Racha Haffar Goalkeeper
Racha Haffar: Activist, Entrepreneur, Visionary
Founder, Youth Against Slavery Movement
US
Goal 5: Gender Equality
Racha Haffar was 18 years old when she almost fell into a human trafficking trap. She needed income to afford postsecondary education in the UK and responded to an ad for babysitting jobs. She later realized this ad was false. In this sense, Racha is one of the lucky ones—she soon became aware of how many other girls in need of income and lacking economic empowerment had fallen for these ads and become modern-day slaves. Racha’s narrow escape stoked a fire in her to speak out about this alarmingly common, yet seldom acknowledged, evil.
A passion for intersectionality
In her work, Racha is increasingly frustrated about how the reality of human trafficking often gets left out of broader conversations about human rights, gender equality, and economic empowerment. Her passion for intersectionality stems from her own childhood pain. Racha feels she has never quite fit any mold. “I was always the outsider,” she says. Her mother is Tunisian, and her father is half Syrian and half Palestinian. No matter where she lived, she has been othered: In Dubai, she was the Tunisian who didn’t belong; in Tunisia, she was the Syrian who didn’t speak French; and now in the United States, she is the immigrant. She also recalls being othered due to gender when growing up. Stern family restrictions were placed on her to preserve her femininity and purity, and her interests in ballet and horseback riding were cut short as a result. Racha believes that discriminatory sociocultural norms enable objectification, and thus dehumanization, of women. “Everything is connected,” she says. “We need to look at [this work] from an intersectional approach—that’s how we achieve justice without leaving anyone behind.”
Racha engages by claiming global spaces and anchoring the narrative of human trafficking through other gender-related causes. One such global space is the Youth Against Slavery Movement (YASM), a nonprofit organization that Racha has been building for the past four years and will officially launch soon. Based in New York, its mission is to create an inclusive world free of slavery in all its forms through engagement and empowerment of youth around the world. Beyond YASM, global collaboration is another way in which Racha hopes to transform the world and discussions around human trafficking. She founded the Anti-Slavery Collective for Generation Equality that 150 civil society organizations have joined; it includes activists working on economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, technology, and climate change.
We’re not just bodies
One thing Racha wants people to know about the life of an activist? “We’re not just bodies.” Activist work can take a toll on the body, and Racha is no exception. She has suffered sciatica, a herniated disc, and a torn meniscus in the course of her work, as well as psychological fatigue and hurt. It has become vital for Racha to listen to her body, teach herself how to rest, and prioritize well-being. “Being burned out isn’t normal, though our toxic work culture makes it seem normal. Mother Nature is my solace and number one escape,” she says. Racha loves writing as a way of working through mental fog, as well as taking all opportunities to dance, swim, and live her life in a way that accords her freedom. Indeed, at the center of Racha’s life and work is a fierce belief in freedom. Her message for her younger self, and for all women living in this world who aren’t seen, economically empowered, accepted, or included, is to declare rebellion.
“It is the right of every woman, every human, to rebel against everything that denies them existence and humanity,” she says.
May 2021