The Hidden Girls project supports girls who are cut off from the outside world for their own safety. These girls have experienced sexual and/or domestic abuse and live in safe houses.

With our Trauma Relief Movement program we provide dance and sports on a weekly basis. Our coaches work together with trauma specialists to make a positive impact on the emotional, physical and mental health of these Hidden Girls. Within The Netherlands we run our program in Rotterdam and Utrecht. We are about to run this weekly program also in the safe houses of Mexico City.

Isabel ( 14, victim of sex trafficking ) I find it difficult to accept my body and feel a connection with it. I had three abortions before I became pregnant at the age of 12. Now I am here in this shelter with my daughter.”

We will provide weekly training sessions costumized for each shelter. Based on the preference of the girls, we send the dance or sports coaches that fits their wishes.

Our coaches have different cultural backgrounds and are ready to become the role models who influence these girls in an uplifting way.

The aim of this project is to soften the traumas of these girls using dance and sports. We will improve the mental, physical and emotional health of the Hidden Girls. To validate and increase our impact of this project, wehave  partnered with the Radboud University.

First, teach children to feel safe in their bodies again, which is the key to treating children with trauma. A trauma is an event that has passed, but it does not become a memory but a re-experiencing.”

– Bessel van der Kolk, founder Trauma Research Foundation.

You are marked for life when you had a traumatic experience at a young age and did not receive the aftercare from your immediate environment to process this.

“Children can only develop properly in safety. With more knowledge in the field of trauma, behavioral problems of children – busyness, aggression, not being able to concentrate, difficult to connect – can also be ‘tackled’.”

– Anne van den Ouwelant, founder Trauma International and Trauma company.

Trauma settles in the right side of the brain, the same area you also make connections with others. Trauma specialists recommend keeping yourself busy after experiencing a traumatic event. Isolation makes you stay in your thoughts and worry more. Following a group activity, like dance or sports, has immediately a positive effect on the connections in the brain. By entering new experiences and being stimulated in a positive way, you break through the patterns of the past and create a new reality. This helps soften a trauma. Brain scans have shown that dancing, singing, sports and yoga have an undeniable effect on the brain. It can not replace psychotherapy, but it does have a great impact on trauma relief.

Move Forward aims to introduce a trauma-relieving exercise program, Hidden Girls, to at least 200 girls currently residing in 8 reception locations in Rotterdam and 4 locations in Utrecht. 

These locations include:

– Housing victims of loverboys and human trafficking

– Shelters for teenage mothers and victims of domestic violence

– Youth Care: offering open and closed youth care services

This initiative focuses on providing dance, boxing, and sports activities for girls residing in these shelters, offering them a safe space and physical outlets in their journey toward recovery and empowerment.