WEBVTT 00:06.500 --> 00:08.829 So I grew up in a very conservative 00:08.840 --> 00:11.350 family in Lower Alabama , you could 00:11.359 --> 00:13.670 probably label me as a goody two shoes . 00:13.680 --> 00:17.010 I excelled in school straight A s um 00:17.020 --> 00:19.670 thought of myself as pretty normal . Um 00:20.290 --> 00:22.346 But after I moved out of my parents' 00:22.346 --> 00:24.290 house , I kind of realized that my 00:24.290 --> 00:26.512 childhood wasn't as normal as I thought 00:26.512 --> 00:28.457 it was . And that my childhood was 00:28.457 --> 00:30.512 really filled with a lot of physical 00:30.512 --> 00:33.580 abuse , spiritual abuse , um emotional 00:33.590 --> 00:36.430 sexual abuse . And so when I graduated 00:36.439 --> 00:38.959 high school , I went off to college . 00:38.970 --> 00:42.930 Um and in October 2016 , my life took 00:42.939 --> 00:46.819 a huge turn . So I 00:46.830 --> 00:49.052 had a roommate , she was my best friend 00:49.052 --> 00:51.610 and it was Halloween and there , you 00:51.619 --> 00:53.452 know , there are lots of costume 00:53.452 --> 00:55.675 parties going on . And so we decided to 00:55.675 --> 00:57.729 go out and we dressed up as risky 00:57.740 --> 01:00.430 business and I should preface this with , 01:00.439 --> 01:02.689 I wasn't , I never did drugs , I never 01:02.700 --> 01:04.756 drink . I never like , I was a goody 01:04.756 --> 01:06.870 two shoes . And so this was the first 01:06.879 --> 01:09.370 time I had ever like gone out in a bar . 01:10.160 --> 01:12.480 And so we went to this bar um in the 01:12.489 --> 01:14.769 city in downtown Mobile and we met 01:14.779 --> 01:17.139 these two guys from the Coast Guard and 01:17.220 --> 01:19.449 we , I hit it off with one guy , she 01:19.459 --> 01:22.980 hit it off with the other and we just , 01:22.989 --> 01:24.933 you know , hung out all night , we 01:24.933 --> 01:26.989 danced , we drank , he was buying us 01:27.000 --> 01:30.980 drinks . Um And so the night 01:30.989 --> 01:33.322 just kind of got away from me , I think . 01:33.322 --> 01:35.489 Um , again , that was really the first 01:35.489 --> 01:37.711 time that I had ever done anything like 01:37.711 --> 01:39.767 that . Um And so I ended up inviting 01:39.767 --> 01:42.580 him home to come home with me and that 01:42.589 --> 01:44.790 night was the first night that I ever 01:44.800 --> 01:46.967 had with anyone . So I ended up giving 01:46.967 --> 01:50.839 him my virginity and I got attached 01:50.849 --> 01:53.120 very quickly . A we could talk about 01:53.129 --> 01:55.296 the biology behind it , whatever , but 01:55.296 --> 01:59.069 I got attached . Um , and I developed 01:59.080 --> 02:01.959 really strong feelings for him and he 02:01.970 --> 02:04.559 reciprocated them . And so it wasn't 02:04.569 --> 02:07.870 just a one sided thing . Um , you know , 02:07.879 --> 02:10.289 he said and did all the right things 02:10.300 --> 02:12.467 and as we spent time together , we got 02:12.467 --> 02:15.580 closer and we basically were boyfriend 02:15.589 --> 02:17.589 and girlfriend . I mean , we didn't 02:17.589 --> 02:19.645 really like label it as that . But , 02:19.645 --> 02:21.589 you know , we were , he would talk 02:21.589 --> 02:23.756 about taking me home to meet his mom . 02:23.756 --> 02:25.978 So he , he was in the military , he was 02:25.978 --> 02:27.830 active duty . He didn't live on 02:27.839 --> 02:30.100 military , like on , on a base , but he 02:30.110 --> 02:33.429 did live in military apartments . Um , 02:33.440 --> 02:35.551 so apartments owned by the military . 02:35.551 --> 02:38.789 Um , and so again , he was active duty . 02:38.800 --> 02:41.990 So he was gone quite often , especially 02:42.000 --> 02:43.944 in the beginning and as things got 02:43.944 --> 02:46.800 worse . And , um , you know , when he 02:46.809 --> 02:48.976 was being deployed , I felt like I had 02:48.976 --> 02:51.198 to make the most of our time together . 