“We believe we were victims but are victims no longer. We are better than before,” touts the slogan of the Association of Albanian Girls and Women. Such a slogan brings power, control and dignity back into the hands of the women it represents. The Association of Albanian Girls and Women (AAGW) is a nonprofit dedicated to aiding the safe rehabilitation of survivors of human trafficking back into the real world. Founded in 2003, their original slogan, “We are not prostitutes. We deserve respect,” sought to achieve the same thing. That returned respect and dignity is the fundamental goal of the charity.   

AAGW grew from a shelter in Tirana which housed multiple trafficking survivors. Amy Sebes, a volunteer at the shelter at the time, worked with the survivors to create an organization with a more targeted goal. AAGW provides a rehabilitation service for survivors of human trafficking. This involves job training, art therapy, and childcare help for those who had children while in captivity.   

The most important part of the rehabilitation centre is that dedicated to preserving the anonymity and the safety of those it helps. The power of the charity comes from the effort to “help Albanian women help themselves,” as a Stanford article explains. AAGW puts structures in place that help the women overcome impossible obstacles, but in the end gives them enough agency so that they can face these challenges themselves.   

The nonprofit engages with a wider and international audience through various drives and other donation efforts. Sebes, who is now based in the DC area, leads educational discussions on human trafficking and her rehabilitation process. She raises awareness on human trafficking itself, but also for donation efforts aiding the shelter.  

 The effort most in-tune with AAGW as an organization is the jewellery drive, Jewels for Justice, which repurposes gently used jewellery to be used in the art therapy aspect of the rehabilitation centre. The art therapy sector of the nonprofit harkens back to crafts women would have done when they were younger. It includes jewellery making, crocheting, and knitting. Some of the pieces made through art therapy are then sold, often in fair trade shops in the US but also through the AAGW website, in turn sending money made straight back to the shelter. Through the money made from art therapy products, the shelter was able to open a childcare aspect of the shelter. 

Another essential aspect of the shelter is the life skills education the shelter provides. Often trafficked while young or kept in captivity for many years, survivors can be missing essential knowledge required for navigating society now. The life skills education portion of the shelter educates women on financial literacy, menstrual health, new technology, women’s rights, trauma, and more. An essential part of the education the women receive centres around their own self-worth and their value as women in society.   

The website now proclaims the goal of the charity is “to empower sex trafficking and domestic violence survivors in Albania as they overcome trauma, transition out of a shelter, and support themselves independently.” This goal is evident through the multiple avenues the charity takes to make women feel more dignified following their traumas. Whether that be their life skills education, technology training, or job, the women leave the shelter ready to take on their own life in a safe manner. The photos of the website have been carefully selected to help the women involved with the charity stay anonymous, an extra safety precaution.  

In 2004, Sebes received the State Department Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad. AAGW’s operation has only continued to expand and looks forward to adding resources like retreats and more childcare solutions to their rehabilitation process.