Human trafficking survivor shares her journey, from trauma to healing
DENVER — Mel is a mother of three, a grandmother of four, and works part time with people who are intellectually and developmentally disabled. She wants people to know that she’s more than a survivor of human trafficking.
Even though those experiences were a huge part of her life, Mel is healing and moving forward.
“This healing becomes such a big responsibility on the victims of these crimes,” explained Mel, adding that resting is often part of the process. “Sometimes you get tired of this idea that because you’re a survivor and you’ve handled [human trafficking], that you can handle anything.”
Mel, who asked that Rocky Mountain PBS not use her last name, explained how she started running away from an abusive situation at home when she was 15. Two years later, she met an older man who started grooming her. The man made Mel feel loved and special.
“He started to treat me like princess. This man was giving me all this attention, and all this stuff, and he put a big diamond ring on my finger," she said. "He made me feel very secure.”
Mel said the man eventually convinced her to go with him to New York City, where she was immediately put on the street and forced to prostitute herself. “It was scary and hard. I got arrested with a bunch of other girls one night and ended up in a Bronx, New York jail.” It was in jail when Mel realized there was no way out of her situation.
“There were so many girls that were being picked up like me. We were handcuffed together, and held in a cell all weekend together, put in front of a judge, and sent back out on the street,” Mel recalled.
Marianna Kosharovsky, the founder and executive director of Alight, an organization that helps connect human trafficking survivors with attorneys, said traffickers are extremely savvy when it comes to targeting their victims.
“Trafficking is not about movement it’s about profiting from someone else’s vulnerability. Traffickers know when someone has a vulnerable moment in their life and then they figure out how can they profit as much as they can from this person,” Kosharovsky.
Alight has an app with the idea of making it easy for survivors to find attorneys. The organization has tasked itself with providing as many free legal services as possible for survivors.
Attorneys helped Mel expunge an old arrest warrant from the early 90s. Since 2017, Kosharovsky said Alight has helped more than 200 survivors in 33 states, as well as Washignton, D.C.
According to the U.S. Department of State, there is an average of 24.9 million trafficking victims worldwide at any given time. Defined as a crime of exploitation, human trafficking affects people of all races, ages and genders. Victims are pressured into providing labor — including sex as a form of labor — through the use of force, fraud or coercion.
“The most important thing people need to know about human trafficking is that it is [as] simple as going out on a date with someone that you’re not all that familiar with,” Mel explained.
Trafficking can happen in industries such as landscaping, hospitality and restaurants, construction, massage parlors, childcare, domestic work, factories, and janitorial services. Many of these workplaces are in low-wage industries with high turnover rates. “Domestic trafficking is the majority of the trafficking. It’s not only taking place in other countries and it doesn’t necessarily require someone to be bound; we pass them on the streets every day,” explained Kosharovsky.
For Mel, taking care of herself and spending time with her family is top priority. She says healing can feel like a full-time job, so self-care is paramount. “Every day is a healing journey, and I don’t think it’s easy; there are days I don’t want to deal with it. I get tired of being called a survivor.”
Dana Knowles is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at danaknowles@rmpbs.org.
Julio Sandoval is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at juliosandoval@rmpbs.org.