{"id":16577,"date":"2025-07-10T16:52:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T16:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=16577"},"modified":"2025-07-10T16:52:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T16:52:41","slug":"the-woman-who-wouldnt-stay-quiet-how-celia-williamson-made-toledo-a-global-voice-for-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/the-woman-who-wouldnt-stay-quiet-how-celia-williamson-made-toledo-a-global-voice-for-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"The Woman Who Wouldn\u2019t Stay Quiet: How Celia Williamson Made Toledo a Global Voice for Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Asia Nail<\/em>
\nThe Truth Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n

In the early \u201990s, on her daily commute through north Toledo, Celia Williamson, PhD. <\/strong>noticed the same men and women standing on the corners of Green Street. She didn\u2019t know their names, but she knew their faces. Some looked young. Too young. Some were visibly tired, thin or anxious. All of them seemed like they were waiting\u2014for something, or someone.<\/p>\n

Williamson had just begun her career as a social worker. She was working with kids and families at the Friendly Center<\/em>, pouring everything she had into helping the community heal and grow. But each morning, as she passed Green Street, she felt a knot in her chest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t understand what I was seeing at first,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt made me uncomfortable. I didn\u2019t know how to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that stuck with her. Not just because of what she saw, but because of how easily it was ignored.<\/p>\n

One day, she stopped looking away and smiled.<\/p>\n

Williamson had what she calls an epiphany\u2014a light bulb moment. She remembered her faith, her purpose as a social worker and a promise she once made to help the vulnerable. That\u2019s when she realized something huge: these men and women weren\u2019t the problem. They were people in pain, needing help. So, she started waving. Then she rolled down her window and said hello.<\/p>\n

And one day, she pulled over, got out, and stood beside them.<\/p>\n

Just like that, a seed of trust was planted.<\/p>\n

From Listening to Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

What began as a quiet decision to show up differently\u2014to listen rather than look away\u2014grew into a lifelong mission that would eventually gain national and global attention.<\/p>\n

Dr. Celia Williamson is now a distinguished professor of Social Work at the University of Toledo and the executive director of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute<\/em><\/strong>. A widely respected researcher, advocate and speaker, she was named the 26th most influential social worker alive<\/strong> today for her pioneering work in combating domestic human trafficking and prostitution.<\/p>\n

What Williamson would come to learn\u2014through six months of standing, listening, and learning on the streets of Ohio\u2014was that the people weren\u2019t simply there by choice or circumstance. Many had been abused or abandoned. Some had been pushed into the life by people they trusted. Others had started as teens\u201414, 15 years old\u2014before they could understand what was happening to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1993, there were no programs in Ohio for those involved in prostitution,\u201d she says. \u201cThere were no handbooks on how to help survivors. There were only assumptions, silence, and shame.\u2019 But no one was asking, \u2018What do these women need?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So Williamson asked them. And they told her.<\/p>\n

She started with a car and compassion, handing out sandwiches, socks and dignity. She spoke in jails. She listened. She learned. Then she built Ohio\u2019s first direct-service anti-trafficking program\u2014Second Chance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"N<\/strong>o Manual, No Budget, No Applause<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At first, no one in power understood what she was doing. But the women did. They started requesting Second Chance in court. Judges had never heard of it. But word was spreading.<\/p>\n

And so was hope.<\/p>\n

Williamson went after grant funding and won it. She trained herself, then trained others. In 2009, the FBI recognized her work with the Director\u2019s Community Leadership Award. By 2017, the program evolved into what is now known as RISE<\/strong> which stands for Responding to Individual Survivors of Exploitation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But the work was never about titles. It was about trust.<\/p>\n

And that trust kept growing.<\/p>\n

The new name reflects a deeper truth Williamson had always known: that healing doesn\u2019t happen through punishment or pity. It happens when you meet people where they are, listen without judgment, and support their rise, one step at a time.<\/p>\n

RISE continues the legacy of Second Chance by providing trauma-informed services to those impacted by sex trafficking, prostitution, sexual abuse and interpersonal violence. It offers advocacy, resources, case management and community\u2014all the things that help someone not just survive, but rebuild.<\/p>\n

Not Kidnapped, Coerced<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ask someone about trafficking and they\u2019ll probably mention kidnapping, strangers, vans. The Hollywood movie version.<\/p>\n

