Integrated Leaders Forum Against Trafficking (ILFAT)
Industry
Social Sector
ILFAT (Integrated Leaders Forum Against Trafficking) is India’s first and only national federation of trafficking survivors. With over 2,800 members across seven states, ILFAT brings together individuals who have faced some of the most severe forms of exploitation, from bonded labour to sexual trafficking. What sets ILFAT apart is its survivor-led governance, intersectional vision, and commitment to shifting anti-trafficking conversations from charity to leadership and lived expertise.
The Challenge
ILFAT urgently needed to raise funds during the pandemic to support survivors with medical, legal, and debt relief. ILFAT also lacked digital capacity—no in-house team or skills to manage online communications or social presence. They needed external visibility on the issues they are working on and internal capacity to do so by themselves.
Our Strategic Approach
Fundraised with Credibility, not Sympathy
We set up two crowdfunding campaigns for ILFAT, foregrounding survivors' stories with dignity. Rather than frame it around victimhood, we brought in well-aligned voices—including a collaboration between Penn Masala and Vishal Dadlani—to create a campaign anthem. The content was circulated with support from national media outlets and helped establish legitimacy beyond the nonprofit circle, reaching 100,000+ views and attracting 1,100+ donors.
Digital Campaigns to bring visibility to the issues that were in focus during the time
To move beyond the standard “victim story” format online, we ran digital campaigns focused on power and agency across 3 years.
Some of the campaigns were:
Wall of Change: To tackle stigma and shame, we launched the Wall of Change initiative, leveraging visual storytelling to paint over a digital “wall of shame” (filled with messages survivors have heard) and replace it with messages of positivity and support from the online community of 7 digital influencers, including psychologists, lawyer, mental health therapists and students. This initiative aimed to change the mindset of those who stigmatise survivors while showcasing to survivors that they still have a community of support.
Creator’s contest: These contests invited artists, musicians, illustrators and other creators to interpret issues like bonded labour and trafficking creatively. Over 160+ entries were received across both campaigns. Creators participated through songs, stories, illustrations, poems, drawings, pictures, dance, rap songs, and many more and educated the online community.
Unmute Survivors Initiative: We creatively highlighted how survivors' voices are often excluded from critical conversations about trafficking. This exclusion was shown through videos where all surrounding sounds were audible, but the survivor speaking into the camera remained unheard, symbolising systemic silencing and the societal neglect of their perspectives.
Skill building through online and in-person workshops and training
Over the past four years, a series of tailored workshops and training sessions were conducted for capacity-building of its members, equipping them with essential digital skills.
Conducted hands-on workshops to familiarize members with essential digital tools such as Zoom, social media platforms, email usage, and translation tools. These workshops enabled members to host virtual meetings, communicate effectively online, significantly increasing their digital readiness.
Delivered trainings on building partnerships by identifying key stakeholders, drafting outreach messages, and negotiating collaborations. Under our mentorship, members connected with organizations and influencers, developing their interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills.
We have facilitated 75+ group trainings and 35 one-to-one trainings with ILFAT members over the last two years (including online and in-person trainings). Our efforts have resulted in members developing skillsets in their areas of interest, including graphic design, video editing, writing, and content shooting, with members independently creating videos, posters, and articles, apart from assisting in creating several social media assets for ILFAT’s official channels.
A 5-member team- Digital Subcommittee was formed with each specializing in a digital skillset such as graphic design, video editing, copywriting, operations, and outreach coordination. This paved the path for a sustainable model for survivor-led digital advocacy, without the need for dependence on any third party for continuous and indefinite support.
The Results
₹28,30,000 raised via crowdfunding and 1,500+ survivors across 13 collectives benefited through health kits, food rations, and legal aid.
We have facilitated 75+ group trainings and 35 one-to-one trainings with ILFAT members over two years (including online and in-person trainings).
We have facilitated partnerships with 60+ content partners across NGOs, creators, and media outlets through different campaigns and initiatives across 4 years
Sessions conducted on invitation at St. Xavier’s College to share awareness and prevention knowledge, and JCOGT to shape media narratives
Queries received from PhD students and journalists to interview ILFAT members for their research papers/articles
5 members trained and handed over social media responsibilities