By Steff WillisTuesday 3 Dec 2024Social JusticeReading Time: 3 minutes
Dressember organisers have this year supercharged their challenge to Australians to “frock up” and rally friends and followers to join the movement.
The goal: to end human trafficking worldwide through the force of fashion.
By getting “dressy” – wearing a dress or a tie every day of December (or for just one week) – supporters will use their outfits as conversation-starters to raise awareness and funds to fight exploitation, of which women and children are most often the victims.
Long-time Dressember champion Brisbane-based advocate Natasha Krelle is excited for another year.
“If people continue to see other humans as reusable, we will only see this trafficking epidemic grow” Natasha said.
“This is why I believe Dressember is so important for me to support. The good news is that stopping this exploitation of others starts with us and our actions toward one another.
“We should treat everyone with the dignity and respect that we think we ourselves deserve. If this happened, imagine what a different world we would be!”
Supporters are encouraged to wear a dress (or a tie) each day in December, whether it’s the same dress styled differently or wearing op-shop finds and sharing across your social media platforms – there are lots of ways to get involved.
Supporting the Work of IJM
Every dollar raised supports International Justice Mission (IJM) – one of the largest anti-trafficking organisations in the world – and its powerful efforts to protect people in poverty from violence.
More than 10,000 people were rescued from exploitation through IJM-supported programs last year alone.
“Having worked directly with survivors of trafficking and slavery, I know there is nothing harder than coming back from a place where you have been undone, unseen and under-valued” said IJM Australia’s Chief Advocacy Officer, Grace Wong.
“IJM presses for change at a systemic level, within legal systems, and also for individual change, walking with survivors from the moment they are identified by law enforcement, to the point restoration.”
Source: Supplied by IJM
It Started with a Dress
In 2005, Dressember founder Blythe Hill began hearing about the issue of human trafficking. Despite her deep sense of urgency to help, she felt helpless.
She wasn’t a lawyer or a doctor or a social worker; her interests and talents were in fashion, trend analysis, and blogging. She didn’t think she had much to offer to the fight, until four years later.
“Historically dresses have represented fragility, weakness and inequality, but to me Dressember recreates the dress to be a symbol of strength, power and freedom” Blythe said.
“It upholds the inherent dignity of all people, particularly those trafficked and enslaved. It’s a fight for the dignity and freedom of women, children and families everywhere who have been trafficked.”
In 2009, Blythe 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.
To learn more about the work of IJM and Dressember, visit the website.