Plenary session

Expanding Our Garden Through the Voices of Our Relatives

Description

The seeds that were planted by the stories of survival of our Indigenous relatives, helped to grow the work to address trafficking of Indigenous people. From the Garden of Truth report, to streams of funding and multiple new resources and policies. This keynote will lift up our relatives voices to share new work that has been created to address sex trafficking of our Indigenous people.

Speaker

Nicole Matthews

Nicole Matthews

Nicole Matthews is Anishinabe from the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and is the Executive Director for the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition, where she has been employed since 2002. MIWSAC is a statewide Tribal Coalition and a national Tribal Technical Assistance Provider. 

Nicole was one of five researchers who interviewed 105 Native women used in prostitution and trafficking for their report: Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota. She has spoke at statewide, tribal, and national venues on sexual violence, sex trafficking, and the intersections of racism and oppression. 

Nicole is also the proud mother of three beautiful children and the grandmother to one grandson.  They inspire and motivate her every day to continue working to end gender-based violence.