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fering classes, job training, counseling and even childcare, the organization seeks to give these women the tools they need to regain control of their life on their own terms.

“We meet the women where they are,” says Lauren Haskins, development director for New Friends New Life. “No one is court-ordered to be here. The women who come here, they’re looking for change.”

On any given night, about 400 teens are trafficked in the commercial sex trade on the streets of Dallas, according to New Friends New Life’s research. The vast majority come from broken homes, girls who slipped through the cracks by neglectful or abusive parents. But others come from good traditional homes, lured into prostitution by manipulative predators, more and more commonly through social media.

“A big trend right now is boyfriend pimps. They’re the ones who say ‘I love you, I’ll take care of you’,” says Haskins. “Anytime you’re involved in any commercial sexual act under the age of 18, you’re being trafficked. You’ll hear us say this a lot, but a child cannot choose to prostitute herself.”

Situated in a non-descript office building near Central Expressway, the address of which is kept confidential to protect clients, New Friends New Life is working to combat human trafficking from all sides. In addition to helping women reestablish themselves after fleeing the life, they work to educate at-risk youth to be savvy and protect themselves from predators; and they look at demand, encouraging men to consider the potential impact of their actions.

“I think the majority of people know human trafficking exists, I don’t think the majority think it’s happening in their backyard,” Haskins says, explaining that her group has worked with girls from a wide swath of neighborhoods and socioeconomic backgrounds.

They are a standing fixture at the Letot Center in Northwest Dallas, a crisis intervention shelter for runaways, children taken by the Department of Family Protective Services and other wayward youth. They work with girls, hoping to catch them before they fall through the cracks and give them the tools needed to avoid street predators. They know, once a girl is back on the street, it’s only a matter of time before she’s at risk.

“After 48 hours on the street, the average runaway will be approached by a trafficker,” Haskins says.

In addition to education, the organization focuses on pushing laws that fight sex trafficking. They’ve set their sights on “johns,” men who are rarely punished for their crimes in Texas, they say. The nonprofit is lobbying for stricter laws that would bring specific consequences to those who pay for sex.

“We see statistics that 85 percent of those buying commercial sex with children get a suspended sentence, they never see jail time, they never even have a jury,” said New Friends New Life CEO Katie Pedigo in the KERA interview. “That’s something we as a community have to say, ‘No more.’ For there to be true systemic change, we all have to come together and say, particularly with a minor, we are not going to look away, we are going to insist that it be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The Dallas Police Department was recognized nationally for its diligent and delicate handling of child prostitutes. In 2005 the “High Risk Victims” unit was developed specifically to help repeat runaways get into counseling and away from their pimps, seeking to nip child prostitution in the bud. It proved so successful, in 2007 Congress green lit a $55 million program that would have allowed other police departments to create similar units modeled directly after Dallas’ system (it was later dropped from the federal budget amid a dispute with President George W. Bush, according to a 2009 New York Times article).

New Friends New Life works closely with Dallas police and speaks highly of their continued efforts to fight trafficking on the streets. But it takes investments from all sides. That’s why New Friends New Life works from Congress to the classroom, hoping to pull back the veil on this black market industry to make trafficking part of a wider national discussion.

It’s a discussion Robin is conflicted about. She acknowledges there are girls who are abused and enslaved every day, but doesn’t feel she’s ever been one of them.

“My choices are my choices,” she says emphatically.

As she lines up her night of work, four men and counting, her thoughts return to New Friends New Life. “Maybe I should check them out,” she says. “It’s not like there’s a retirement plan in this business. And I’ll be washed up by the time I’m 24.”