people dream their whole lives . Just
to visit where I live . People save
their life earnings just to vacation
where I live , Hawaii is known as
paradise . Hawaii is where I was born
and raised . Hawaii is where I was
trafficked . My name is Kal A Grant and
I'm a survivor advocate of trafficking .
Before I share my story , I ask that
you take a moment and think about
your daughter , your son , your
family members , those that are closest
to you because this can happen to
anyone . I was born and raised on the
island of Oahu , which is the main
island in the state of Hawaii . I grew
up from a working class family . I
enjoyed playing soccer as a kid . I
attended private school my whole life
after high school , I went on to
college , I had a career , I got
married to someone who was a marine .
We had a child . Then at the age of
25 I found myself divorced ,
getting back into the social scene ,
bars , nightclubs . It was around
Pro Bowl in Hawaii where they had a lot
of large events and parties surrounding
the Pro Bowl . It was one night that I
met a man in a nightclub
at that time . It seems genuine . It
seemed like he was just trying to get
to know me everything about me , where
I lived , where I worked , where my
daughter went to school , where my
grandmother and mother lived at the end
of the two weeks , he drove me to the
track , Mhm And he
said , this is the truth . I'm a
pimp , I own agency and this is what
you will do for me . I remember sitting
there shocked and disbelief .
I was never exposed to violence .
Then in that next moment he got out of
the vehicle and started to violently
beat all the girls and women he had out
there working for him until they were
covered in blood . And I remember
sitting there in his range rover
thinking , how am I ever going to get
away from this man ? He returned to the
car and he said , yeah , now
if you don't do what I say or if you
tell the police , I will kill you . I
will kill your daughter . I will kill
your mother , your grandmother . After
he just demonstrated that act of
violence , I was fully convinced that
he would do what he said . I was
horrified . I didn't know who to turn
to or what to do next
or how to get away from him . Those two
weeks turned into two years of my life .
Every single day . Fighting , trying to
get away from him . Yeah . Mhm . But
then he would find me and the abuse
grew worse . Mhm . Being raped and
abused started to be common in my life .
I felt like I was living a nightmare .
Yeah . Hawaii is
unique in that we have every branch of
service represented here .
It is also military service members ,
that is the highest percentage of
buyers . This activity
occurred while the service members were
on duty off duty in uniform ,
out of uniform , on military
bases , okay . In homes ,
in barracks , in office buildings ,
in warehouse supply
rooms , in personal
vehicles and military vehicles .
The busiest times were military payday .
Finally , in 2010 , at the Super
Bowl in Miami Florida , a tip was put
in that there was
activity happening at
this hotel . At that time . We
were questions and detained and
separated . Police were able to confirm
that there were two adult women and one
15 Year Old Girl . Okay .
At that moment , yeah , they arrested
the pimp . The very next morning I
was able to fly back to Hawaii . The
pimp was eventually arrested .
Mhm Convicted and sentenced to 22 years
in federal prison . I tried to search
for resources . I tried to look for
agencies to help me , but none were
available . It was in that moment that
I vowed to be that support for
others . We're fighting to get out of
that life . But feel trapped , feel
like there's no other option . But that
is why I'm here to bring hope . That is
why I share my story so that you too
can bring awareness to this issue . I
now work to combat trafficking to
bring awareness of this issue , but
also be the hope that this world needs .
Every single day I tried to get away
from this man . I did everything I
could think of to get away from him .
But I lived on an island . So he
always had people following me wherever
I went . And every time I would
run they would find me . I would
get abused
every time and every time it got
worse . Um , my life , um ,
I just started becoming very numb to
life , not wanting to be alive . I
would walk around , um , not able to
look at people in the eye , not able to
walk with my head up high because I
felt embarrassed . I felt ashamed , I
felt I felt invisible .