Christa Foster Crawford

Christa spends her days, and sometimes nights, empowering the anti-trafficking movement for greater effectiveness. She wears a lot of hats including teaching, training, writing, and speaking. A Harvard-trained lawyer, she helps direct the Payap Human Rights Law Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she has lived for the past 20 years, and she is the founder of Freedom Resource International, an international consultancy.

Key points

Trafficking in Thailand is different then it is in the USA

In Thailand those who are most vulnerable to trafficking normally lack citizenship or basic human rights; such as, being able to travel freely, having access to education, and being able to get work.

A person does not truly have a choice unless there is more than one option.

If we can build communities of wholeness, peace, and opportunity and address the underlying human rights deficiencies then we can hopefully reduce the demand for human trafficking.

We can’t only focus on saving victims, we must also do our part to help lift them up and restore them.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode 236, Strategic, Collaborative, and Resourced: a conversation with Christa Foster Crawford.

Production Credits [00:00:12] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:32] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:38] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:41] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. You’ve heard so many times on the show about the importance of partners. And today we’re so glad to welcome another one of our partners who has been working so diligently to support all of us in our efforts. I’m so glad to welcome today Christa Foster Crawford. She is the founder of Freedom Resource International and the associate director of the Payap Center for Human Rights Law. Christa spends her days and sometimes nights like she has today, empowering the anti-trafficking movement for greater effectiveness. She wears a lot of hats, including teaching, training, writing, and speaking. A Harvard-trained lawyer, she helps direct the Payap Human Rights Law Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she has lived for the past 20 years. And she is the founder of Freedom Resource International and international consultancy. Christa, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Christa [00:01:39] Thanks. It’s so great to be with you both.

Sandie [00:01:41] Well, Christa and I have known each other for a long time. I think we’ve only had a couple of in-person encounters. And I wish I’d known you when I did some studies in Chiang Mai back in like 2009. So, you’ve lived there for 20 years, and I’m really interested in understanding how that context shapes your approach to combating human trafficking.

Christa [00:02:10] I think context is everything. I think all of us came to this issue with a vision, a vision of wholeness and a better future, a vision of what we thought the problem was, and how we thought we would solve it. And it’s not until our feet hit the ground and our eyes are open and our minds are engaged to see what the real problem is, not just on the surface, but what’s in the background. What are the driving forces? What are some of the macro factors that are affecting individuals, harm? And so, I’ve seen both my paradigm and my understanding of what the problem and the solutions are. Change over time. And then I’ve also seen the problem itself change over the decades as well.

Sandie [00:02:53] So that brings up a really intriguing conversation that I’ve been having with some of my colleagues lately. If you knew then what you know now, what’s the biggest thing you would do differently?

Christa [00:03:08] Run,

Sandie [00:03:09] Run. OK.

Christa [00:03:13] No, I’m just kidding. It’s a hard fight. It’s a really difficult journey. I think anybody who’s been doing it as long as we have, knows that for every small success, we’ve had a lot of big failures. For every individual life changed, we’ve seen entire communities who still struggle to try to find true freedom and true resiliency and true change. And so, I don’t think we have to run. But I also think we should tread carefully and not run ahead of ourselves. And so, yeah, being prepared, being aware, being a constant learner and constantly questioning and evaluating and striving to do better, I think is really how we ought to be running this race. And not just the mad blind, you know, slapstick or whatever unfocused attempt to put out all the fires, but to really see, OK, what is the area in which we are both gifted and suited and who should we come alongside in trying to best attempt to address those issues?

Sandie [00:04:20] Those are really wise words. If you are a new advocate joining our listening community, please pay attention. So, one of the things I’ve noticed in the anti-trafficking world here in the U.S. is everybody knows about trafficking in Southeast Asia and they’ve all seen videos. And I’m using air quo...