Natalie Grant’s Hope for Justice, whose global movement aims to fight human trafficking and those affected, was named The Public Interest Registry’s (PIR) Charity of The Year at the organization’s 5th Annual .ORG Awards. Hope for Justice also took home an award for their tireless work tackling historic injustice. The PIR, a not-for-profit that manages the .org, .ngo, .ong top-level domains, selected Hope for Justice from more than 1000 organizations, representing 70 countries. The PIR will also donate $60,000 to support Hope for Justice’s work.
“What an incredible honor to accept this award on behalf of all the amazing staff and teams that we have internationally across 7 countries, who go to the ends of the earth to bring freedom,” says Tim Nelson, CEO of Hope for Justice. “We work to try to prevent exploitation, rescue victims and see their lives restored and just this year have helped over 200,000 people affected by human trafficking. This award recognizes the hard work and dedication that the team at Hope for Justice has built over years, including the 12,100 people across the globe that were trained this year on how to respond effectively to reports of suspicions of human trafficking.”
“The first time I walked down the street in the red-light District of Mumbai, and saw a young five-year-old girl for sale on the street, I knew my life would never be the same,” shares Natalie Grant, co-founder of Hope for Justice. “I didn’t exactly know how I was going to do it, but I knew that I had to fight for her freedom. I’m so grateful for the team at Hope for Justice, who risk their lives daily, so that others can be free. The truth is all of us can do something. This issue is so massive and so overwhelming, it can be easy to believe that we could never make a difference. We can’t do everything, but we all can do something.”
Grant first became involved in the fight against human trafficking in 2005 after the realization that slavery still exists in the modern world. Following a life-changing trip to India she created an organization called Abolition International to continue the work she began on that trip. In 2013, Grant realized that her impact would be much greater if she worked with other organizations across the globe. Joining with Hope for Justice, the non-profit now has offices all over the US, UK, Norway, Uganda, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Australia.
Though the organization has changed over the years, the mission has remained the same: to bring an end to modern slavery and human trafficking and to protect the human rights of victims and survivors. With a highly trained team of investigators, multilingual outreach workers, accredited trainers, legal experts, social workers, therapists, nurses, policy specialists, campaigners and professionals, Hope for Justice is on the ground in places that are most affected by human trafficking and modern slavery. Learn more about Hope for Justice HERE