CHANGEMAKERS: Ateba Croker and a Stand Against Human Trafficking

This is the fourth in an occasional series for Social Enterprise about young changemakers who are creating innovative new social businesses to tackle global problems at home and abroad.]

The owner of Shoe Revolt has much more than a love for shoes behind her social enterprise called Shoe Revolt.  Ateba Crocker, a former college professor in Virginia and business owner, is also a survivor of sexual abuse and prostitution.  She uses that personal history as the driving force behind her social entrepreneurial mission.  Ateba operates an online shoe store whose main goal is to aid in the alleviation of human sex trafficking.  The mission of the company is to use the profit from the purchase of new and donated shoes to financially support anti-trafficking initiatives to eradicate human trafficking for good. 

This idea all sparked from the personal exploitive history of Ateba Croker.  At the age of 9, her father began to verbally and sexually abuse her.  In an interview offered to the Examiner, she stated that growing up, he often sais abusive words to her like, "you look like a prostitute," and often stating that he has the right to touch her because he was her father.  Her mother, who was unaware of the abuse at the time, was also being physically abused by Ateba's father.  In an effort to avoid further beatings at the hand of her husband, Ateba's mother would try to stay away from him as much as possible, and the molestation would occur when she was not home.

After Ateba's parents divorced, she moved from New Jersey to Virginia, where she spent her teenage years.  It was there that she began a promiscuous lifestyle searching for the love she never found from her father.  Eventually, she became pregnant and still very young she wanted to ensure that she was able to provide everything for her son.  The child's father was not able to support them, so she turned to prostitution as a means to make a living.  In her mind, she was already sleeping around, so making the leap to becoming a high priced escort was not all that difficult.  She notes that in the beginning, she thought she was better than that of a street prostitute because she worked for an agency.  However, soon she began to feel dirty and the business began to take a heavy toll on her soul, body, and mind.  Eventually, Ateba began to question if this was all she was created for- as sexual vessel to be used by any man who desires.
 
Soon, Ateba began to feel as though she could not be an effective parent while she sold her body, so in an effort to become a better mom, she left the escort business.  Upon exiting the business, the real work began to put her life back together.  Ateba faced Post Traumatic Disorder after her departure from the sex industry. She also had to undergo extensive therapy and a 12 step program to overcome a substance abuse problem that developed as a coping mechanism.

After her recovery from the prostitution industry, Ateba focused on her education and her son.  She finished her Master's degree in international business management and went on to work in the corporate world and as an educator at a Virginia college.  Following those experiences, Ateba now wants to channel her energies towards her online shoe store, Shoe Revolt, a company that has coined the phrase, "more than a shoe, it's a stand!"
 
The idea came from two passions- a love for shoes and a desire to educate and eradicate human trafficking.  Ateba wanted to find a way to communicate with other women.  Ateba says that "a real shoeista, when she steps on her favorite shoes or if there is a crack on the ground and she breaks her heel, is going to be hot with two ts."  She goes onto say, "I wanted that anger time 200% more to come out of every woman that hears about this injustice against someone that could b her sister or daughter."  Ateba goes onto mention that the driving purpose behind the company is to see the injustice of human trafficking come to an end.  "What gets me up in the morning is to fight my past and all the rejections that hurt me and people in human trafficking and prostitution the most." 

Shoe Revolt operates by requesting companies and celebrities for shoe donations and aims to fight against trafficking in three different ways:

Housing- 75% of women walk into prostitution because they are homeless.  Shoe Revolts mission is to financially sustain current shelters and to help build more.

Decriminalize the victim- Shoe Revolt seeks to offer scholarships to the victims so that she can pursue a higher education.  Shoe Revolt recognizes that the girl is the victim with great potential to bring about the best out of her life.

Healing- Shoe Revolt will support and create more rescue shelters that offer a holistic approach to the recovery against childhood trauma, neglect, sexual and verbal abuse, domestic violence, and poverty.

Ateba is still putting the pieces together and gathering donations.  She hopes to open the store in August, 2010.  She feels a lot of pressure to do this right and represent those who have already supported her in this endeavor; she hopes to make a "humanistic profit- where the dollars are assigned to the value of a girl's life."  Shoe Revolt is a for profit business that recognizes that the only way to fight trafficking is with a steady revenue stream.  In its current form 100% of the net profit is dedicated to fighting human trafficking.  100% goes to a charitable partner and the other 50% goes towards anti-trafficking initiatives, survivor educational scholarships and public advocacy.

Currently, Ateba Croker also champions for this cause by speaking at local churches and conferences on behalf of human trafficking victims and victims of the sex industry.  She has also recently been nominated for a community service award in Hampton Road, Virginia for her efforts.

Let's give a roaring round of applause to Ateba Croker for her efforts, she is definitely on the right path to initiating change.

Photo Credit: Ning