Sex Trafficking In The USA Copyright Š 2014 USA Freedom. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. USA Freedom is a nonprofit organization that advocates against Modern Day Slavery occurring in the United States of America.
For the slaves who find themselves in bondage today. For the ones crying out for help. For the ones that have already given up. For the voiceless. May this serve as their voice to shed a light on Modern Day Slavery and rescue them from captivity.
The USA Freedom nonprofit organization aims to bring awareness about Sex Trafficking in the USA.
CONTENTS 08 Sex Trafficking 10
How Does It Happen In the USA? Pimp-Controlled Prostitution Truck Stop Prostitution Other Forms of Sex Trafficking Asian Massage Parlors Latino Hostess Clubs Russian Driving Networks
20 Holes In The U.S. Justice System 22
Freedom Stories Tina Frundt Nikolaos Al-Khadra Barbara Amaya
30 Stop Sex Trafficking
Sex Trafficking. The Sex Trade. Sexual Exploitation.
What is it? It is a form of Modern Day Slavery, and it happens today. SEX SLAVERY. It is happening at this very moment. In the Land of the Free where we Let Freedom Ring slavery still exists. It exists in a different form than it did hundreds of years ago where it was tied to the law and completely legal to own slaves, but it still exists. It is not just an international problem, it’s actually happening in our very own backyard. I want you to think about young women and even girls that you have seen late at night when you come home from work or a social event. Maybe you have seen them in the streets in short dresses and spike heels. You turn your heads to look away. We do not look at the faces of these young women and girls who are forced to be out in the street. Maybe we think this is what they want to do or they wouldn’t be out there. Maybe it is easier to believe that it is an empowering choice they have than face the harsh reality of child sexual abuse, physical and mental abuse, and the pimps that prey on the young women and girls.
HIDDEN TRUTHS
This book addresses the evils of Sex Trafficking, discovering its hidden truths here in the United States of America. Sex Trafficking is a form of Human Trafficking which according to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. Today, Human Trafficking ranks as the third largest international crime industry, with illegal drugs and arms trafficking above it. It generates a profit
of $32 billion every year. Human Trafficking is a crime that reaps high profits at low risk for traffickers2. Sexual exploitation is the most commonly identified factor driving human trafficking 3. The TVPA defines Sex Trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act. As shocking as it may sound, Child Sex Trafficking exists today as well and it is defined as the obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age. Simply, it is sexual violence as a business.
CLOSER TO HOME
When we hear the words "Sex Trafficking," as Americans we immediately think of women and children overseas who are being forced into the sex trade or who are brought into the United States for the purpose of sexual exploitation. We don't usually think closer to home; Americans trafficked by Americans. Today, the U.S sexual slavery market is growing, in and outside our country, using none other than Americans. The nightmare of forced prostitution thrives when law enforcement cannot or does not protect vulnerable children and women. According to the FBI, the average girl becomes involved in sexual exploitation between 12 and 14. The Polaris Project states that the average age of entry into prostitution for boys is 11 – 13. Many victims are runaways who were sexually abused as children. Some 293,000 American youths are at risk of becoming victims. The United States Department of Justice states that 80% of victims are women and The US Department of State reports that 50% are minors. According to a study many victims involve men and transgender people as well.
300 60
32
BILLION BILLION BILLION
Human Trafficking
ranks as the third largest International crime industry, with illegal drugs and arms trafficking above it.
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Strip Clubs. Hotels. Truck Stops. Massage Parlors. Brothels.
These are the places where the sex trade business happens. In plain sight sex slaves are forced to provide sexual services to customers, here in the Land of The Free. Today, the business of human sex trafficking is very organized and violent. The victims (women, men, young girls and boys) are sold to traffickers, locked up in rooms or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and raped repeatedly. Young women are sold as “fresh meat” and taken by force. Kery Rodriguez who was arrested in 2013 admitted that “the key is to keep them drugged, and locked up, and have them at gunpoint.”1 These continual abuses make it easier for the traffickers to control their victims. The captives are so afraid and intimidated that they rarely speak out against their traffickers, even when faced with an opportunity to escape.
