Backstory
These are stories from my memories of rescuing human trafficking victims for the past 20 years. I have changed the details, however the lessons learned, and tactics of the traffickers are real. There were so many cases that I often combine them together to tell a real story and in order to protect the anonymity of all the victims and the teammates who helped us.
All of these are my opinion, my memories, and my expert judgements. Please use them as you wish, whatever does not work for you please just disregard it. It is my constant belief and prayer that very soon, we will have a society that is safe for children and intolerant of traffickers and those who benefit from them. The best way I know to make that awakening a reality, is to tell what happens and how to stop it.
The destruction this crime does to our children’s futures and our communities is not tolerable. It is as barbaric as slavery from the 1800’s and before. No amount of disguise can alter that, it is up to us, as adults, to see through the disguises, and protect our children and young adults.
Those who buy sex and cheap exploited labor are the engines that turn the demand. They should not be able to live freely in our society. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in 2000, to criminalize ALL labor and commercial sex that is recruited, obtained, and maintained through force fraud or coercion. ALL parties who knew or should have known are responsible criminally and civilly to the same extent. If a person dies (not murdered but dies in any way) they are subject to a capital crime. If a minor 14 years old or under is put into stripping, pornography, or prostitution ALL parties involved may face a life sentence.
I trust in the near future, we will continue to see more traffickers brought to full justice; however, it is up to us as the community to be vigilant and to report our observations. The best cases I have seen are cases that started with a concerned citizen who reached out to law enforcement and did not stop until the victims were safe.
Abigail
Born in California to extraordinarily successful parents who were the second generation born in the U.S., Abby was an all-American teenager with a rich connection to her great grandparents’ home country of Italy. She knew how to speak Italian, how to cook very well, and was told often how she was so fortunate to be born in the U.S. Her great grandparents fled their home under the conditions of war and fascist rule. They sought Freedom in the United States in the beautiful land of California. They owned restaurants and catering businesses which were remarkably successful at celebrating life among the wealthy of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Venice, California.
Abigail would be the first generation to attend college in their family. All the grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles gathered to celebrate her being accepted to an out-of-state college on her merits. Abigail represented the fulfilment of the dreams of her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. They made some tough decisions and hoped they were correct ones.
Abby settled into her first semester with a roommate and a goal to pursue a career in the profession of law. She began on a track that included psychology and physics. She wanted to practice patent law.
Her roommate was a bit shy but fun to be around. They hit it off as friends right away. They giggled and laughed, stayed up late talking about boys and their dreams. They were both eighteen and ready to take on the world!
Abigail had been kind of a nerd in school. Skinny, she wore glasses and had not developed in her body until the summer of her senior year. She began to get curves, some contacts, and she was now scaring her dad because she was so beautiful and mature in her look. He missed his little girl.
Her parents had divorced during her sophomore year. Abigail did not know why. Thankfully, her mom and dad remained friendly, and her dad lived close by. He had always worked a lot, so it didn’t really affect Abigail like it did some of her classmates whose parents divorced. Fortunately, Abigail did not experience any bitterness or abandonment from her parents. She was grateful to them for that.
Abigail told her roommate that she had kissed a boy once in high school. She had crushes on many of them, but they never noticed her. She liked the strong football types, but the cheerleaders got them.
What went wrong?