Eyes Open International (EOI) will be honored along with other leading abolitionists from around the country who are fighting to end modern day slavery on Saturday March 25th, 2023 at the Greek Annunciation Banquet Center in Columbus Ohio. Eyes Open International is a Finalist among the 19 organizations nominated in the United States of America.
Dancy and Harold D’Souza are the Co-Founders of Eyes Open International focused on prevention, education, protection, and empowerment of victims, survivors, vulnerable population, and community members to combat human trafficking. The D’Souza family’s story is not only incredible but inspiring on how this family stood like a ‘ROCK’ struggling in the storms of slavery, shame, and stigma with a smile to succeed towards the shores of freedom.
Eyes Open International is cultivating a change, against modern-day slavery by using survivor-informed expertise to create awareness on human trafficking worldwide. EOI believes in change at the grassroots by turning obstacles into opportunities. Uplifting – Victims into survivors, ‘Survivors into Thrivers’, and inspiring survivors to live a happy life from ‘Fear to Freedom’. Suicide or Silence is not a choice, option, or solution. Victims lives Matter, spoke Harold D’Souza.
The Liberator Awards 2023 will be presented in the categories of: Individual, Volunteer, Organization, Law Enforcement/Public Servant, female and male Survivor of the Year, the Liberator of the Year and the Radical Abolitionist Award. All proceeds from the evening will benefit future S.O.A.P. (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution) outreach initiatives that help rescue missing children from being trafficked, as well as hold survivor retreats for both male and female survivors of human trafficking to heal and recover.
Internationally proclaimed survivor-advocate Harold D’Souza spoke to the press; “Eyes Open International took birth to be the ‘Voice for the Voiceless Victims’. It’s God’s Blessing to navigate helpless to hope. Eyes Open International is transforming lives from slavery to success, pain to pleasure, hurt to happiness, stigma to smile, and fear to freedom”.
S.O.A.P. was founded by author, advocate and survivor, Theresa Flores. On her worst night, after being auctioned off to nearly two dozen men in a dingy, dirty, inner city Detroit motel, Theresa recalled the only item that would have reached out to her, a bar of soap. With that in mind, she created S.O.A.P. – Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution – to help reach out to other victims. S.O.A.P. has distributed over 2 million bars of soap with the national human trafficking hotline number to thousands of hotels around the country.
The D’Souza Family from Bajpe, Mangaluru, India has definitely exemplified the epitome of what families are challenged to do while facing disastersin their lives.
If you or anyone you know is a victim of labor exploitation, sexual abuse, or LGBTQ harassment in the United States of America: call 1-888-373-7888, in Canada dial: 1-833-900-1010 and in India call: +91-79902-62632.