Sex Trafficking is Modern-Day Slavery

“I’m starving,” she thought as she woke up, her stomach grumbling and aching with hunger pains. When was the last time she ate? He had brought her some stale toast yesterday morning… maybe, the long, painful days were starting to blur together.  She struggled to get out of bed, her head spinning as she sat up, at least he had let her sleep for a few hours.

He was in control

Jocelyn had met him at a party a few weeks before, they hit it off quickly, he was charming, and she had a few too many umbrella drinks. The whole thing seemed harmless, until she discovered that in her drunkenness, he had taken photos of her that she never wanted anyone to see. She quickly learned that the trade off to protect those photos was far worse than she anticipated. As she sat in bed, she could not decide which was worse her current situation or the potential downfall if those photos got out.

She was treated like his property

Today had to be the last day of this hell, hadn’t she earned the right to keep those photos safe? She had let him sell her body like a piece of meat to countless strangers.   He had told her it would just be the one time and he would delete the photos but that was days ago and now he had even worse things to threaten her with.  She felt nauseous, yet oddly numb, as she relived the last few weeks. She had become his property and he had full control over everything… when she ate, when she slept, what she wore and how many men she had sex with each day.

Jocelyn could not remember the last time she actually saw her phone and to be honest she was not sure what town they were in. Before last night the last time she was allowed to sleep was on the car ride, so she lost track of where they were. She was starting to fear that she was going to lose her job at the coffee shop, she had watched him call her boss and say that she was sick, but that was days ago.

As she sat in the hotel room still exhausted, she focused on the number one priority for that moment… She had to find food and soon, she was beyond hungry.

Modern-Day Slavery

It is a common belief that slavery in the United States was abolished years ago… unfortunately that is far from the truth. A slave, by definition, is someone held in servitude as the property of another. Today human traffickers are selling other humans, often children, as if they are their property at an alarming rate. They gain control using some form of force, fraud or coercion over another and then sell their victims for sex acts in exchange for something of value, most often money.

Not only are these victims being sold like property they are devalued and treated like less than human. Just like Jocelyn’s story, her trafficker made all the decisions for her which increased his ability to remain in control over her and lowered he ability to fight for herself without her basic needs being met.  Remember, these are children, children who do not have the critical thinking skills of an adult, children who are under the control of an adult being abused by adults.   Once someone has become a victim of sex trafficking, they have a life expectancy of 7 years.

We are on a mission to disrupt these trafficking networks and will not stop until all are free. Will you join us? Become a Guardian and join the vital team of individuals needed to accomplish this goal.