The center empowers trafficking survivors to heal and reclaim their lives. Read more in “CATALYST” magazine.
The University of Maryland SAFE (Support, Advocacy, Freedom, and Empowerment) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors has a new home.
The comprehensive direct services, research, and advocacy center on human trafficking is now housed within the University of Maryland Graduate School. The mission of the center, which was founded in 2016, is to provide survivor-centered and trauma-informed services that empower trafficking survivors to heal and reclaim their lives, and to prevent trafficking and better serve survivors through research and policy advocacy.
Through in-house support and collaborative partnerships, the center provides bilingual social, legal, mental health, economic empowerment, primary medical, and crisis intervention services to survivors of sex and labor trafficking of all genders, nationalities, and ages.
“The SAFE Center is a prime example of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s [UMB] mission to improve the human condition and serve the public good through education, research, clinical care, and service — in Maryland and beyond,” said Ambassador Susan G. Esserman, JD, founder and director of the SAFE Center. “Human trafficking is a complex, multifaceted issue that must be addressed at the systemic level in a multidisciplinary fashion.”
The SAFE Center formally partnered with the Graduate School in July 2021.
“The SAFE Center’s mission is closely aligned with the ethos in the Graduate School,” said Jenny Owens, ScD, MS, assistant dean of academic programs and associate professor, Graduate School. “Their work is truly interdisciplinary, and the triple aim of providing direct service, research, and advocacy is an asset to the community, our school, and the UMB community at large. The combination of practice, research, and systems change is a powerful one. We’re thrilled to support this team as they continue to use their fierce intellect and big hearts to be a force for good.”
‘MPower’ Initiative
The SAFE Center is an initiative of UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) through a formal collaboration for innovation, the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower). This year marks MPower’s 10th anniversary.
“The SAFE Center has achieved so much by being a part of the MPower collaboration during the nearly six years we have been in operation,” Esserman said. “Because of MPower, the center has been able to work with schools across both universities to provide services to several hundred human trafficking survivors and their family members, launch an innovative economic empowerment program for survivors, advocate for state anti-trafficking legislation, promote state and local efforts to combat labor trafficking, implement trafficking prevention workshops in local international high schools, train over 5,000 professionals on human trafficking, and more.”
Read more about the SAFE Center in CATALYST magazine.
You can read the Spring 2022 issue of CATALYST magazine, which highlights the incredible work done by School of Medicine scientists and clinicians who successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart in a patient who survived for two months. We also share stories about law school alumnus Tamika Tremaglio, who now leads the National Basketball Players Association; Wendy Shaia, executive director of the School of Social Work’s Social Work Community Outreach Service; the UMB CURE Scholars Program’s first cohort going to college; and much, much more!