Elburn woman fights against human slavery

Kristen Hendricks of Elburn considers herself an ordinary business woman with a unique product. Yet, she will tell you she wants to change the world, one handbag at a time.

Her specialty is designer handbags, which she sells through Juxtaposie, the business she founded and co-owns. Her passion is raising awareness of one of the globe's most shameful crimes: human trafficking.

"I saw a film about it last year and it gripped my heart," Hendricks said. "I thought, what can I do about it?"

Hendricks' research led her to meet Bob Goff, founder and president of Restore International, a nongovernmental agency working against the crime. This meeting led her to Uganda.

Hendricks and her business partner, Jamie Scroggs, and Jessica Goodrum, an employee at Juxtaposie, made a 10-day journey with Goff to the African nation in March. They chose Uganda because, according to Hendricks, it is a source and destination country for men, women and children trafficked for forced labor or sexual exploitation.

"The children are sold by their parents or abducted," Hendricks said. "The girls are forced into prostitution. Some of the girls sold are as young as four."

While in Uganda, the three women went to the Ugandan capitol to meet with officials who are establishing laws and policies to fight human trafficking, and also traveled into the bush to meet with victims of the civil war that has ravished Uganda for more than 20 years.

They visited an orphanage and met with students at Restore Academy, a school that is preparing talented youngsters for leadership roles in the community.

Hendricks wanted to find out how she could help. It didn't take long for her to develop a plan.

Each handle of her designer handbags contains two or more "Acholi" beads, made out of recycled magazines and dipped in resin by women who were victimized by Uganda's civil war. Using the beads in the handbags benefits the women financially and also helps to raise awareness. Plus, 10 percent of all Juxtaposie online purchases will go to the fight against human trafficking.

"It's not fundraising," Hendricks said. "And it's not like we're saying, 'Aren't we great.' We are committed to raising awareness about this terrible problem that is beyond comprehension.

"After hearing the stories first hand, I felt compelled to help, instead of just deciding there was nothing I could do," she added. "If a handbag designer from Elburn can do something, anyone can."

Hendricks founded Juxtaposie in 2002 and she is the president and senior designer. She sold strictly to retailers until 18 months ago, when Juxtaposie began selling directly to the public. Her company exists not only to sell fashionable handbags, she says, but to "rescue and restore children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation."

For information, visit www.juxtaposie.com.