Women's Investment Network (WIN)

The WIN International Program
The WIN International program focuses on developing small businesses around the world, either independently or with international partners that provide training and permanent work for the women in our Homes of Hope and beyond. Because poverty is a major cause of women being trafficked into sexual slavery, providing victims with skills and a means of creating their own economic sustainability helps remove the risk of re-victimization.

Today, our WIN International program is active in South Africa, India, and Fiji. Operating businesses include commercial bakeries, hospitality center, florist, toilet paper factories, administrative/IT centers and more.

At our Home of Hope, Fiji, we've established a home ownership program that we hope to employ at all of our Homes of Hope. This program allows women and mothers to purchase a one-bedroom “bure” or cottage. All women have participated in our restorative program for at least one year before being presented this option. Much like buying a first home, they will be required to make monthly home equity payments—interest free—that will be put into a bank account specifically for each woman's use upon her eventual departure from the Home of Hope.


Natalie's Story
Eleven-year-old Natalie watched through the back window of a taxi as her mother stood counting a wad of cash. An old man sat beside Natalie as horror and a sense of betrayal overwhelmed the young girl. Her mother had sold her into the Fijian sex industry.

Natalie is one of thousands of Fijian girls sold into prostitution each year. Tourism is popular in Fiji, bringing European, Australian and American men wanting to buy young girls for a few minutes of pleasure.

Natalie was beaten and forced to marry an abusive sailor. When he abandoned her, she was forced to marry another sailor who also beat her until she feared constantly for her life. Eventually, Natalie had a son, but her husband said the child was not his and he abandoned her also.

Natalie tried to work a respectable job but the challenges of being a single mother prevented it. Her mother, also in prostitution, told her she was selfish for not selling herself for better income. Desperate, Natalie felt she had no other choice. She began working at a sex hotel until she became pregnant again.

That is when she learned about the Village of Hope - a place for girls fleeing the sex industry. The 24-acre village deep in Fiji' s jungle gives women a chance to flee and heal from lives of abuse.

The Village of Hope was founded and is directed by Mark and Lynnie Roche, who have dedicated their lives to restoring young women like Natalie. It is here that Natalie found safety and love for the first time in her life. She also found dignity.

Natalie's life is one example. After joining the Village of Hope, she benefited from the WIN International program. She has earned her teaching certificate at a local institution of higher education. She is now the manager at the village's preschool, where she teaches three-to-five-year-olds. Natalie has also achieved a significant personal victory through WIN - she owns her own home on the village.