CASE STUDY

From survivor engagement to survivor leadership

Building a response shaped by lived experience.

The challenge

Around the world, people with lived experience of trafficking are increasingly recognised not simply as people to consult, but as experts and leaders whose knowledge should help shape the policies, systems and responses intended to address trafficking.

Aotearoa’s anti-trafficking sector has recognised the importance of making this shift. But meaningful survivor engagement must be done well. It requires attention to safety, power, trauma, remuneration and genuine participation in decision-making, not simply inviting survivors to share their stories.

The challenge was knowing how to begin.

Creating the space to learn

In early 2026, Just Mercy decided that good intentions needed to become action. Through OFN, we established a Survivor Engagement Working Group, bringing together nine people from across the sector who committed to meeting monthly.

Rather than rushing to establish a model, the group began by learning: examining international good practice, exploring survivor-led approaches, listening to people working in the lived-experience space and, importantly, learning directly from survivors themselves.

The goal is to understand what meaningful engagement should look like in Aotearoa and how organisations can become stronger allies to people with lived experience.

What changed?

A conversation that had remained largely aspirational is becoming a structured process for change.

The work is strengthening sector capability while laying the foundations for something more significant: a mechanism through which lived-experience expertise can meaningfully contribute to Aotearoa’s anti-trafficking response.