“I wanted to volunteer as a graphic designer, but they wanted my advocacy,” Jill Langhus-Griffin explains how she in 2016 joined ‘World Pulse’, a worldwide network of sisterhood. Jill emphasizes: “Men can also join if they support female empowerment. I met many women through this network, also women with a background in human trafficking. For example, a lady from Cameroon. She is well educated and was a survivor of human trafficking to Dubai. She was forced to do housework there and do sexual services as well. It is a prejudice that it is always women who have had no education.” Meeting women like these, prompted Jill to start ‘Liluye’ in 2018 focusing on prevention, economic empowerment and aftercare of female trafficking survivors.
After living in Spain for several years, Jill returned to the US three years ago where she now lives in Tucson Arizona. Arizona has the third largest population of native people in the United States of America. The University of Alabama at Birmingham states: “Generations of Indigenous people have been subjected to perpetual cycles of abuse. Statistically, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more likely to experience higher rates of murder, rape and violent crimes compared to the rest of the United States, with violence rates on reservations being ten times higher than the national average.”[1] Jill comes from an abusive background herself. She describes how pedophilia is a repeated pattern in her family. As the youngest of five she was being abused. At 35 her trauma came out physically. She suffered from heavy periods and depression. Going to a psychic and becoming more spiritual were both pivotal and meant a turning point for Jill: “From there it took me a long time to forgive my family.”
Singing Hawk While Soaring
Connecting to the spiritual world was what helped Jill in this process. She emphasizes: “People can help others if they’re still healing but they need to be careful how they approach others with trauma, especially deep trauma, as they can cause more damage than healing.” Spirituality is also strongly represented in the name of the foundation Jill erected in 2018: “’Liluye’ means ‘Singing Hawk While Soaring’,” Jill proudly states. Name researcher Ethan Parker explains: “The name Liluye comes from the Native American Miwok tribe, known for their deep connection with nature and the spiritual world. The hawk is a symbol of vision, focus, and intuition in many Native American cultures. It is believed to possess a keen sense of awareness and the ability to see things from a higher perspective. The idea of the hawk singing while soaring evokes a sense of harmony and beauty in motion, capturing the essence of Liluye as a name.”[2]
Prevention and Financial Literacy
“When people haven’t healed yet, it is hard for them to look long term,” Jill refers to survivors of human trafficking. “Liluye focuses on creating a long-term aftercare space and community. Therapy is helpful; however, survivors have different needs and motivations. We help them to thrive and give them their wings back.” Together with 57 global partners, and a team of 19 people, Liluye offers programs for prevention, economic empowerment and aftercare: “Ten partner organizations based in Africa currently have access to our short prevention program which was created in partnership with ‘Women Inspiration Development Center’ (WIDC) in Ile Ife, Osun state, Nigeria. Two years ago, we hosted our first skills-based financial literacy program. The program focused on short and long-term skills to support financial independence, including how to open a bank account, tax calculations, investments, personal financing, and insurance coverage.”
Aftercare
When it comes to aftercare, Liluye facilitates ‘The Thrive Tribe’ (TTT), a personal development and coaching program that offers mentoring sessions along with other healing and information resources for survivors to heal and thrive. TTT equips survivors of sex trafficking with the necessary skills, knowledge, and environment to rebuild their lives and thrive beyond their past experiences. On the Liluye website it is stated that “In the 2023-2024 program year of The Thrive Tribe (TTT), ten trafficking survivors benefited in Cameroon, Canada, Nigeria, and the United States. By the program’s midpoint, 70% of participants had taken concrete steps toward new career paths or higher education, and 80% reported increased self-confidence and emotional resilience. Plus, 80% of participants indicated that they had built connections and learned best practices that strengthened their ability to develop their own projects.”
Survivor leaders
Jill as the founder of Liluye, coordinates all the activities, is responsible for funding and communications, and mentors her team members: “I have five ‘survivor leaders’ in my team,” Jill refers to the lived experience experts available within her foundation. “One of these colleagues was trafficked when she was in her twenties. Nude photos from that period are still available on the internet. These are now inhibiting her from finding work to support her daughter and herself.” Next to the programs Jill develops for and with global partners, she focuses on indigenous women and girls within the US. She explains why they are more vulnerable to sex trafficking: “They are often poor and worried about the next meal, which makes them easy targets. I hear stories about women and girls disappearing just like that, pot still on the stove, to never come back.” Jill feels prevention and economic empowerment are needed here: “Now we are just putting out fires, we need to break perpetuation of these harmful cycles.” That’s why – in addition to financial literacy programs – Liluye plans to organize art healing workshops and other programs to promote and advance financial independence and deeper healing. Art healing workshops could provide survivors an opportunity to heal and sell their artwork online, as well as develop marketable skills. Jill emphasizes that building trust first is crucial: “Trust is difficult for us women as survivors of abuse.”
Liluye | Give her wings. Let her soar.
World Pulse | Amplifying Women’s Voices for Change
Interviewer and author: Lisa Koolhoven
[1] Say Her Name: Emily Pike, Another Tale of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women – UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog
[2] Liluye: meaning, origin, and significance explained