02:51.198 --> 02:53.253 So I was with him all the time , all 02:53.253 --> 02:55.587 the time . I hardly ever went home . Um , 02:55.839 --> 02:58.710 and he , like I said , even talks about 02:58.720 --> 03:00.942 taking me home to meet his mom . And so 03:00.942 --> 03:03.109 I thought he was serious . I genuinely 03:03.109 --> 03:05.164 thought I was gonna marry this man . 03:05.164 --> 03:08.160 And so honestly , I don't know where he 03:08.169 --> 03:10.339 would go when he would deploy . But I 03:10.350 --> 03:12.239 mean , again , he was active duty 03:13.800 --> 03:17.199 when he was home , he was a big partier . 03:17.210 --> 03:19.432 Um There were always parties going on , 03:19.432 --> 03:21.488 whether they were at his apartment , 03:21.488 --> 03:23.599 whether they were at someone else's . 03:23.599 --> 03:25.979 Um And he , which this would come in 03:25.990 --> 03:28.160 later down the line . But um , he 03:28.169 --> 03:30.710 wasn't a big like street drug kind of 03:30.720 --> 03:34.160 guy . Um Later down the road , we were , 03:34.169 --> 03:36.391 I say we as in me and the other girls , 03:36.391 --> 03:39.119 but realized he wouldn't let us do 03:39.130 --> 03:41.297 street drugs because it diminished the 03:41.297 --> 03:44.320 product , but he was really big on farm 03:44.330 --> 03:46.552 parties . Um And if you don't know what 03:46.552 --> 03:48.759 that is . Pharmaceutical , um , and 03:48.770 --> 03:51.660 it's basically where there's a big 03:51.669 --> 03:55.240 ranger and the entrance fee to get in 03:55.250 --> 03:57.580 is a bottle of prescription pills . Had 03:57.589 --> 03:59.700 to be prescription . Um And everybody 03:59.700 --> 04:01.756 just kind of dumped it in a big bowl 04:01.756 --> 04:04.000 and then you pass the bowl around and 04:04.009 --> 04:06.679 take whatever you reach your hand in 04:06.690 --> 04:08.850 and grab . Um It's a wonder I am not 04:08.860 --> 04:12.470 dead right now . Um But so like we 04:12.479 --> 04:14.479 couldn't do street drugs like , you 04:14.479 --> 04:17.380 know , meth crack cocaine , um any of 04:17.390 --> 04:19.929 that , but uh like oxy uh what is that ? 04:19.940 --> 04:23.489 How do you say it ? Um OxyContin um and 04:23.500 --> 04:25.529 fentaNYL was getting kind of big 04:25.769 --> 04:27.769 towards the time when I was getting 04:27.769 --> 04:30.380 ready to exit . Um And so that was kind 04:30.390 --> 04:33.920 of big too . Um Xanax Benzos 04:33.929 --> 04:36.790 different things like that . Um And so 04:36.799 --> 04:38.855 he would control when we could go to 04:38.855 --> 04:40.910 these parties , which means he could 04:40.910 --> 04:43.077 control our intake of these drugs , he 04:43.077 --> 04:45.959 could control when we get our fix . Um 04:47.220 --> 04:50.019 So there were probably there , there 04:50.029 --> 04:53.329 were early signs um in the relationship 04:53.339 --> 04:56.510 that things were not right , but I 04:56.519 --> 04:59.299 ignored them . Um I genuinely thought I 04:59.309 --> 05:01.420 was in love and again , because of my 05:01.420 --> 05:03.279 abuse background , like I , I 05:03.290 --> 05:06.510 rationalized everything in my head . Um 05:06.519 --> 05:09.149 I thought we would get married . I just , 05:09.160 --> 05:11.619 you know , had that fantasy and I 05:11.630 --> 05:13.852 didn't want to give it up . I know that 05:13.852 --> 05:16.019 sounds kind of silly but like I didn't 05:16.019 --> 05:17.963 want to give it up . And so like I 05:17.963 --> 05:20.910 remember the first time he hit me , um 05:20.920 --> 05:23.031 I just kind of ignored it like I told 05:23.031 --> 05:25.087 myself it was my fault like , oh , I 05:25.087 --> 05:27.142 shouldn't have said that or , oh , I 05:27.142 --> 