Some WS students are not wearing pants, but rather dresses, for an entire month for a great cause. For participants of Dressember, a movement that hopes to combat human trafficking by raising awareness and money, December is full of sacrificing body temperature for the restoration of dignity for women.
The cause is one that hits close to home; Just Ask VA, the local non-profit that sponsors WS’s Spartans Against Human Trafficking (SAHT) club, reports that there have been sex trafficking victims at every high school in Fairfax County.
“Many people believe that human trafficking only occurs in foreign countries,” said senior Elissa Perdue, a first-year participant in Dressember and co-president of SAHT.
The harsh reality is that over 200 victims have been discovered in the Northern Virginia area in the past two years, according to members of law enforcement working with Just Ask. With numbers that daunting, ending teen trafficking might seem out of a high schooler’s capabilities. However, something as simple as wearing a dress can have a huge impact.
“[Dressember] means putting yourself in discomfort, which proves what you do means something and raises awareness,” said senior Bella Iannotta.
The obvious discomfort of wearing a dress in the cold is attention-grabbing, which is exactly the point of Dressember. The goal is that the more people ask about Dressember, the more they may be educated about the dangers of human trafficking. When people are informed, they are less likely to become victims, and more likely report dangerous situations.
“It makes more people aware of what human trafficking is and how prominent it is in this area. It’s such an important topic for people to be aware of and Dressember really gets people talking about the topic,” said senior Emma Jones.
Dressember not only helps raise awareness in the community, but also raises money to help victims of human trafficking. Participants can choose to ask for donations from their friends, family, and other members of the community through a website. These donations, usually gained from advertising on social media sites, go to different organizations that help victims, and educate people that come in contact with victims like health care providers, members of law enforcement, educators, or people in the criminal justice system. Participants can also create teams to help gather donations more efficiently. These teams, like the WS team created by SAHT, create a sense of unity for students and help them feel like they are not alone in the fight against teen trafficking.
“It [the team] gives off the sense of community that’s really nice,” said junior Megan Nachison.
WS’ unity was displayed when students were asked to wear dresses or ties to school on Friday, December 1st to show support for Dressember.
“Seeing women standing up for other women is really powerful,” said sophomore Shayna Perdue.
Girls were not the only ones participating. Boys also dressed up with ties in order to advocate for the cause.
“A lot of guys don’t [dress up] so I think it’s pretty cool for us to participate this year,” said junior Jeffery Beavers.
The slogan of Dressember is “It’s bigger than a dress,” which is certainly when evident boys, girls, and people from different backgrounds band together to fight human trafficking.
“I think it’s really cool to see kids rally together for an important cause,” said Perdue.