Williamson has a different version.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrafficking is not about being snatched. It\u2019s about being manipulated,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt\u2019s not your wrists and ankles that are chained. It\u2019s your head and your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most survivors aren\u2019t abducted. They\u2019re tricked. Groomed. Controlled by someone who pretended to love them. A boyfriend. A friend. A family member. It\u2019s a slow erosion of self.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t just happen to girls. It happens to boys. It doesn\u2019t always look like sex. Sometimes, it looks like labor. Sometimes it looks like smiling through pain, pretending you’re okay.<\/p>\n

What makes trafficking so dangerous is how ordinary it can seem\u2014until it’s too late.<\/p>\n

Why Toledo?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Toledo didn\u2019t become a national hub for anti-trafficking because it had the worst problem. It became the model because someone cared and refused to stay quiet.<\/p>\n

In 2004, Williamson founded the Lucas County Human Trafficking Coalition<\/strong>, pulling together everyone from churches and citizens to law enforcement and survivors.<\/p>\n

That same year, she launched the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference<\/strong> at the University of Toledo. Today, it\u2019s the oldest and largest conference of its kind in the world, hosting attendees from over 60 countries and every U.S. state.<\/p>\n

In 2005, Williamson traveled to Washington, D.C., where a national discussion on child sex trafficking was taking place. She was told there was only one seat at the table\u2014hers. But she knew the stakes were too high for silence or solo efforts. She brought three colleagues with her anyway, guided by a core belief: progress comes from movement, not permission.<\/p>\n

Out of 17 cities given an FBI human trafficking task force, Toledo was the only small city chosen<\/strong>. One year later, they discovered 20 trafficked children at a truck stop in Pennsylvania. All were from Toledo.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the world realized: this woman, and this city, were not exaggerating.<\/p>\n

A Scholar. A Strategist. A Voice.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dr. Celia Williamson\u2019s work may have started on one block in north Toledo, but her influence now spans continents, policies, and generations.<\/p>\n

She writes. She speaks. She teaches.<\/p>\n

She created the Emancipation Nation Podcast<\/strong> and launched the Emancipation Nation Network<\/strong>, a global hub for people working to end trafficking\u2014offering tools, webinars, job leads, and a way to connect.<\/p>\n

She is also the president of the Global Association of Human Trafficking Scholars<\/strong>, a member of the G100 Global Women Changing the World<\/strong>, and is ranked among the top social workers globally for her leadership in advocacy, research, and systemic change.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s at Risk?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Anyone can be trafficked. But not everyone is equally vulnerable. Williamson names them clearly: Black girls. Black boys. Kids in foster care. Kids in poverty. LGBTQ+ youth. Children with disabilities. Those who run away. Those who fall through the cracks.<\/h5>\n

She warns against the \u201csprinkle method\u201d of spreading resources evenly, saying, \u201cThat\u2019s not equity. That\u2019s institutionalized oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf women are more likely to get breast cancer, we give them more support than their male counterparts. It\u2019s Not 50\/50. We give more where the need is greater. It should be no different here.\u201d<\/p>\n

To address this, Dr. Williamson\u2019s team developed a simple screening tool <\/strong>anyone can use\u2014parents, teachers, social workers. They also built a statewide data portal<\/strong> with the Ohio Attorney General so that resources can be targeted by zip code, not guesswork.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just smart policy. It\u2019s survival strategy.<\/p>\n

What About the Kids?<\/h3>\n

Every year, Willaimson\u2019s conference used to host 400 high school students. But when COVID hit, they did something better\u2014they made it virtual and permanent.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called HSOP: High School Outreach Project<\/strong>. It\u2019s a year-round platform for students to learn about dating violence, trafficking, and their rights. This year, students at St. Francis de sales High School are developing their own outreach project\u2014whatever form it takes, it will be theirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing about us without us,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s how we keep our youth aware and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

How You Can Help<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So, what can you do? You don\u2019t have to be a social worker. You don\u2019t have to be rich or famous. You just have to care.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome to a meeting. Join a committee. Share your skills,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cEven if you think you don\u2019t have any, you do. We\u2019ll help you find them.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can also listen to her podcast, Emancipation Nation, which has over 200 free episodes. Or check out the conference at www.traffickingconference.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And if you or someone you know is being trafficked or needs help, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Locally, survivors can call 419-855-2299 <\/strong>for help through the PATH program (Partners Against Trafficking of Humans). There\u2019s even a Survivor\u2019s Journey Group that meets weekly Mondays.<\/p>\n

Final Word: Love Your Village<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Williamson left us with one powerful reminder:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Black community, we talk a lot about the village. We have to be<\/em> that village. That means inviting in our most vulnerable\u2014not judging them. Love them like we love our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in the village that is Toledo, it turns out a lot of healing begins with a little hope, a lot of heart, and the courage to say hello.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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