A blog: 9to20 a survivor's journey out of trafficking

Here's an excerpt from a blog my sister-in-law just referred me to, written by a trafficking survivor. It happens here, under our noses, and it makes me wonder about all those kids that couldn't make it to first hour, or were absent all the time, or always had an excuse for things. Read the blog for her story of healing. http://9to20.wordpress.com/

WARNING: it's real. it's horrific. it's unthinkable. it's full of hope.

I grew up in the suburbs of a town just a little smaller than 100,000 people. I was a straight A student who worshipped the ground her big brother walked on, as he was often my defender from a physically and sexually abusive father and my relief from an emotionally unstable mother.

When I was eight my brother left for college and the dynamic of our household changed dramatically. My father had lost yet another job and he and my mother turned to me as a steadier source of income. I will never forget that day. The way it turned my stomach so sick, the way the men’s semen smelt on my body… so foreign and sour. It lingered for hours. This first time I was sold for sex it was to multiple men at once. I was nine years old.

For the next 11 years of my life I was forced to have sex with hundreds of men. I was hit, mocked, urinated upon and exploited in the backs of trucks, corner markets, cheap hotels, my own bedroom and on the internet. Every touch and ugly word only added to the lie that sex was all I had to offer. It was my “duty” because I was nothing more than a whore. There was no one I could trust and certainly no one who could help or believe me. After-all, I deserved this– or so I thought. In order to cope, I had convinced myself that it was all a choice and ignored the fact that I was enslaved. I ran away several times but always went back– there was simply no where else for me to go. My parents had me told me repeatedly that either they would kill me or if I did make it to someone who could help, that those people wouldn’t believe a word I would say. Nothing in my life so far had shown me that they were lying.

The fact that her own parents exploited her makes me physically sick. It makes me even more sick that there is even a market out there! It wasn't just the physical abuse...her pictures were on the internet for all to see. If you think pornography is okay and not a big deal, think again! It is NOT OK! Those that partake in pornography are a huge part of exploiting these victims, and, it is often the first step in actually becoming an abuser. Pornography is not OK.