PRINTToo much traffic
Human trafficking survivor Theresa Flores shares her story to inform and inspire
Courtesy of Theresa Flores
Theresa Flores gives speeches to audiences across the nation to share her knowledge of modern-day slavery in hopes of helping current and future victims.
March 27, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
The term “human trafficking” tends to yield different reactions. For some, it registers no associations. Others digest “human trafficking” as just another phrase, such as “genocide” or “displacement,” that describes situations in distant, troubled nations. In reality, human trafficking (both sexual exploitation and labor abuses) occurs close to home. Also referred to as modern-day slavery, trafficking occurs all over the U.S., and the Midwest is no exception. Theresa Flores, a trafficking survivor, licensed social worker and the author of The Sacred Bath, spoke at the Anti-Human Trafficking Conference, sponsored by MU’s Stop Traffic Now, on March 22. Her book chronicles her struggle to overcome the years she spent in slavery and attempts to educate the unaware and apathetic as to why the problem of human trafficking is a problem worth stopping.
Your personal account of human trafficking is told in your book, The Sacred Bath, which was released last year. Why did you choose to make your story public?
Flores published [em]The Sacred Bath[/em] last year to share her experience as a trafficked individual ...
I attended a conference and learned that what I went through as a kid was something that I didn’t have a name for, something that was rampant throughout the world. I knew I needed to get my story out, and I knew how difficult it was for young girls to talk about it. I knew instantly; I needed to add my voice.
What is the state of trafficking in the U.S.?
I speak at many different conferences, and people are always so shocked. They don’t believe it’s happening here in America. They don’t like to think it’s happening. Dr. Richard Estes from the University of Pennsylvania did a study, and around 250,000 to 300,000 American children are at risk of being sexually exploited, which can lead to the act of actual human trafficking. I think is it something like 98 percent of prostitutes actually do not want to be doing what they are doing. Someone is making them do that. Around 50 percent of the people being trafficked in the U.S. are children.
Are there places or regions in the U.S. where trafficking is worse than others? Does it happen more often to minorities or women?
Yes, there are actually five states where trafficking is most abundant. The top three are California, Texas and Florida, with Minnesota, I believe, being the fourth and Ohio as the fifth. States like California, Texas and Florida are destination states: It’s easier to come into the country from another country, so there is a higher prevalence of immigrants being trafficked there. States like Minnesota and Ohio are affected because of the interstate system. It’s easy to get to another state and just get lost. In these areas, there are mostly American victims. I don’t think there is any type of socioeconomic statistic or type of person that is more commonly trafficked. It can be young girls who are kidnapped and forced into or lured into that. It’s not just about minorities.
I read that you were living in an upper-middle-class suburban area in Detroit, Mich., when you became a victim of trafficking. How did you become involved with the sexual slave trade?
It started with this guy that I went to school with. He actually date-raped me. He had these cousins, and they had taken pictures. He threatened that he would show the pictures to my parents and to my church group. He would pick me up at night and after school. It was manipulation.
How long were you forced to do things for them? How long did this go on?
It went on for two years. I was 15 when it started. People ask why I didn’t tell my parents. They don’t realize the type of manipulation involved. I had not even realized I had been trafficked — I didn’t even have a word for it. I didn’t know of them as traffickers, just a bunch of evil men. My dad was an executive for a large company and we moved every two years and for me, this made me vulnerable. When he got a promotion, I asked him how fast we could leave.
Have you found any sort of comfort or healing by sharing your story and speaking to audiences about your experience of modern human trafficking?
Each time I tell my story, it’s torturous. I have to relive it. I might go back home or back to my hotel and I will cry. But there is healing each time, piece by piece, and my story is healing for others. People will write me and say that it is or was hard to find a voice, but for me to speak about it, it’s encouraging.
