KCIT employee William Murray and his family learned about the scourge of sex trafficking through the concern and passion of the owners of a hair salon they visit.

Those owners of the salon, along with other in the beauty industry, were behind the creation of a nonprofit called Justice and Soul, an organization that teaches cosmetology skills to the survivors of sex trafficking–including young women and men in Cambodia– to allow them to gain a meaningful career. Justice and Soul also recently started an apprenticeship program here in Seattle with the same hopes of providing a living in cosmetology and the freedom from a life of sex trafficking.
According to the organization:

• At least 20.9 million adults and children are bought and sold worldwide into commercial sexual servitude, forced labor and bonded labor.
• About 2 million children are exploited every year in the global commercial sex trade.
• 54% of trafficking victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation.
• Justice and Soul aims to change those grim facts by:

• Teaching the fundamentals of cosmetology (hair, skin, nails and makeup), business, team building and independent living for at-risk youth and traffic survivors.
• Building student esteem and confidence.
• Helping students learn life skills outside of work.
• Creating career paths and secure employment for students upon graduation. Murray, an IT enterprise specialist, and his family attended a 2017 event in support of the nonprofit, Fashion SOULstice, where they “witnessed a great deal of support for this work and learned of the need for meaningful careers that allow survivors to earn a livable income.”