, at least two thirds of the funding, and often more, goes directly to grants to purchase equipment that the venture owners identify and select. The remaining third covers operating costs to conduct training and onsite assessments, often in remote rural communities. We keep our cost-benefit ratio low by engaging volunteer assessors and trainers with significant expertise and in-kind support from individual contributors, businesses, universities, international institutions, foundations, and partner NGOs and charities. In 2017, HERA’s total operating costs were $99,922. We thank our many supporters and volunteers for the part you have played in helping women survivors and those at risk realize their equality, rights and autonomy. Please support our March 1 to 15 “Women and Girl’s Campaign” and tell others about your work and support. Every contribution to HERA no matter the amount makes a difference for women survivors and those at risk of trafficking and all forms of violence and exploitation.
Since September, our HERA volunteers have supported some hard working and aspiring women entrepreneurs in Armenia, Georgia, France, Moldova, United Kingdom and Ukraine. Through entrepreneurship training, mentoring and grants, we are working to prevent trafficking and retrafficking and to address all forms of violence against women. We also provide equipment to promising women entrepreneurs to scale up their ventures so as to employ young women at risk of trafficking and retrafficking and other forms of violence.
Here is a brief update of our work since September in each country:
We promoted women's entrepreneurship in many parts of Europe this autumn to support women's autonomy and prevent all forms of violence against women. We plan to do more work ahead in all six countries and are working with potential partners to organise a new HERA program in NYC. We depend entirely on your private contributions and in kind volunteer support to run all our programs. Please consider donating to HERA in the upcoming "Giving Tuesday Campaign" and this year's "Holiday Season".
In this holiday season, we also extend our greetings and thanks to our donors for your generous support, to our volunteers for all you do for our programs, to our partners who make our work so much better, and to the young women entrepreneurs for your courage and determination! You are all helping to provide sound economic and entrepreneurial alternatives to trafficking and retrafficking and to all forms of violence against women. We wish you all a very good Holiday Season ahead!
The woman survivor of trafficking may have a different profile these days. Women’s entrepreneurship in countries where HERA provides grants to prevent trafficking is also changing. Organizationally HERA itself is changing to bring in a new generation of organizers and leaders. This quarter, our report will focus on some of these new trends in terms of the women HERA assists, how we work, and who we are as an organization.
The young women survivors, who attended this past summer’s entrepreneurship program at Imperial Business School in London, came from 18 countries. They represented the most diverse class to date. For the first time, the largest number came from Albania whereas those coming from Nigeria's northern and rural areas, decreased. This year’s class profile resembled that of our first years, 2008 and 2009, of HERA's UK program rather than that of recent years. The majority of young women were also educated and consequently had more of an academic focus than in recent years. Their interests and reasons for enrolling in HERA ranged from improving their English language skills to opening a design business, requalifying for a law degree, or pursuing a doctorate in business. Used to classroom based learning, their attendance, excluding excused absences, was over 98%. Several of the business professors and trainers noted that the women’s level of engagement was higher than anticipated, and they revised their presentations accordingly. As in previous years, several women asked for more hands-on, finance training at the end of the course while others with a masters’ in economics or MBA background could have easily taught these sessions. The opportunity to practice English was critical for several young women living in safe houses. The major difference with this year’s cohort, however, was that only a few have been granted asylum; and most are caught in lengthy asylum proceedings. Given their status they have not been able to work or enroll in a degree program after the HERA entrepreneurship training. Thus, their business mentors face a challenge in helping these young women maintain their enthusiasm, confidence, and motivation.
These trends, particularly related to lengthening asylum periods, reflect the rise in immigration barriers in the UK and throughout the European Community. Increasing barriers may be forcing more educated women to depend on traffickers’ services to migrate for work. Likewise, young rural and refugee women without degrees and experience face stiffer migration barriers and may be reluctant to risk a negative trafficking decision. With lengthier asylum decision periods and fears of rejection and deportation, more women may be working underground. Given the uncertainty of the women’s future statuses, the final project for this year’s program was to develop a group venture so that the HERA participants would not be discouraged if they could not pursue their own microenterprise or other career plans in the near future.
The average age of this year’s entrepreneurship program in London at 29.5 years was younger than in past years. This younger trend reflected a deliberate decision of the HERA organizers to offer a separate program tailored to women trafficking survivors over 40 years of age. Over the past few years, an increasing number of older women are escaping trafficking situations. Their needs, demands, and how they learn best are often quite different from those of young women, who have an interest in pursuing further education and training and have less work experience. Instead of classroom based training at Imperial Business School, HERA UK is organizing a “Wise Women” program for women over 40 years at different work sites and places. As one of our partners observed, many of the older women have no access to pensions so retirement is not an option and any income generating activities must be sustainable. Providing ongoing technical and emotional support and networking specifically targeted to older women’s ventures and self-employment, as HERA France organized for several women this past year, will be critical to find and sustain their work.
