Lived Experience Expert Groups

 
 

The Lived Experience Expert Group (LEEGs) on the Government Response Index (GRI), is a 3-day workshop facilitated by Survivor Alliance and Walk Free in collaboration with a selected in-country partner organization. The LEEGs workshop is a safe and inclusive environment where up to 20 survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking come together and learn about the GRI in the Global Slavery Index (GSI) that assesses the government’s response to slavery through 5 outlined milestones.

The workshops include interactive activities that seek to identify and address gaps within the current grading system and milestones within the GRI. Participants learn about the importance of survivor leadership and ways to leverage the GSI to support the development of local survivor-led advocacy strategies with the support of Survivor Alliance and Walk Free.

LEEGs History

  • In 2018, Survivor Alliance and Walk Free partnered to conduct its first LEEGs workshop in the UK. Since then, the LEEGs workshop has been facilitated in other countries like India, Ghana, Kenya, and most recently in Brazil.

  • In 2023, Survivor Alliance reconnected with participants from Ghana and Kenya LEEGs workshops to provide technical assistance to support the development of their own survivor-led advocacy campaign and strategies utilizing the GSI as a point of leverage.

This photo is credited from our Brazil 2023 LEEGs workshop. (Hands outstretched, coming together in a group)

Future LEEGs Workshop Locations:

2025: Australia

This process is inclusive for people of different levels of education and experience with research and incorporates tangible examples of the role survivors can play in anti-slavery work beyond the LEEGs. The 3-day workshop is premised on the principle that survivors are experts by experience and their participation in efforts to address modern slavery is crucial.

Survivor Alliance and Walk Free staff trying on the traditional dresses they received as gifts from Kasma in Ethiopia.

our global LEEGs Partners

We want to thank our partner allies at Walk Free and in-country global partners for their commitment and dedication to supporting the advancement of survivor leadership! We hope to continue expanding the LEEG workshop in other countries in the near future.


In 2023 and 2024 Survivor Alliance connected with Lived Experience Expert Group (LEEG) participants from Thailand, Brazil and Ethiopia on the Government Response Index (GRI) to collect and consolidate the input of survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking regarding government performance on addressing slavery within their countries. Survivor Alliance and Walk Free in partnership with local organizations KASMA, Instituto Trabalho Decente (ITD) and The Whispering Willow (TWW) co-hosted the LEEGs workshop - a workshop that is survivor-led and survivor-driven to ensure that survivors have a trauma-informed and safe environment where they can feel empowered to contribute to how their governments are graded on their response to slavery and human trafficking.