BOYFRIENDS & PARENTS
How a person enters the sex trade can vary from force, abduction, coercion, or fraud. Some are tricked into the American Sex Trade through false jobs promising “interviews” or “castings” to get them to end up in a particular location where they are trapped. Some younger victims are abducted and forcefully put into the sex trade. Others are coerced by their “boyfriends” who are actually pimps that begin to emotionally and physically control them in order to force them into the sex trade business. It is important to be aware that a pimp or trafficker does not fit the typical stereotype. A pimp can be a mother, or a father that employs a housekeeper and exploits her sexually. It can be a business person. But they are using some type of aspect thats going to control that individual and what it is that their doing.
Sex trafficking, according to John Martin, Executive Director of Paso del Norte a Center of Hope, is really a controlling issue. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that of the roughly 450,000 plus U.S. children who run away from home each year, at least one-third of teens end up homeless and lured to into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.
MEDIA INFLUENCES
Pimps prey on the vulnerable such as runaways by finding their weakness and then exploiting it. It is easier to manipulate children, and by the time children become adults, they have already been broken down and are completely dependent on their pimps. Some victims are recruited into the sex trade through friends and family. In family controlled trafficking situations, the trafficker can often be a child’s mother or grandma, who tells the youth, “we all make money together, we’re in this household and you have to contribute.” Families may “pimp out” their kids to support a drug addiction. Although the media influences us
to believe that males are pimps and buyers of sex, women are also part of the sex trade business; according to a John Jay study, 40% of boys and 11% of girls said that they had served a female client. Other studies suggest that women make up 35-40% of traffickers (pimps).
the key is to keep them drugged, and locked up, at gunpoint.
Of 450,000 plus U.S. child runaways, 1/3 of teens are, lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. 13
Sex trafficking happens in the U.S. through different ways including street prostitution, fake businesses that are really underground brothels, and even truck stops and cab services. Sex trafficking is marketed on the streets by pimps, controlled by violent gangs and organized crime, and marketed through residential brothels and businesses like strip clubs, escort services and massage parlors. More than 42% of reported sex trafficking cases are pimp-controlled prostitution, the most commonly referenced form of sex trafficking, occurring mostly in places like hotels, truck stops and street corners. But the greatest and most recent proliferation has been through the Internet. There is a cyber slave market through Craigslist, Backpage and other sites such as dating sites, hooking up sites, and Online escort services. Backpage.com is one of the major enablers of Online child sex trafficking through its adult section advertisements. Pimps and Traffickers use Backpage and other sites to arrange sex encounters with trafficked clients through code words associated within the sex trade business.
PIMP-CONTROLLED PROSTITUTION
As mentioned, the most commonly referenced form of sex trafficking is pimp-controlled prostitution. It is important to realize that what we have been taught on TV and the media about pimps and prostitution is false. There is no joy in prostitution and pimps are not cool. We have to open our eyes to the violence and control that pimps and sex traffickers exercise over their victims. The idea that prostitutes exercise free will is a lie, according to advocates and former victims. Pimps know exactly who to target such as runaway teens and youth from broken homes, foster children, undocumented immigrants, and victims of abuse.
Faces of arrested pimps in the USA
Traffickers also prey on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youths’ because they struggle with their identity and often hostile communities and that makes them perfect victims. Many of the runaway victims who get caught into sex trafficking by pimps, were sexually abused as children. Pimps also search for victims in junior and high schools, courtrooms/buildings, foster homes, bus stations, homeless shelters, restaurants, bars, parks and playgrounds. Kidnappings also take place in order to force victims into the sex trade. Moreover, victims can range from poor to rich, men or women, adults or children. Pimps prey on victims by strategically getting into their hearts & minds through giving them lots of attention & support. Since victims are usually from broken homes they get easily attached and end up falling into sex trafficking.
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victim is manipulated emotionally and physically and is dependent on the pimp
ship it on
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pimp develops a relationship with the targeted victim using false promises
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fear and intimidation is created by the pimp through rape, torture, & threats victim is forcefully educated about sex through pornography as well as rape Pimp-controlled prostitution is operated through a process of stages that grooms victims into becoming tamed sex slaves. As described the first few stages consists of developing a relationship with the victim. The second stage consists of manipulation in the relationship in order to transition a victim into the sex trade. Once forced into the sex trade, a pimp will begin the third stage in which a victim is fully initiated into the sex trade and taught how to behave. In this “seasoning/ initiation” stage, pimps will torture and rape their victims to instill fear and intimidation. Pimps use force, fraud, and coercion to exert full control over their victims; including, beating, slapping, burning, rape, confinement, torture, initiations, false promises, threats, intimidation, humiliation, emotional abuse, creating dependency, monitoring, and more. Pimps often move their victims from place to place in order to avoid detection. This lessens the chances for a victim to find help or try to escape. They forcefully educate their victims about sex through the viewing of pornography and rape in order to desensitize their victims on what they are supposed to perform sexually. Additionally, traffickers will commonly force their victims to participate in pornography, be it as a gateway into prostitution, or an additional service that they are required to provide. Victims are given a daily “quota” of money to make,
which usually ranges from $500 to $1000 dollars; the pimp takes all of the money in its entirety; and failure to meet a quota results in severe physical torture and even deprivation of food and water.