05:29.309 shouldn't have done that . Um And that 05:29.309 --> 05:32.470 these rages and these moments of abuse 05:32.480 --> 05:34.424 were isolated incidences and I , I 05:34.429 --> 05:37.660 convinced myself of that . Um , you 05:37.670 --> 05:39.892 know , and it was always my fault and I 05:39.892 --> 05:42.179 carried that weight . Um , and so if I 05:42.190 --> 05:44.468 could get it right and I could show up , 05:44.468 --> 05:46.468 right . And I could be right , then 05:46.468 --> 05:48.690 this wouldn't be an issue anymore . And 05:48.690 --> 05:50.746 so again , we continued on because I 05:50.746 --> 05:54.480 was happy with him and I loved him and 05:54.489 --> 05:56.545 I would have done anything for him . 05:56.545 --> 05:59.519 And so that's kind of how it all first 05:59.529 --> 06:02.260 began . It started out where he would 06:02.269 --> 06:05.399 ask me to do a favor for him . Um and 06:05.410 --> 06:07.720 sleep with a friend of his . And I know 06:07.730 --> 06:09.730 it sounds awful and crazy now , but 06:09.730 --> 06:12.130 like back then when I was so in love 06:12.140 --> 06:14.959 with him that whatever he asked I would 06:14.970 --> 06:17.950 do it , um which now I know is a part 06:17.959 --> 06:20.126 of the trauma bond , but I didn't know 06:20.126 --> 06:22.181 that . Then I just knew I loved this 06:22.181 --> 06:24.403 man and I wanted to do anything I could 06:24.403 --> 06:27.600 to make him happy . And a big part of 06:27.609 --> 06:30.679 me I think was also scared to say no 06:30.880 --> 06:33.100 because in the back of my head , I had 06:33.109 --> 06:35.299 this little voice that was saying like 06:35.309 --> 06:37.476 this isn't right , don't do it . But I 06:37.476 --> 06:39.476 ignored it because I didn't want to 06:39.476 --> 06:41.959 lose him or for him to really hurt me . 06:41.970 --> 06:45.959 Because once , once he started pimping 06:45.970 --> 06:48.192 me out to his friends , that's when the 06:48.192 --> 06:50.070 abuse had kind of like reached a 06:50.079 --> 06:52.940 boiling point . And so I , I was very 06:52.950 --> 06:56.579 scared of him . Um Plus I was always 06:56.589 --> 06:59.980 high or drunk . Um he always had us on 06:59.989 --> 07:02.211 something obviously because it makes us 07:02.211 --> 07:05.369 more compliant . Um And so gradually , 07:05.380 --> 07:08.040 it just switched from favors to things 07:08.049 --> 07:10.271 I had to do . And if I didn't do them , 07:10.271 --> 07:12.438 then he got angry and violent and made 07:12.438 --> 07:14.660 threats against me and the people in my 07:14.660 --> 07:16.882 life that I love and loved . And I just 07:16.882 --> 07:19.105 kept telling myself like , no , like he 07:19.105 --> 07:22.410 loved me . And I held on to all of 07:22.420 --> 07:24.142 those good feelings that I had 07:24.142 --> 07:27.170 experienced in the beginning because 07:27.179 --> 07:29.346 that was kind of all I could do in the 07:29.346 --> 07:31.579 moment . And I remember , I think this 07:31.589 --> 07:34.630 was about the first time that I had 07:34.779 --> 07:37.220 like a conscious thought that something 07:37.230 --> 07:40.079 was not right . And I was standing in 07:40.089 --> 07:42.470 front of my washing machine . I was 07:42.480 --> 07:46.029 doing laundry and I was pulling out the 07:46.040 --> 07:48.940 pieces of my laundry one by one because 07:48.950 --> 07:51.480 I had to spray all of the blood stains 07:51.489 --> 07:54.420 with shout with stain spray . And 07:54.510 --> 07:56.621 that's the first time that I remember 07:56.621 --> 07:58.732 thinking just like that little tickle 07:58.732 --> 08:00.788 like it wasn't anything big but just 08:00.788 --> 08:03.429 like dang , like this is not right , 08:03.440 --> 08:05.559 like something is wrong here and I 08:05.570 --> 08:08.209 rationalized it away . And so that's 