HERA France Association likewise is witnessing a need to develop new forms of support for several groups of refugee women and to offer training in both English and French. Many of the women they plan to serve come from Nigeria, China, the Middle East, and South Asia. These groups of refugee women, particularly the Chinese, have prior entrepreneurship experience so they mainly require targeted assistance for organizing a microenterprise in the French context. The HERA France Coordinator is investigating how best to assist these women to access the new procedure of "regularisation par le travail" so that they may continue to live and work in France.
Women's entrepreneurship is also changing In the countries, where HERA currently provides grants (mainly in the form of equipment) to women’s ventures. This support is intended to assist the ventures to scale up so as to provide employment and training opportunities for young women at risk of trafficking. In Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, many women-owned ventures continue to be involved in food services and production, and textiles. However, an increasing number of women entrepreneurs are leading agricultural ventures, particularly as men migrate to the Middle East and Russia for construction work. The diversity of agricultural products is also increasing and this year's grantees include wine, nut, corn, honey, wild herb, berry, and tea producers. Young rural and urban women are increasingly involved in tech ventures and developing new apps. Young women entrepreneurs are also more likely to utilize e-commerce and report selling their products on line to reach more distant markets. For example, one of HERA's Armenian grantees, who was featured in Yerevan Fashion Week, sells her designer wear in Moscow. Tea and wild herb producers market their products through online outlets in the UK. Women, who are trying to generate more employment in their communities, are organizing social enterprises. While many of these social enterprises continue to focus on traditional handicrafts often produced by older women at home, young women leading these ventures are also developing products and services related to tourism; wild herb, lavender and tea production; printing; beekeeping; cultural icons; and nanny services.
Access to new markets is critical for sustaining and growing these ventures. Most of the ventures that HERA supports remain as microenterprises that provide subsistence incomes. Many women owners and their employees are thus obliged to find other employment and can only commit part-time to the ventures. Training and expertise in marketing, selling and expanding one’s customer or client base are critical to their sustainability. The microenterprises also need to grow by adding value. In these uncertain times, no venture owner can afford to assume the sustainability of her customers or customer base.
In collaboration with the grants programs, HERA has developed training sessions for young women at risk of dangerous migration in Armenia. We have also organized networking events for our current and former grantees in Armenia and Moldova. A second, follow up training on entrepreneurship for young women exiting an orphanage was recently held in Yerevan. One of the most inspiring trainers and role model for others, was a 2016 HERA grantee, a young woman, who developed “BeeArt.” This venture in rural Armenia produces beeswax candles, honeycomb, and other bee products that are sold in Yerevan, local markets, and trade fairs. BeeArt also employs four women to produce the honey and products. In the future, the international teams of volunteers plan to organize more combined training and networking events in several of the countries, where HERA provides grants to women entrepreneurs to prevent dangerous migration and trafficking.
Being entrepreneurial, HERA is also changing and growing. This year several trustees completed one or more five year terms. The HERA Board voted in new trustees with legal, marketing, investment, and financial expertise on both our French and UK Boards. In June, Gwenaelle Pellerin, an Imperial MBA from Paris, became President of the French Association. In early July, Elise Do, a trustee, former mentor, and Imperial MBA, became Chair of the UK Board. They in turn are bringing on other new members, several of whom have volunteered in the past for HERA as mentors and trainers. Gokce Tuna, our UK Director, had to step down to complete her doctorate in business at Imperial. In July, Sarah Videau, a Sciences Po masters graduate, who organised the Paris program last year, became the new UK Director. Clemence Tondut, another Sciences Po graduate, took over organizing the French program. This coming Friday, September 29, HERA France is organizing its first on line seminar on trafficking to increase awareness of this issue in France (see link below). Finally, the HERA teams are very happy to report that our “Prevent Trafficking in Women Thru Entrepreneurship” project has been selected as GlobalGiving’s high-impact "Project of the Month" for October 2017. Many thanks to all our donors and volunteers for your support!
25 September 2017
Links:
In recruiting 36 women for the upcoming Entrepreneurship Training and Mentoring Programme, the HERA team has witnessed some dramatic shifts in the profiles of trafficked women. The most obvious shift is that far fewer Nigerian women (only two registered to date) and many more Albanian women (over a quarter of the class) have registered. The women still come from over 15 countries but this year the majority comes from Central and Eastern Europe versus countries in Africa. The women range in age from 19 – 42; however, most are in their 20s and the average age is 28.9 years. Another significant difference is that almost all are awaiting asylum and cannot yet work in the UK. What is most striking is that almost all have attended and/or hold university and other advanced degrees. Three have attended law courses and one a masters’ in finance. Despite their youth, most have significant work experience already. As our second year, university intern remarked, “these women are far more qualified than I am!”