TRUCK STOP PROSTITUTION
Due to their remote locations and dominant male-customer base, truck stops and rest areas are common locations where pimps place their victims to engage in commercial sex. Commercial sex in these areas are advertised through Citizens Band (CB) radio, knocking on truck cab doors, walking up and down the tarmac, or directly offering services to men. Traffickers also use the Internet to provide escort services for clients seeking commercial sex while at a truck stop; an easy way to sell child sex. Escort services may claim to advertise adult women but advertise commercial sex with minors through coded language such as “barely legal” or “young.” Truckers are also encouraged to visit fake massage businesses and commercial front brothels by posting large billboards along the highway. Prices at truck stops typically range from $25 to $100 per sex act depending on types of sex acts, the use or lack of protection, geographic location, etc. Clients include male truckers often on the road for long periods of time looking for commercial sex on the way; they signal that they want to purchase sex using their headlights or stickers on their windows.
Truck Stops Advertised on Citizens Band & the Internet
OTHER FORMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING
Certain forms of sex trafficking do not directly exploit U.S. citizens but are discussed here because they occur in the U.S. and have much to do with the severe problem of sex trafficking here in America. These forms of sex trafficking are Asian Networks, Latino Networks, and Russian Networks in which victims are trafficked from other countries into the U.S. for sexual exploitation. Undocumented victims already in the U.S. are also targeted victims who are often lured into these networks through false promises of jobs that will help them out of poverty through “quick money.” Once in the network victims are often closely monitored and intimidated, making it difficult for them to escape.
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ASIAN SEX TRAFFICKING Asian Sex Trafficking Networks function in the U.S. through Fake Massage Businesses that operate as commercial-front brothels claiming to offer legitimate services such as massages, acupuncture, and other therapeutic, health, and spa services. They are most common within the Asian population in the U.S. What makes them distinguishable from legitimate massage businesses is that they provide commercial sex to customers as well. They operate and attempt to behave like legitimate massage businesses and frequently operate in strip malls, office buildings, and sometimes residential homes, in urban, suburban, and rural areas in almost all of the 50 U.S. states. Fake massage businesses operate
as an extensive, sophisticated organized crime network with multiple controllers who act in concert with each other. As a seemingly legitimate registered business, fake massage businesses often advertise openly in newspapers, magazines, billboards, phone and Online directories, and on Online websites. Undocumented victims already in the U.S. are also targeted victims who are often lured into these networks through false promises. Once in the network victims are often closely monitored and intimidated, making it difficult for them to escape. Victims are often Asian women between the ages of 18 and 55 and rarely include minors. They are rotated amongst brothels at a certain frequency such as once every 2-3 weeks, and typically
Fake Massage Businesses frequently operate in strip malls, office buildings, and sometimes residential homes, in urban, suburban, and rural areas in almost all of the 50 U.S. states.
live on-site and remain indoors while they are kept at a specific location. Clients allowed into these locations which are controlled through a buzzing system and locked doors, are any man of any age or nationality; although, most clients tend to be middle to upper class professional males. Massage businesses with all-male clientele is a strong indicator that commercial sex may be taking place, as well as windows covered with bards, boards, or dark curtains. Victims are trafficked into the Fake Massage Business through false promises of a better job and life. Most happen to be immigrant women who are already vulnerable due to language barriers and unfamiliarity with their legal rights in the U.S. They are deceived into thinking they will be providing massage. Victims are controlled through different means including
psychological abuse, threats, document confiscation, isolation, debt bondage, rotation from place to place keeping them unfamiliar with their surroundings, capitalizing on language barriers, and sometimes although less seen within the Fake Massage Business, physical abuse and violence. It is important to know that the Asian Sex Trafficking Network may also operate not only through massage parlors but also hostess clubs, residential brothers, karaoke bars, and escort services. There are more than 5,000 brothels disguised as massage parlors throughout the USA today and the average amount a brothel makes each week per sex slave is $5,250. In New York City, sex services in massage parlors range from $40 to $100 per hour.