08:08.220 --> 08:10.442 kind of like what that entirety of that 08:10.442 --> 08:12.498 relationship looked like . It was me 08:12.498 --> 08:16.290 rationalizing things away . And so , um 08:17.049 --> 08:19.149 by that time , of course , with the 08:19.160 --> 08:21.399 washing machine incident . I was pretty 08:21.410 --> 08:23.899 deep into , you know , a lifestyle of 08:23.910 --> 08:26.109 partying with him on a regular basis 08:26.119 --> 08:29.779 having , um , being bought 08:29.790 --> 08:32.059 by his friends , being bought by 08:32.070 --> 08:34.940 community members . Um , I knew that he 08:34.950 --> 08:37.159 was getting money from them . Um , I 08:37.169 --> 08:39.409 never got any of the money but if I had 08:39.419 --> 08:41.619 a need , he filled it . I didn't live 08:41.630 --> 08:43.463 with him . I didn't live with my 08:43.463 --> 08:45.574 traffic . I had my own house . I paid 08:45.574 --> 08:47.574 rent . And so , um , I was actually 08:47.574 --> 08:49.686 also in college . So I flunked out of 08:49.686 --> 08:51.908 college . He made me quit all my jobs . 08:51.908 --> 08:54.130 He made me solely dependent on him . So 08:54.130 --> 08:56.352 I didn't see a cent , but I didn't have 08:56.352 --> 08:58.574 a need , I didn't have needs because he 08:58.574 --> 09:00.852 covered everything . And so , you know , 09:00.852 --> 09:02.963 paying my bills , buying me clothes , 09:02.963 --> 09:06.500 just taking care of me . And he 09:06.919 --> 09:09.030 just seemed to know a lot of people . 09:09.030 --> 09:11.141 Um , again , he was in the military . 09:11.141 --> 09:12.975 Uh , he had connections with law 09:12.975 --> 09:14.975 enforcement . Uh , again , he threw 09:14.975 --> 09:16.975 these outrageous parties . Um , and 09:16.975 --> 09:19.197 everybody , you know , wanted to come , 09:19.197 --> 09:23.070 wanted to be apart . Um And so it 09:23.080 --> 09:25.390 was informal initially , again with 09:25.400 --> 09:27.570 just being at the parties and being 09:27.580 --> 09:29.636 high and drunk and just doing what I 09:29.636 --> 09:31.880 needed to do to survive . And as time 09:31.890 --> 09:34.057 went on though , it's like that wasn't 09:34.057 --> 09:36.168 sufficient enough for him . And so he 09:36.168 --> 09:39.280 began putting online ads . And so even 09:39.289 --> 09:41.456 when he was act gone , because again , 09:41.456 --> 09:43.733 he's active duty even when he was gone . 09:43.733 --> 09:45.956 If he text me and said I need you to be 09:45.956 --> 09:47.956 at this airbnb at eight o'clock , I 09:47.956 --> 09:50.067 showed up like he wouldn't even be in 09:50.067 --> 09:52.289 the country and I would show up because 09:52.289 --> 09:54.679 he terrified me so much . Um , he 09:54.690 --> 09:57.023 always had me working under false names . 09:57.023 --> 09:59.134 I always had all of these fake I DS . 09:59.770 --> 10:01.770 Um I found out that he was actually 10:01.770 --> 10:04.320 putting me up online because 10:05.559 --> 10:08.440 one of the people he sent me to was a 10:08.450 --> 10:10.630 man who had hired one of my college 10:10.640 --> 10:12.751 friends as a nanny for his kids . And 10:12.751 --> 10:14.807 so it was too much connection and it 10:14.807 --> 10:17.830 made him nervous . Um And so yeah , 10:17.840 --> 10:20.570 that was , yeah , so we kind of 10:20.580 --> 10:22.524 switched , that was kind of why he 10:22.524 --> 10:24.636 moved me into that online territory . 