Given these profiles of young women with significant education, expertise, and experience, what is generating this new demand and how should HERA respond? Some of the shift in demand reflects the UK Government’s focus on working with the Nigerian Government to shut down the trafficking streams, in which domestic slavery predominated, between the two countries. Women trafficked for domestic abuse are usually enslaved as young girls and taken out of school. The Government’s law enforcement effort has changed this official caseload but may also have driven the Nigerian caseload underground. With increased refusals of asylum claims and deportations, young Nigerian women are less likely to enter the Government's National Referral Mechanism through which many women are referred to HERA. With Brexit and rising anti-immigrant sentiment, current trafficking streams receiving official attention may again be from Central and Eastern Europe (as we saw in HERA’s early years). Another potential impact of Brexit may be an increase in irregular migration and trafficking (Human Trafficking Foundation, Spring 2017). Prior to Brexit, many women from that region could potentially enter legally through one of the EC countries. The impact of increased irregular migration is that traffickers gain more control over the migrants.
To respond to the new demand, the HERA team is increasing the academic rigor and intensity of this summer's entrepreneurship training at Imperial Business School. This year’s training, which will be held from 3-21 July, will provide sessions on Finance at a higher level than in the past. We will hold three intensive sessions on finance taught by a Cranfield professor, a former Imperial MBA Director, an MBA, and an entrepreneur. Another change is that in recruiting women for the programme, we have asked all to consider different career options no matter where they eventually land. Since some may return to their home countries, we also hope to find ways to support safe and productive returns. Finally, a major change in this year’s curriculum is that we are asking all women to work on developing a group venture so that they gain experience in team work. Given lengthy asylum waits, many women may not be able to embark on their own careers immediately and should not feel discouraged in the process.
This summer’s programme also includes several interesting field trips, including our traditional afternoon at Burough Market to analyse the vendors’ businesses, supply chains and marketing strategies. The women will attend a half day at Salesforce in Heron Tower in the City to learn about work and careers. Toward the end of the course, the women will visit a fashion factory in London that is a social enterprise. During their lunch hours, they will be encouraged to visit the annual Saatchi Gallery summer pavilion and explore Hyde Park and the nearby museums.
As in the past, we have recruited a very able, professional group of mentors both women and men. The 32+ mentors will attend three training sessions in late June and early July. They will then be matched according to common professional interests with their mentees who they meet on July 12th at Imperial Business School. In our interviews with this year’s class of women, we asked each one about having a mentor. In most cases, the mentoring experience, which continues over a year’s time, remains one of the main draws to HERA’s programme.
The recruitment for this year’s programme has been easier in the past because after ten years in London, HERA’s work is widely known amongst our partner charities. Over 12 charities and an NHS Trust have referred women to this year’s programme. Many counselors actively helped in identifying and supporting the women’s applications. We especially want to thank Medaille and PanArts, for their active support and engagement as well as all the counsellors, who best understand when women may benefit from this course. All have made excellent referrals this year.
To help fund this summer’s programme, many of our sponsors generously supported the London 10 Mile Charity Run that nine members of the HERA Community ran in early June in Richmond Park. Our running team included mentors, organisers, trustee, former student, two new volunteers, and a spouse. We were cheered on by two HERA organisers. Every team member finished the race and we raised over GBP 2000 for this event. Many, many thanks to all our supporters!
In addition to working to prevent re-trafficking and reintegrate survivors in the UK, HERA’s international Grants programme has released its 8th International Grants Competition for Central and Eastern Europe. With these grants, we provide support to women-owned ventures to increase vulnerable, young women’s training and employment to prevent trafficking in that region. In June, HERA France also completed its first pilot entrepreneurship training programme for eight survivors in Paris. The HERA Coordinator also matched six of the students with mentors. Written feedback from those who completed the mentoring was that the “mentoring was very useful”, they received “good practical information” and they “appreciated the monthly meetings that the Coordinator organised.” As one mentee wrote, “they helped us keep a structure for the development of our projects.”
Given difficult and uncertain times, HERA is fortunate to organise our 10th Year in London with Imperial Business School and 17th Entrepreneurship training worldwide. We depend entirely on private support. Thank you for helping to sustain and grow HERA’s work to prevent trafficking and retrafficking of women through entrepreneurship and good business alternatives. Recently one of our referral clinical psychologists wrote, “Terrible times. Thank heavens for HERA to remind us all what hope feels like before we forget!”
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