They are deceived into thinking they will be giving massages.
the average amount a brothel makes each week per sex slave is
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victims
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LATINO SEX TRAFFICKING
& are forced to have sex with
Latino Sex Trafficking Networks function in the U.S. through Residential Brothels that are typically informal underground businesses which operate in residential and non-commercial areas. Common venues include: homes, town homes, condos, apartments, and trailers in urban, suburban, and rural areas. They are most common among the Latin population in the U.S. They maintain a flexible and mobile status. They get the word out through low cost printing, business cards and word of mouth. These brothels sometimes include escort deliveries in which women are delivered to a customers apartment or hotel room. Residential brothels also operate as Latino hostess club bars or “cantinas.” Hostess Clubs differ from underground brothels in that they register and operate as legitimate businesses but are tied to residential brothels; the Hostess Club is the place where customers come to solicit women in prostitution. They sell food and drink, are open to the public and include dancing and music. They function similar to what appears to be a regular sports bar, catering primarily to a male customer base. Victims typically include Latin women and children living in poverty who are searching for a better life. Frequently the victims
are undocumented and have no access to their documents. They are targeted in a variety of ways including print advertisements, informal communications, or word of mouth with promises of “quick money.” Victims typically live and sleep at the brothel location and are rotated to new locations every 1-2 weeks. The pricing structure consists of $30 for 15 minute sex acts of which the traffickers take all the money. They are forced to have sex with 20-40 men per day and are deprived of sleep. They work extremely long hours which reduces their resistance and enables their traffickers to better control them. Traffickers control their victims through threats of reporting them to law enforcement, told they cannot leave, physical assault, and threats of serious harm through the presence of guns, knives and weapons at the brothel that intimidate the women. They are transported to different locations through a transporter and have no independent freedom. Their traffickers typically include Latino male controllers/pimps, although some cases have included females as well. Clients are commonly described as a “closed network” which include Latin men.
RUSSIAN SEX TRAFFICKING
Russian Sex Trafficking Networks have been found to exist within the Northern New Jersey & New York area in connection with driving agencies. They are most common among the Russian population in the U.S. According to the FBI, characteristics of the Russian Driving Networks indicate that they may be connected to organized crime but the extent of the connection is not fully known. The victims are women from Eastern Europe and Russia who are recruited and employed to work in the U.S., sometimes with fraudulent visas. Most are in their 20’s although some may be minors. The victims are transported to go-go clubs and strip clubs in the U.S. where they are dancers and are possibly sexually exploited. Statistics show that three fourths of interviewed women say they were lured with false job promises and forced into the sex trade upon arrival to the U.S. Victims work from 6-7 days for 10 hours not including transportation.
since transportation is always arranged for them by those in the network. They are also controlled through threats of physical violence, threats that the mafia will harm them or their families, and deportation. Furthermore, victims often have a sort of debt bondage with the network because they are charge a whole line of fees in order to work; including, daily fees of approximately $55 for transportation, a fee to perform in the club about $40, a fee for the DJ at the club around $25, a fee for the bouncer also around $25, and occasionally another fee for the “house mom” or stage director. The daily fees in total typically reach to several hundred dollars in which the women are unable to pay. Clients include customers from the clubs.
