Central Florida clothing line designed to help human trafficking victims

Local clothing designer goes global to help victims of human trafficking

ORLANDO, Fla. – A local children's clothing company is fighting human trafficking with a new line of clothing made in Kenya.

When Carolyn Bailey, Founder of Treasure Box Kids, an online children's clothing company, learned about human trafficking in the clothing industry, she knew it was time for a change.  

Her clothes are manufactured here by local seamstresses and shipped around the country through online sales.

"I met a man named Mark Palmer from Fashion Hope and he really explained to me the horrors of human trafficking, how it affects women and that there was something that could be done. I realized that my company, already designing a line of children's clothing, that I could design an additional line and actually have it help women."

With that conversation, the Little Maisha line was born. "Maisha means life in Swahili and so our clothes bring life to people." 

The Little Maisha Line, designed with bold bright colors, will be manufactured in Kenya by former victims of human trafficking and domestic violence.

"In Kenya they have a very large problem with human trafficking. There are 20-thousand children that are trafficked each year," Bailey says. "They have a 40-60 percent unemployment rate. They have no hope." 

Nearly 21-million people are trafficked for commercial sex and forced labor around the world and according to Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking Florida ranks 4th in the number of reported cases in the U.S.

Bailey created a crowd funding campaign to raise $20, 000 which will get the line up and running. By contributing you will receive one of the children's outfits or an infinity scarf, both  made in Kenya by former victims of human trafficking or domestic abuse.  

"The goal is $20,000 in the Indigogo campaign. That will start manufacturing, we'll fulfill the rewards and then start manufacturing the beginning of the line."

Bailey says Kenya is a test program for future projects here in the U.S. 

"When someone buys anything from the Little Maisha line they're going to know that they've put a woman to work, that they've put something in place that can actually help change her life and change the life of her children and family." 


About the Author:

Paul is a Florida native who graduated from the University of Central Florida. As a multimedia journalist, Paul enjoys profiling the people and places that make Central Florida unique.

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