Safe Exit Initiative – Jensen Project Grant

The Safe Exit Initiative – Jensen Project Grant is a funding opportunity from The Jensen Project supporting survivor-led organizations working to end the sex trade.

Formerly known as Living in Freedom Together (LIFT), the Safe Exit Initiative (SEI) advances the Equality Model — a comprehensive framework that decriminalizes people in prostitution, funds exit programs for survivors, and holds buyers, exploiters, and traffickers accountable. Grants are open to nonprofits aligned with SEI's mission of building communities where survivors are valued and empowered.

Note that this grant is not currently accepting applications.

Safe Exit Initiative - The Jensen Project Ending systems of prostitution through the implementation of the Equality Model Led by and for survivors, Safe Exit Initiative (SEI), formerly known as Living in Freedom Together, Inc. (LIFT), is building a world where survivors are valued, equal members of the community. Their voices and choices are honored implicitly.

SEI is committed to implementing the Equality Model—a comprehensive approach to abolishing the sex trade by repealing laws that criminalize people in prostitution, providing exit programs for survivors, and reducing the demand for prostitution by penalizing and holding accountable buyers, exploiters and traffickers.

By adopting and enforcing this model originally invented in Sweden in 1999, the hopes are to decriminalize prostituted people, decrease the demand for humans being bought and sold, and bring about a comprehensive exit program. https://safeexitinitiative. org/ Supporting survivors at a local, national and global scale SEI is a community of unquestionable support for survivors of the sex trade.

There is so much education and understanding that is needing to be delivered to people in our communities to recognize the violence that is prostitution and to take the action to dismantle the systems that enable it. SEI has an underlying standard: Community, no matter what. There is little hope in recovery and change on your own.

The only way to make big, impactful, lasting change is to do it together, supporting and encouraging one another every step of the way. In July of 2021, SEI launched HARBOR- a safe housing opportunity for those in crisis. HARBOR stands for Healthcare, Advocacy, Room, Board, Outreach and Rehousing.

It is a 4,000 square foot emergency shelter with 15 beds for survivors. Through this program, HARBOR has been able to provide access to all of SEI’s outreach and advocacy program all in the same place, reaching an estimate of 315 individuals annually. Through strategic funding from The Jensen Project, SEI will expand HARBOR’s legal advocacy to include a fully launched SEI Legal Clinic.

They will strengthen their commitment to supports in the court system by having Survivor Court Advocates and trained lawyers prepared and ready to guide survivors through a complicated legal system and protect survivors and their rights "Through strategic funding from The Jensen Project, SEI will expand HARBOR’s legal advocacy to include a fully launched SEI Legal Clinic."

A yearly grant program, funding up to $2 Million to advance economic empowerment and housing opportunities for agencies who serve adult female survivors of human trafficking. Armed with the latest news and insights on anti-trafficking organizations and policies, you can join us in the fight against sexual violence. Tell me more about the Equality Model.

I know enough about the Equality Model. It takes funding for organizations to help women impacted by sexual violence, but it’s just the starting point. The Jensen Project’s holistic approach empowers nonprofits with grants, resources, and ongoing support to fuel the fight against sexual violence.