Most of the victims are housed in Brighton Beach and Brooklyn and are typically picked up around 3:00PM, dropped off in different strip clubs in the New Jersey area, and brought back home around 6:00AM. Their movements are restricted and monitored, 21
HOLES IN THE U.S. JUSTICE SYSTEM One of the reasons why the sex trafficking business in the U.S. is growing and generates a profit $32 billion every year instead of declining in profit and ceasing to exist, is because our criminal justice system is deeply flawed. Several factors contribute to the persistence of slavery practices despite it being illegal in most countries, most significantly, poverty, the lack of enforcement of anti-slavery laws, and crime and corruption, including at the state level. There are holes in our justice system that must be repaired. Trafficked children are treated as criminals despite federal law classifying anyone under 18 years of age a victim. Kate Mogulescu, an attorney at Legal Aid Society says that, “there is a fundamental perverseness about it because you have to be arrested and charged for prostitution first even if you are under 18. It has always been the state versus the trafficking victim, who is considered a defendant and that just doesn’t go away. 16 and 17 year olds are prosecuted as adults even though technically the law regards them as victims.” The U.S. Department of Justice found that law enforcement officers are more likely to arrest underage boys engaged in commercial sex rather than refer them to social service providers, as they do with girls. Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida wrote in The Hill, “those who buy children are rarely arrested and charged with statutory rape, child endangerment or sexual assault of a minor. For all that we talk of getting tough on crime and protecting our kids, it is rarely the buyer and much more often the trafficked girl who is punished for what is essentially child abuse and rape.” Neither the pimp/trafficker nor the buyer of sex are pursed for arrest. Instead, prostitutes are often the ones arrested and are treated as criminals rather than the victims that they are. According to the Urban Justice Center, 30% of prostitute victims said they had been threatened with violence by the police in New York City. Eight out of thirty reported to having experienced violence by the police in NYC. Sexual harassment by the police was reported by 17% of prostitute victims and 77% reported being falsely arrested.
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“I was locked in the closet on numerous occasions, had my arm broken with a baseball bat, and my finger broken which never set right again.”
“I knew a john would either kill me or I would kill one of them. I escaped that life, but the exiting was hard. There are zero programs to help young men out of prostitution. I pray someday there will be.”
“During my time on the streets of New York I was abused, shot, stabbed, raped, kidnapped, trafficked, beaten, addicted to drugs, jailed, and more all before I was 18 years old.” 25
TINA FRUNDT
I was 14 years old when I was forced into prostitution. Like many teens at that age, finding my own identity and defying my parents were top on my list. So when a man came into my life and showered me with attention and listened to me when I complained about my parents, I did not think twice that he was ten years my senior. After all, he said I was mature for my age and told me I understood him better than anyone his own age. Little did I know, he was laying down the seeds of manipulation. It did not matter what my parents said, he was the only one that "got me". After six months, I thought I loved him, at least that is what he told me, so I did what I thought my heart was telling me and ran away to be with him. We ended up in Cleveland, Ohio. He told me we were going to meet the rest of the family.
Tina Frundt
I had no idea the "family" meant myself and three other girls. After I was introduced to the "family," I was told what my role would be. I would go out to "work" that night and bring him back the money. How else would we build our dream home? He assured me he would always love me no matter what, but he needed to know how much I loved him by making sure I would do anything for him. Later that evening, his friends came by
the motel. At first, he told me to have sex with someone. I did not want to so his friends raped me. Afterwards, he said that wouldn't have happened if I would have just listened to him at first. I blamed myself instead of being angry at him for being raped. After that, he picked my clothes out, told me what to wear, what to say, how to walk, what to say to "Johns" and how much money I was to bring back to him. He then forced me to go out into the streets. When I first went out into the streets, I felt like this was something I did not want to do. I walked around the streets back and forth for hours. Finally, I got into a car because we were always being watched and I knew I had to get into a car sooner or later. Our quota was $500 and I had only made $50 that night to give back to the pimp. As a result, he beat me in front of the other girls to make an example out of me and then he made me go back out until I had made the money. This is the same man that took me out to eat, listened to me when I wanted to complain about my parents, gave me words of advice. I was now seeing a side of him that I never saw before; a brutal side where he repeatedly hit me in front of the other girls to teach us all a lesson.