10:24.890 --> 10:27.299 Um There were times , you know , 10:27.309 --> 10:29.309 obviously where I didn't want to do 10:29.309 --> 10:31.640 something and my trafficker would fly 10:31.650 --> 10:34.760 into a rage and he would hurt me . Um 10:35.770 --> 10:39.179 There were many times where I ended up 10:39.190 --> 10:41.359 in the emergency room or the urgent 10:41.369 --> 10:44.659 care . Um And I say many times , but I 10:44.669 --> 10:46.558 should also add that . That was a 10:46.558 --> 10:48.613 privilege . I had to , I had to earn 10:48.613 --> 10:50.669 that if I wanted to go to the urgent 10:50.669 --> 10:52.979 care because I thought my shoulder was 10:52.989 --> 10:55.211 dislocated or something . I had to earn 10:55.211 --> 10:58.859 it . Um And he also had 10:58.869 --> 11:02.570 this particular way of punishing 11:02.580 --> 11:05.869 me . Um We did a lot of work in the 11:05.880 --> 11:08.609 backs of strip clubs too . And so what 11:08.619 --> 11:10.770 is one of the things that girls 11:10.780 --> 11:13.809 typically have ? Um , being in the game 11:13.820 --> 11:15.989 having to get ready , hair stuff , 11:16.000 --> 11:18.650 curling irons , um , hair straighteners . 11:18.809 --> 11:22.250 So his favorite way to abuse me was 11:22.260 --> 11:24.809 actually to burn me . Um , whether that 11:24.820 --> 11:27.400 would be on my back . He has actually , 11:27.539 --> 11:30.669 um , done that um , internally as well . 11:30.880 --> 11:34.419 Um So when he was especially angry , 11:34.429 --> 11:36.729 um , or if I didn't do what he wanted 11:36.739 --> 11:39.099 me to do as fast as he wanted me to do 11:39.109 --> 11:41.469 it . Uh He would just heat up that 11:41.479 --> 11:43.590 curling one and he would burn me with 11:43.590 --> 11:47.159 it . Um And I , I've been through a lot 11:47.169 --> 11:49.391 of stuff , but I feel like that was one 11:49.391 --> 11:51.760 of the worst things because like I was 11:51.770 --> 11:54.650 constantly on my back for work and so 11:54.659 --> 11:56.548 they would never heal . They were 11:56.548 --> 11:58.548 always like on the verge of getting 11:58.548 --> 12:01.080 infected like it was just , it was , it 12:01.090 --> 12:03.312 was an ordeal and that was his favorite 12:03.312 --> 12:05.368 way that he loved to hurt me in that 12:05.368 --> 12:08.289 way my back is actually still covered 12:08.299 --> 12:11.669 um in scars from him doing that . So , 12:11.679 --> 12:13.512 yeah , I was afraid of him and I 12:13.512 --> 12:15.869 generally did what he said and he would 12:15.880 --> 12:18.047 call me and tell me like , again , you 12:18.047 --> 12:20.269 need to go to this hotel , be there and 12:20.269 --> 12:22.491 I would go and I did that so I wouldn't 12:22.491 --> 12:24.380 get hurt . So people that I loved 12:24.380 --> 12:26.602 wouldn't get hurt . Um And then I think 12:26.602 --> 12:28.491 I kind of reached a point where I 12:28.491 --> 12:30.491 didn't really care because like , I 12:30.491 --> 12:32.658 couldn't get it right . So I just kind 12:32.658 --> 12:34.880 of like succumbed to everything that he 12:34.880 --> 12:37.047 was asking me to do . Um And so during 12:37.047 --> 12:39.840 this time , um I was bought by law 12:39.849 --> 12:42.960 enforcement , I was , I'm pretty sure 12:42.969 --> 12:45.320 there were military men who also 12:45.330 --> 12:48.619 participated in this . Um I would say 12:48.630 --> 12:50.979 at the height of the trafficking , I 12:50.989 --> 12:52.989 was going to private apartments and 12:52.989 --> 12:55.469 hotel rooms about four or five times a 12:55.479 --> 12:58.929 week on top of being with my trafficker 12:59.000 --> 13:01.900 pretty much constantly and consistently . 