Services

Peer Education & Survivor Leadership Engagement & Development-Exploitation Survivors

Assist Sexual Exploitaton Survivors in transforming from victim to survivor to leader using self-empowerment, client-centered, trauma-informed and peer-based models. Additional needs are met through community referrals.

Peer-led services are critical to serving survivors of exploitation due to the mistrust, fear, humiliation and trauma that survivors experience.

Peer advocacy and service provision should be provided from emergency response to after-care. Survivors come with a set of issues that are often not understood by professionals, medical or dental personnel, or law enforcement.

Engaging Survivors in Program & Public Policies

Autumn utilizes 20+ years of experience in combating all systems of prostitution and sexual exploitation to assist individuals in their transformation to survivors and potentially leaders. She encourages all levels of government to include the Survivor voice in public policies. For service providers, she recommends hiring Survivor Leaders and having programs be survivor-led and at minimum survivor informed.

Survivor Leader Network of San Diego: Engaging San Diego Survivors in being part of service delivery and public policy solutions. Survivors for Solutions collaborated with Freedom From Exploitation to host our first Survivor Leader meeting on May 23, 2013. Ms. Burris is a co-founder of the group alongside with Kathi Hardy. The group has held events, become voting members of governmental bodies and elevating the survivor voice in the community.

Meetings are held once a month. If you are interested in joining us, please visit Freedom From Exploitation: http://freedomfromexploitation.vpweb.com/.

Governmental, Institutional and Non-profit/NGO Consulting

As a leader and 15 years experience in combating sexual exploitation, Ms. Burris offers presentations to all types of businesses, institutions and governments. She provides consultation on Best Practices to governments, institutions and non-profit organizations.

For example:

Keynote Presentations
Conference workshops, panels and moderation

International, Federal, State and Local governments on policy development and implementation
Peer review for research projects and publications
Expert Testimony
Interviews for academic works
Participation in studies on a limited and subject matter basis

Educational Presentations & Trainings:

Human Trafficking 101
Human Trafficking 101 for Service Providers
Human Trafficking & Domestic Violence
Prostitution, Sex Trafficking and Pornography
More Than a Story-Survivor Leadership
Human Trafficking Laws: International Protocols to State Law
Exploitation and Military Law
Peer Advocacy & Emergency Response
Exploitation and The Demand
The Nordic Model 101 and Advance
Customized presentations to meet client individualized needs

Community Partnering

We provide technical assistance and training to our partners gratis.

If you are interested in partnering with us, please visit our "Contact Us" Page.

How it works:

All mentoring services to individuals are free-ALWAYS!

Survivor Engagement and Peer Services to agencies are provided at an hourly rate plus travel expenses.

Consultation, Education and Trainings are provided for a fee plus travel expenses.

OVC-TTAC may be able to assist with training/best practices consultions gratis: Please visit: Office for Victims of Crime, Training & Technical Assistance Center

A portion of revenue supports individual peer services and Survivor-led initiatives (i.e. Survivor Leader Groups, travel expenses to get a Survivor to testify on a bill, attend a training/conference or event)

Testimonials

“Autumn is such a strong women. She inspired me by being my peer to move forward and use my opportunities today. Autumn is encouraging me and makes me feel safe about my future.”

~Anonymous International Trafficking Survivor, 2012

“Not only is Autumn Burris passionate and dedicated in the effort to combat the plague of human trafficking, her policy presentation was extremely insightful in that she was able to illustrate in the simplest terms the important legislation that combated human trafficking on the Federal and State level. Whether you were a seasoned policy advisor or a first time volunteer, the policy presentation helped summarize all the important points in an easy and understandable way.”

~Grace Hsieh, Resident of Diamond Bar, California

The inspirational keynote of Ms. Burris was engaging and captured the audience at our North County Lifeline’s 2nd Annual Human Trafficking Conference. Ms. Burris shared her story of her journey to become a survivor and a leader in the community for Human Rights. Ms. Burris enriched the audience with a wealth of information on the importance of survivor empowerment for the community and the importance of survivor leaders. Autumn’s expertise and knowledge on public policy and legislation engaged the audience to get involved in being a part of the solution. She is an inspiration to men and women everywhere and was an intricate and important part of the conference.

~ Crystal Anthony, MSW, ASW, Project LIFE Program Coordinator & Case Manager

The Skirt of Sacrifice

By Autumn Burris

Photo Credit: Arduizur C. Richie-Zavaleta

Artist Statement:

This artwork depicts the soul tax that sexual exploitation/prostitution is through the eyes of the artist. The configuration of the body as a shirt with legs is how it feels to be involved in prostitution-no brain, all body, over-sexualized by all those you meet and treated and deemed as less than human by society. The head is replaced with the reasons one might engage in prostitution-money, survival, the hotel, and the substances necessary to numb the senses so that one can tolerate living inside their own body. This is only my experience! Survivors often can’t or don’t want to talk as there is not always words that justify how it feels to be in “The Life”. This chalk piece was created in an art therapy group and was an attempt at healing the wounds that ever so slowly have healed. I am grateful and honored to share The Skirt of Sacrifice.

Photo Courtesy of UN-Women Photographer: Catianne Tijerina

UN-Women Stakeholders' Forum, Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), 57th session with a theme of preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls, United Nations Headquarters, New York-December 13, 2012