Not only was I shocked, I was scared. What would happen to me if I did try to leave and who would believe me if I told them what was going on? I worked from 6 until 10 p.m. the next night without eating or sleeping. I came back with the $500, but in his mind I still had not learned my lesson. He sent me back outside until 5 a.m. the next morning. After the second day, he finally bought me something to eat, but as a punishment to learn never to defy him again, he locked me in the closet. Since that night, I was locked in the closet on numerous occasions, had my arm broken with a baseball bat, and my finger broken which never set right. None of us were ever allowed to see a doctor so we endured our pain by pushing it deep down inside and trying to forget it ever happened. The price of Tina's freedom, when it finally came, was by no means cheap. Being discovered by the police allowed Tina to escape her condition as a sex slave. She was arrested and placed in juvenile detention where, instead of receiving much needed counseling for the trauma she had endured, she was treated as a delinquent. Her release from prison didn’t bring healing. "I spent one year locked up and came out at the end with no referrals for services or assistance to rejoin a teenager's life in America." Ms. Frundt has
since made it her mission "to be a part of the solution." In 2008, Tina founded her own Washington DC-based antislavery organization, Courtney's House, born of a desire to provide specialized services that had been so sorely lacking. She subsequently opened Shae's Place, a long-term shelter and aftercare facility for girl victims aged 12-18 in northern Virginia. Adequate safe and appropriate shelter is, in Tina's words, "the most debilitating gap" in current provisions for young victims of domestic sex trafficking. In 2010, Ms. Frundt's efforts were recognized with the Frederick Douglass Award for helping over 500 victims escape from sex slavery. Tina also trains law enforcement and NGOs in rescuing and providing resources to victims, and is a member of the Washington DC Anti-Trafficking Task Force. She has spoken at the United Nations and testified before the US Congress. Tina still finds it difficult to recount her experiences in public, but recognizes the importance of doing so as a means of raising awareness on sex trafficking and commercial sex exploitation. "I don't think people understand that there can be sex slaves in the United States," she asserts. "The reason why I'm so compelled to do this work is because I'm a survivor of sex trafficking, and quite honestly, nobody did this for me." 27
NIKOLAOS AL-KHADRA
By the time I was 17, my dad concluded he had failed to humiliate, beat and torture me out of being gay. So he kicked me out of the house. Within two hours of leaving home, I had been targeted by a pimp and was being raped by his customers. I was marketed as a high-price callboy for the majority of my years in the sex-trafficking world. My pimps styled me as a "North Shore Boy," using my upper-middleclass background to attract johns looking to pay for sex with a boy who looked like their neighbors. There was a lot of demand for boys like me, and both my pimps and my johns went to great lengths to psychologically and physically prevent me from leaving.
Nikolaos Al-Khadra
One of the mainstream myths about the world of escorting is that the industry functions as a legitimate business and does not count as sex trafficking, a.k.a. Prostitution. When people do recognize escorting as prostitution, they believe it's somehow safer than street level prostitution. It isn't. Far from it. My pimp told me he would cut me open like a fish and throw me in the lake like human garbage. The following day was my first meeting with a "political john." I took the Metro to the pimp. He blindfolded me and had me hide in the car
en route to the hotel. Once we pulled into the parking lot, I was instructed to take the blindfold off and put the seat back. We were met by security at the back of the hotel, and I was delivered to the politician. My johns were successful, sometimes famous men who had a lot at stake when it came to exploiting me: careers, reputations and marriages. It's hard to underestimate how much they worried, if I snitched and the lengths they would go to protect themselves. Some of the johns were bitter divorcĂŠs; others claimed to be happily married. The common thread between all of the men who paid for sex with me was the way they flaunted their power. These wealthy johns literally enjoyed torturing those they purchased. One of those political johns took me on a stalking mission in front of the former home he had with his wife. He went off about the divorce and how she took everything from him. After we had a drink in his new living room, he took me to the bedroom he had set aside for his son. He tied me to the bed and proceeded to rape me. I remember him calling me Robby. I looked over at the pictures of his son on the wall and had an anxiety attack. It was a combination of being tied down, him calling me
his son's name, his psychotic behavior and the stalking of his ex-wife. Right before I blacked out, my life was flashing before my eyes. I was sure he was going to murder me. After he finished, he saw my fear and the tears rolling down my face. He apologized and said it wouldn't happen again. These years were filled with psychological warfare, mind control and terror. Money and power drove the game. It wasn't about sex. It was about control over another human being. By the end, I knew a john would either kill me or I would end up killing one of them. I escaped that life, but the exiting was hard. There are zero programs to help young men get out of prostitution. I pray someday there will be.
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BARBARA AMAYA
My name is Barbara Amaya and I am a survivor of trafficking. I spent the first 12 years of my life in Northern Virginia. When I was only 10 years old, family members abused me. Before the abuse I was a pretty normal little girl: I loved to read, collect stamps, draw and I was a member of the Barbie fan club. Unfortunately, after I was abused, I became a different little girl. No one helped me or validated the abuse I had suffered, so part of me went into hiding and I became depressed. I didn’t want to be around anyone, no longer went to school, and eventually ran away when I was 12.