13:03.669 --> 13:06.739 Um And so like my life as I had known , 13:06.750 --> 13:09.859 it really just dropped away . Um You 13:09.869 --> 13:12.239 know , when I met him , I was in my 13:12.250 --> 13:14.306 second semester of college , I was a 13:14.306 --> 13:17.690 children's pastor . I had two part time 13:17.700 --> 13:21.229 jobs and I ended up funking out of 13:21.239 --> 13:23.406 college College . I left my church . I 13:23.406 --> 13:26.059 stopped working because he asked me to 13:26.070 --> 13:29.299 and uh there was like no remnant of who 13:29.309 --> 13:31.476 I was before I met my trafficker and I 13:31.476 --> 13:35.030 just became this different person in a 13:35.039 --> 13:38.090 different world and it really felt like 13:38.099 --> 13:40.330 there was no way out . Um because this 13:40.340 --> 13:42.396 was , I met my trafficker in October 13:42.396 --> 13:45.679 2016 and like that wasn't that long ago , 13:45.690 --> 13:47.634 but trafficking wasn't as big of a 13:47.634 --> 13:51.369 thing then as it is now . And so I 13:51.380 --> 13:53.809 tried on multiple occasions to get away 13:53.820 --> 13:56.869 from him . And during a short interlude 13:56.880 --> 13:59.989 when I was free of him , I got pregnant . 14:00.390 --> 14:02.530 Um , I was escorting because that was 14:02.539 --> 14:05.169 kind of what I , I felt like I knew how 14:05.179 --> 14:07.359 to do , um , because I didn't have a 14:07.369 --> 14:09.091 college degree , I didn't have 14:09.099 --> 14:11.729 extensive work experience . I didn't 14:11.739 --> 14:14.900 know how to make ends meet . And so I 14:14.909 --> 14:18.729 had my son and even as 14:18.739 --> 14:21.369 he has popped back up into my life on 14:21.380 --> 14:23.547 multiple occasions because he tends to 14:23.547 --> 14:26.359 do that , um , he would use my son 14:26.369 --> 14:29.950 against me , um which 14:29.960 --> 14:32.940 frightened me and like made me panic 14:32.950 --> 14:36.000 even more . And so I did what he said , 14:36.010 --> 14:38.880 even all of those times , not only to 14:38.890 --> 14:41.080 protect myself but to protect my son . 14:41.130 --> 14:43.700 Um And so 14:44.520 --> 14:47.890 around this things were kind of coming 14:47.900 --> 14:51.340 to a head before I finally had escaped . 14:51.599 --> 14:54.440 Um And one of my friends from college , 14:54.450 --> 14:56.561 the one I mentioned earlier , who was 14:56.561 --> 14:58.728 Nanine for a man in the coast guard at 14:58.728 --> 15:01.190 the time , my friend told him what was 15:01.200 --> 15:03.422 going on because I eventually , at some 15:03.422 --> 15:05.644 point , my trafficker began to threaten 15:05.644 --> 15:07.700 my roommates . And at that point , I 15:07.700 --> 15:09.922 didn't care what happened to me , but I 15:09.922 --> 15:12.144 cared about what happened to them . And 15:12.144 --> 15:14.367 so I had to come clean and I came clean 15:14.367 --> 15:14.309 about what had been going on and she 15:14.320 --> 15:16.376 went to the man that she was Nanning 15:16.376 --> 15:19.609 for and he got very upset , bless his 15:19.619 --> 15:21.563 heart . He wanted to defend me and 15:21.563 --> 15:24.330 stick up for me and confronted my 15:24.340 --> 15:26.770 trafficker um about some of the things 15:26.780 --> 15:30.669 that were going on . Um , and from what 15:30.679 --> 15:33.869 I understand he got reprimanded , he 15:33.880 --> 15:35.936 would , he got in really big trouble 15:35.936 --> 15:39.619 because , um , the military police was , 15:39.630 --> 15:41.852 like , doing some kind of investigation 15:41.852 --> 15:44.130 on him on the down low but nobody knew . 15:44.130 --> 15:48.030 Um , and so , and I think it was just 15:48.039 --> 15:50.039 for drugs , like it wasn't even for 15:50.039 --> 15:52.150 trafficking , like it was for drugs . 15:52.150 --> 15:53.817 Um , and they didn't want the 15:53.817 --> 15:55.983 investigation blown , which is valid , 15:55.983 --> 15:57.983 but it didn't help me because I was 15:57.983 --> 16:00.150 still in danger . Like , so eventually 16:00.150 --> 16:02.261 I tried to report him too . Um I went 16:02.261 --> 16:04.317 with a friend to the military police 16:04.317 --> 16:06.500 but there was no warm welcome for us . 