LCHT Values
LCHT has chosen the following values (listed alphabetically) to guide our work with careful intention and purpose. They are the foundation from which we operate and the core of who we are as an organization. We choose to be forthcoming about our values so that we can both distinguish our collective values as an organization from our personal values as individuals and so that those who are unfamiliar with our organization can easily and quickly get an understanding of how we choose to approach the anti-trafficking field.
Centered on Survivors
Caring about individual trafficking survivors is paramount to the work of LCHT. We acknowledge that lived experiences of individual survivors of human trafficking are varied and diverse and therefore rarely representative of any one “ideal” type of survivor. LCHT strives to honor, as experts, those individuals and communities who are most affected by the crime of trafficking. Experts include individuals—self-identified or otherwise—who are trafficking survivors, members of vulnerable populations or individuals whose lives are directly affected by anti-trafficking policies and actions.
Feminist Goals
We apply the basic feminist goal to challenge and change women’s subordination to men to our work in the anti-human trafficking movement. We extend that goal beyond a binary understanding of women and men, understanding that certain groups of men can be subordinate to certain groups of women, due to the fact that gender intersects with race, class, nationality, sexuality and other identities, to reinforce systems of power and oppression.
High Research Standards
We are committed to evidence-based research efforts grounded upon objective, verifiable, reliable and replicable data. We strive to honor history while embracing innovation and foster respectful, intentional collaboration and participation among academics, activists, community members, service providers, law enforcement and survivors.
Human Rights
We adhere to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, which recognizes that the human rights of trafficked persons shall be at the center of all efforts to prevent and combat trafficking and to protect, assist and provide redress to victims.
Interdisciplinary Approach
We strive for an interdisciplinary approach, which relies on the intersection of various academic disciplines and their associated theoretical and methodological lenses to inform our work, rather than privileging one area of expertise at the expense of obscuring equally relevant but different perspectives. We extend our interdisciplinary values to apply to our organizational identity in the larger anti-trafficking movement, where rather than identify exclusively with community service, social justice or academia, we approach our work at the juncture where these three identities meet.
Non-Discrimination
In recognition of its commitment to social justice and responsibility to provide equal opportunity to all peoples, LCHT actively seeks diversity among its Board of Directors, staff, interns, volunteers, members, clients, and contractors. LCHT does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, ethnicity, sex, religion, age, gender, disability status, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, perceived gender identity, class, appearance, veteran status, military obligations, marital status, family structure, or any other characteristic protected by law.Responsible Awareness and Education Campaigns
LCHT believes that using images, language and data that shock, incite disgust, reinforce traditional norms about gender, race and nationality or otherwise misinform the general public about human trafficking, results in sensationalistic story-telling, is harmful to the movement and can be re-traumatizing for survivors.
Sexual Rights
We reject the prevalent black-and-white framing of the prostitution debate within the anti-trafficking movement, which suggests that if one is not against prostitution one must be for prostitution. LCHT moves beyond the prostitution/commercial sex work debate by choosing to include a commitment to sexual rights as defined by the World Association for Sexual Health for people of all ages, genders and sexual identities as part of our overarching organizational values.