Barbara Amaya
When I ran away, I was a walking target for traffickers and predators who look for damaged children: I had been abused, I was depressed and was in desperate need of help. It didn’t take long for traffickers to find me. Surprisingly it was a couple – a man and a woman – who found me on the streets of Washington D.C. They took me off of the streets where I was hungry and alone and brought me into their home where they fed me and seemed to care for me. That is, until they initiated me into the world of trafficking. They used me for a few months until they no longer needed me and then sold me to another trafficker. Right in
our nation’s capitol, I was sold into trafficking to a man named Moses. Soon after buying me, Moses took me to New York City where he trafficked me for 8 years. During my time on the streets of New York I was abused, shot, stabbed, raped, kidnapped, trafficked, beaten, addicted to drugs, jailed, and more all before I was 18 years old. To ease my pain, I became addicted to drugs. This habit became very expensive and I was no longer a valuable commodity to my trafficker, so he released me into New York. It was terrible; I was addicted and alone in the city. Thankfully, at a methadone clinic where I had sought treatment, I met a woman named Anita who helped me to find my sister who had apparently been living in the nearby city of Philadelphia and that Christmas, she helped me reunite with my family. After a very difficult time detoxing off of methadone I started to slowly get my life back. I lived in Washington State, Mississippi and eventually came back to Virginia where I got married and tried to have a baby. Soon after I starting trying to have a baby, I found out that because of all the trauma I had endured on the streets, I was infertile. Somehow, I think it was a
miracle; I was able to have treatments and can happily say that I was able to have a daughter. In all of that moving around and having my daughter, I kept my past a secret. No one knew about the years I had been trafficked or abused but me. Then one night, when my daughter was 15, she decided to run away. My past came rushing back to me and I was so afraid that the same things that happened to me would happen to my daughter. I couldn’t just sit around, so I spent the whole night making phone calls and looking for her. Thankfully, I found her the next morning and, shortly after, told her about my story. After that, she never ran away again and she is doing well today. I have a wonderful grandson and I live a content and quiet life.
choose to be a victor not a victim – not just to survive, but to thrive. Today I tell my story whenever I can so I can help others. I wrote a book called Girl’s Guide to Survival: Life Lessons From the Street.
I believe I am alive today because God watched over me all those nights on the streets. He kept a part of me untouched inside – despite all the men and all the trauma I endured – a part of me remained clean and whole. I call that part of me my soul. I choose to believe that I went through all that I did, so that today I can help others. If I can educate one person or give hope to one victim of sex trafficking, then I am doing my job and everything I went through was worth it. I 31
1 Learn about It.
4 Change the Law.
2 Spread the News.
5 Volunteer YOUR Time.
3 Use Your Talents.
6 Donate Money.
Being aware of something is always the first step. There cannot be help without one knowing about there being a need for help. So inform yourself and be aware about the issue of sex trafficking. Read a book about it or read an article Online. There are plenty of resources on sex trafficking to help you get informed.
Being aware alone cannot do much; but bringing awareness about sex trafficking to more people, can help. Post a status on Facebook, tweet about it, tell someone that sex trafficking exists and its very real.
Everyone has a talent. Maybe your an artist, maybe your a chef. Draw about sex trafficking, cook a delicious meal, invite friends over and watch a documentary together about sex trafficking. Write a poem or an article. Sing about it. Whatever your talent or passion is, you can use it to shine a light on sex trafficking.
There are many laws out there that don’t favor victims of sex trafficking. Some laws are simply non-existent. Help change the law or enforce laws already made by signing petitions about certain laws or even by sending a letter to your local law officials.
Volunteer with an organization already fighting sex trafficking. There are many organizations fighting against the issue and rescuing slaves. Join one and offer your free time.
Many organizations that help fight sex trafficking are non profits. They need monetary help to achieve their missions of bringing awareness to the public and to free sex trafficking captives. Donate money towards an organization of your choice and help free sex trafficking slaves.
SPECIAL THANKS Price of Life (InterVarsity Christian Fellowship), The Polaris Project, Not For Sale, Gems Girls, and Free the Slaves are just a few of the nonprofit organizations that exposed me to the harsh truth that Slavery still exists today. Thank you for the resources that you have provided me with. This book couldn’t have been completed without those resources. I am proud to announce that I have joined the fight with you all in advocating for Modern Day Slavery. Being a part of the fight helps me sleep at night, because I know that our voice is serving as the voice of the voiceless. I hope this book will help educate someone about Modern Day Slavery and therefore be a tool to set the captives free.
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Graphic Design: Eva Zelarayan evadzelarayan@hotmail.com www.issuu.com/evazelarayan
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USA FREEDOM www.usafreedom.org