16:07.190 --> 16:09.412 Um Like I said , I'm pretty sure he had 16:09.412 --> 16:12.359 connections pretty high up . Um And so 16:12.369 --> 16:14.591 we walk in me and my friend and we walk 16:14.591 --> 16:18.479 in this room . Um and she , the , the 16:18.489 --> 16:21.219 law enforcement , a agent was a woman 16:21.469 --> 16:25.419 and she just began to hammer me with 16:25.429 --> 16:28.599 questions and these questions were very 16:28.609 --> 16:31.119 intimate . They were very graphic . Um 16:31.130 --> 16:33.186 Things like , you know , what , what 16:33.186 --> 16:35.352 did he make you do to these men in the 16:35.352 --> 16:37.408 bedroom ? Um And then they were also 16:37.408 --> 16:41.210 very praised like victim blaming . 16:41.330 --> 16:43.799 Um like I remember her asking me what 16:43.809 --> 16:46.140 was I wearing to make my trafficker 16:46.150 --> 16:49.609 approach me in a busy club . And I do 16:49.619 --> 16:51.890 also want to add that literally like 16:51.900 --> 16:54.559 two days before I went to report my 16:54.570 --> 16:57.369 trafficker , I found out that what I 16:57.380 --> 16:59.491 was going through was trafficking . I 16:59.491 --> 17:01.658 didn't know , you know , we talk a lot 17:01.658 --> 17:03.991 about how survivors don't self identify . 17:03.991 --> 17:06.047 And I was one of those I didn't self 17:06.047 --> 17:08.047 identify . So two days before I had 17:08.047 --> 17:09.991 found out that I was a trafficking 17:09.991 --> 17:12.047 victim . And then now this woman was 17:12.047 --> 17:14.269 wanting me to give like graphic details 17:14.269 --> 17:16.324 that I was not ready to talk about . 17:16.324 --> 17:18.569 And it was a very adverse experience 17:18.579 --> 17:20.746 and it makes me sad when I think about 17:20.746 --> 17:22.912 it because that could have been a very 17:22.912 --> 17:24.801 pivotal point in my story . And I 17:24.801 --> 17:26.968 remember just sitting there , I didn't 17:26.968 --> 17:28.857 say a word . I don't even think I 17:28.857 --> 17:30.857 looked at her . I be real . I don't 17:30.857 --> 17:32.690 even think I looked at her and I 17:32.690 --> 17:34.746 remember her sliding her card across 17:34.746 --> 17:38.410 the table and she told me that um when 17:38.420 --> 17:40.309 I was ready to be honest about my 17:40.309 --> 17:42.476 situation that she would be here . But 17:42.476 --> 17:45.339 until then , thank you for wasting her 17:45.349 --> 17:47.770 time . And she got up and walked out 17:47.780 --> 17:51.410 and I just went and sat in my car and I 17:51.420 --> 17:55.010 cried , I cried so hard because my 17:55.020 --> 17:57.140 trafficker had always told me that 17:57.229 --> 17:59.340 nobody would believe me if I tried to 17:59.340 --> 18:01.451 come forward that I would be arrested 18:01.451 --> 18:03.507 for solicitation , like all of these 18:03.507 --> 18:05.618 different things . And my interaction 18:05.618 --> 18:08.780 with that agent really reinforced a lot 18:08.790 --> 18:11.060 of the things that my trafficker had 18:11.069 --> 18:13.800 told me . And so I left and continued 18:13.810 --> 18:15.977 to be trafficked for a few more months 18:15.977 --> 18:18.088 after that . Um When again , it could 18:18.088 --> 18:21.579 have been a life changing moment for me . 18:22.430 --> 18:25.280 Um , but , you know , thank God I had 18:25.290 --> 18:27.810 friends who cared and they kept working 18:27.920 --> 18:30.180 to get me to safety . And finally my 18:30.189 --> 18:32.300 roommates were just like done . We're 18:32.300 --> 18:35.079 moving like we packed up our house and 18:35.089 --> 18:38.010 we're literally moved six hours across 18:38.020 --> 18:41.699 the country in a week . And so 18:41.709 --> 18:45.439 since then , I have , I have gone back 18:45.449 --> 18:47.671 to school . I am actually getting ready 18:47.671 --> 18:49.782 to graduate in May with my master's . 