SURVIVOR VOICES
SURVIVOR LEADERSHIP
The input and expertise of survivors is critical to strengthening trauma-informed and victim-centered responses to human trafficking in Louisiana. Comprised of local survivor leaders, the Survivor Advisory Council contributes their knowledge and lived experiences to reviewing the work of the Office of Human Trafficking Prevention and the Louisiana Child and Youth Trafficking Collaborative.
DEFINING HUMAN TRAFFICKING FROM A SURVIVOR’S PERSPECTIVE
Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor against his or her will. But what does human trafficking actually look like?
WHAT IS SEX TRAFFICKING?
“I used to be one of those people who thought “pimps” and “prostitutes” only existed in movies, not in real life. Farthest thing from the truth! When I was 18, I met my trafficker, also known as a “pimp”. I was vulnerable having just gotten out of an abusive relationship, and he preyed on me. He promised me all the finer things in life and said I would be famous and be in music videos. It was all part of his game to manipulate me into having sex for money and forcing me to give every penny to him, if not there was an atrocity. It wasn’t until my trafficker was arrested, I then found out that I was actually a victim of sex trafficking, not a prostitute!”
-Victim of sex trafficking
“Most people think human trafficking only happens on the “black market” and not in our backyards, (I used to be one of them). Human trafficking is sex trafficking! When I was in the life of being trafficked, pimps would sell “prostitutes” to other pimps. This happened to me when my trafficker sold me to his son who was also a pimp. They would literally sell humans to other monsters for their own personal gain. The heinous acts traffickers put victims through is unbelievable.”
-Victim of sex trafficking
WHAT IS SEX TRAFFICKING OF A MINOR?
“At age 16, I left home to escape the abuse and landed with an adult male who sexually exploited me in exchange for a place to live, food, and clothing. He forced me to recruit my high school friends to bring home to also exploit. I did not know this was a form of trafficking until my advocate broke down the definition of child sex trafficking.”
-Victim of sex trafficking of a minor
WHAT IS LABOR TRAFFICKING?
“I missed several days of school when my mom didn’t make enough money and was forced to take me to work with her. She worked for a cleaning company, and I had to clean hotels and apartments with her. I hated the summer because that was the LSU turn-over, whenever students moved out of apartments a lot of money was to be made. But I never saw a penny and worked long hours every day. I didn’t know this was a form of labor trafficking because I thought that only happens to foreign internationals and in other countries.”
-Victim of labor trafficking
“I got pregnant at a very young age. I had no choice but to drop out of school and do homeschooling so I could work and try to take care of my son. His father was very abusive, controlling, and manipulative! Every paycheck I got, I had to give it all to him and he didn’t even take care of me or my son’s needs. I would have to sneak to get money from family members to buy diapers. It wasn’t until I was made aware that I was sex trafficked, that’s when I realized I was labor trafficked too.”
-Victim of labor and sex trafficking
WHAT IS THE GROOMING PROCESS?
“Most people believe that victims are kidnapped, chained, drugged, and shipped to other countries like in the movie “Taken.” I never knew what was happening to me was human trafficking because I was never educated on what it really is. I was groomed with love, gifts, and unfulfilled promises. I thought he loved me and always wanted me with him but really, he was just isolating me from others until it was just him in my life. That’s when I was forced into prostitution against my will and trafficked across the U.S.”
-Victim of human trafficking
SURVIVOR STORY: “MY BRANDING”
“Branding began thousands of years ago when farmers started branding their cattle by imprinting symbols to stand out from other livestock and to signify ownership. Unfortunately, this same practice is currently being used on human beings that fall victim to human trafficking. I remember receiving my tattoo branding and my trafficker telling me that if I ever try to leave, he will cut it off. After numerous years of being trafficked I was finally recovered by law enforcement and offered services to keep me safe and free from my trafficker. While I got to keep my leg, I was still reminded of my trafficker every day because of my branding.
I was given the opportunity to have my brand covered up and after searching for the right one I decided on the Koi fish tattoo. The tattoo means perseverance in adversity and symbolizes the struggles I have overcome in life. During the time of getting the cover up I faced many trials where and felt like giving up while awaiting the court trial of my trafficker. I chose to have the Koi fish swimming upstream to symbolize I was going through trials and facing them boldly at the time to remind me not to give up.
No human should ever be treated as cattle, and therefore we need to shed light on tattoos because traffickers are using them to show ownership of their victims.”
—Survivor of sex and labor trafficking
Use the slide bar to view both images. The image on the left is the tattoo branding and the image on the right is the Koi fish tattoo representing perseverance in adversity.
Need Help?
Report human trafficking to law enforcement by calling the Louisiana State Police 24/7 Hotline at 800-434-8007.
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