Business School helps previously trafficked women realise their potential

Helping previously trafficked women

A five year extended partnership between Imperial College Business School and Her Equality, Rights and Autonomy (HERA) organisation.

Empowering formerly trafficked women so that they have the skills and confidence to set up their own businesses or move back into professional roles will be the main objective of a five year extended partnership between Imperial College Business School and Her Equality, Rights and Autonomy (HERA) organisation.

A recent report compiled by the Association of Chief Police Officers found that at least 2,600 women are working as prostitutes in England and Wales having been trafficked from abroad.

Over the next five years, the Business School will collaborate with HERA to provide entrepreneurship skills, training and mentoring for formerly trafficked women to raise their aspirations.

The Business School will be hosting the entrepreneurship training programme in July where 36 women will receive training and be matched with professional mentors.  The mentors will guide the women in their final project of a business plan and provide further supportafter the programme.   In addition, the Business School will help to recruit professional and business mentors from their programmes.

HERA works to support entrepreneurship and professional mentoring to help these women start a new life.  In London alone, 40 women have received entrepreneurship training and 40 mentors have supported their work.  Since the launch of the organisation HERA has provided entrepreneurship and/or mentor training to over 130 women and men worldwide.

HERA graduates have started ventures ranging in catering to accounting services they have also gone on to study law, business, accounting and liberal arts.

Anna, whose name has been changed, is one example of a student who recently graduated from the Entrepreneurship Training at the Business School. In Albania, where her family still resides, Anna received a university degree in Maths.  After graduation, she came to London to pursue a job offer in a travel agency and was duped and forced into prostitution.  Rescued in a police raid after several months, she was referred to a social service agency, where she received shelter and support services.  Once she felt safe and ready to pursue her career again, the charity invited her to a presentation given by some HERA graduates about their entrepreneurship training and mentoring experiences.  Since Anna had always wanted to have her own business, she decided to sign up for the entrepreneurship training at the Business School.

On the first day of training, Anna watched but did not engage. She sat on the far corner of the room and did not speak unless spoken to directly.  As the course progressed, she became increasingly active and began asking questions.  During a weekend session, she also brought some of her own homemade pastries to share with her fellow students and professors.  By the end of the ten-day training, she was confidently asking questions, joining in with her team to build and fire off a rocket, investigating and analysing stalls and pricing in Borough Market, and planning a pastry making business.

During the course, she met her future mentor, a young businessman, who had direct experience in starting and financing a small IT business. Together they discussed her idea of a catering/pastry venture and he helped her think through her final class presentation, which is a requirement for receiving an Imperial College London entrepreneurship training certificate.After leaving the course, Anna initially found customers in her immediate neighbourhood but is now working to expand her market base.  With her mentor, she has developed business cards to promote her products and is working with him to build a website.

Commenting on the extended partnership, Hamza Siddiq, MBA Programme Manager at Imperial College Business School, said:

“We aim to harness the extensive expertise and experienceof our staff at the Business School in order to help equip these women with the knowledge and training needed to forge their own path in the world of business and work.  There have already been some fantastic examples of achievements of HERA graduates, who have demonstrated entrepreneurial determination, perseverance and survival skills.  This extended partnership with HERA will allow the Business School to help even more women.”