18:49.782 --> 18:52.689 Um it's a master's in social justice 18:52.699 --> 18:54.780 and human rights . Uh You know , 18:54.790 --> 18:56.734 because that's what I kind of went 18:56.734 --> 18:58.979 through . So , um I've also , I do 18:58.989 --> 19:01.156 train law enforcement now . Um I train 19:01.156 --> 19:03.322 law enforcement , prosecutors , health 19:03.322 --> 19:05.589 care providers , social workers all 19:05.599 --> 19:07.766 throughout the state of Pennsylvania . 19:07.766 --> 19:09.932 Um I will actually be doing a training 19:09.932 --> 19:12.043 with the Attorney General's office in 19:12.043 --> 19:15.890 June . Um And I just have been able to 19:15.900 --> 19:19.510 use my story . Um And I didn't talk 19:19.520 --> 19:21.810 about it but um some of the adverse 19:21.819 --> 19:23.986 experiences I had with law enforcement 19:23.986 --> 19:26.208 and I'm able to take that and take what 19:26.208 --> 19:28.709 my trafficker did and teach people how 19:28.719 --> 19:32.050 to be better , to teach people how to 19:32.060 --> 19:34.670 identify victims and how to 19:35.489 --> 19:37.767 appropriately and adequately help them . 19:37.979 --> 19:41.729 Um I am also on the 19:41.739 --> 19:43.459 board for two different anti 19:43.469 --> 19:45.525 trafficking nonprofits and I consult 19:45.530 --> 19:47.863 with organizations all over the country . 19:47.863 --> 19:50.400 Um So I really just become part of a 19:50.410 --> 19:52.521 growing movement of survivors who are 19:52.521 --> 19:55.530 speaking out and I , I want to help 19:55.540 --> 19:58.310 others , especially younger people . Um 19:58.319 --> 20:00.640 I , I know me and another one of my 20:00.650 --> 20:02.817 really close survivor friends , we are 20:02.817 --> 20:05.039 pretty much the youngest survivors that 20:05.039 --> 20:07.150 we know . Um Most of the survivors in 20:07.150 --> 20:09.150 this movement are pretty , I mean , 20:09.150 --> 20:11.500 they're , they're older . Um And so I 20:11.510 --> 20:14.239 wanna be able to pave a way for the 20:14.250 --> 20:17.640 younger survivors behind me and help 20:17.650 --> 20:20.469 them realize like this is not all that 20:20.479 --> 20:23.890 you are . Um And so I want to be able 20:23.900 --> 20:25.689 to help people understand what 20:25.699 --> 20:27.921 trafficking is , how it occurs , how to 20:27.921 --> 20:30.099 prevent it And not get so caught up in 20:30.109 --> 20:33.239 the sensationalized narrative because I 20:33.250 --> 20:36.050 got missed , I got missed , I got 20:36.060 --> 20:38.282 missed at college , I went to a private 20:38.282 --> 20:40.393 Christian college . So you're talking 20:40.393 --> 20:43.640 maybe max like 30 kids in a class . So 20:43.650 --> 20:45.706 it's not like I just got missed over 20:45.706 --> 20:47.706 because they had hundreds of kids . 20:47.706 --> 20:50.709 Nobody noticed . Um I was a children's 20:50.719 --> 20:53.880 pastor at church and my church really 20:53.890 --> 20:55.890 dropped the ball . Um They actually 20:55.890 --> 20:59.260 fired me um because I was exhibiting 20:59.270 --> 21:01.680 some red flags obviously because I was 21:01.689 --> 21:04.760 being trafficked and they never took 21:04.770 --> 21:06.770 the time really to look beneath the 21:06.770 --> 21:10.630 surface . Um I had multiple jobs I 21:11.310 --> 21:13.366 um was in and out of the same urgent 21:13.366 --> 21:16.680 cares , saw the same nurses , the same 21:16.689 --> 21:19.449 doctors and just kind of fell through 21:19.459 --> 21:21.660 the cracks because this whole 21:21.670 --> 21:23.670 sensationalized narrative of what a 21:23.670 --> 21:25.726 trafficking victim and a trafficking 21:25.726 --> 21:27.739 survivor should look like is really 21:27.750 --> 21:30.339 dangerous . It's a dangerous um 21:30.349 --> 21:32.516 narrative that we spread . And so if I 21:32.516 --> 21:36.479 can do my part to kind of put a cap on 21:36.489 --> 21:37.800 that I wanna do it .