WEBVTT 00:03.579 --> 00:06.019 Hi , my name is Kristen Vaughan . I'm a 00:06.019 --> 00:08.075 survivor of trafficking , and I have 00:08.075 --> 00:10.019 worked as a survivor leader in the 00:10.019 --> 00:12.350 anti-trafficking movement since 2008 . 00:13.100 --> 00:15.211 I want to tell you a little bit about 00:15.211 --> 00:17.267 my story and a little bit about what 00:17.267 --> 00:19.340 I'm doing now . Um , I am from 00:19.340 --> 00:21.969 Southwest Virginia . I grew up in a 00:22.739 --> 00:25.459 very lovely home and childhood . I know 00:25.459 --> 00:27.681 that if you've watched any of the other 00:27.681 --> 00:30.459 videos on this page , you will hear 00:30.459 --> 00:33.099 stories about many of my brothers and 00:33.099 --> 00:36.130 sisters that were exploited as children . 00:37.240 --> 00:40.090 That was not my story . And for a long 00:40.090 --> 00:42.146 time because of that , I didn't feel 00:42.146 --> 00:44.368 like I had a story . I felt like , oh , 00:44.368 --> 00:46.146 I had this amazing , you know , 00:46.146 --> 00:48.257 upbringing and this amazing childhood 00:48.257 --> 00:50.520 with these amazing parents and I never 00:50.520 --> 00:52.520 experienced any abuse or neglect or 00:52.520 --> 00:54.687 molestation or anything like that that 00:54.687 --> 00:57.500 my um brothers and sisters have often 00:58.090 --> 01:00.639 experienced , but we still ended up in 01:00.639 --> 01:03.240 the same place . And I think the 01:03.240 --> 01:05.129 juxtaposition of showing that and 01:05.129 --> 01:09.080 telling that story of how um we went 01:09.080 --> 01:11.080 through very different childhoods , 01:11.279 --> 01:13.557 very different educational experiences , 01:13.959 --> 01:16.879 very different um upbringings , and we 01:16.879 --> 01:19.569 still ended up in the same place . So 01:19.760 --> 01:22.360 if this is um a sign to just let you 01:22.360 --> 01:25.480 know that um trafficking does not 01:25.480 --> 01:27.919 discriminate , addiction does not 01:27.919 --> 01:30.330 discriminate . Mental health does not 01:30.330 --> 01:32.386 discriminate . It doesn't matter who 01:32.386 --> 01:34.386 you are , how much money you have , 01:34.386 --> 01:36.441 where you live , where you grew up , 01:36.441 --> 01:38.552 how you grew up , you um can still be 01:38.552 --> 01:40.940 vulnerable at any at any time . And 01:40.940 --> 01:43.790 traffickers prey upon vulnerabilities . 01:43.970 --> 01:47.069 That is the number one way that they 01:47.069 --> 01:49.410 kind of worm our way into our lives . 01:49.949 --> 01:52.060 So , just tell you a little bit about 01:52.060 --> 01:55.589 my story . Um , when I , I did very 01:55.589 --> 01:58.690 well in middle school , high school , I 01:58.690 --> 02:00.529 was kept in a lot of things . I 02:00.529 --> 02:02.529 lettered in a lot of things . I was 02:02.529 --> 02:05.110 very high achieving , but I had a very 02:05.110 --> 02:07.730 serious undiagnosed mental health um 02:07.730 --> 02:10.169 situation . Um , well , I was diagnosed , 02:10.210 --> 02:11.932 but it was , I think it was um 02:11.932 --> 02:14.880 incorrectly diagnosed and so I would 02:15.490 --> 02:17.268 jump from being on , you know , 02:17.268 --> 02:19.770 multiple medications to no medications 02:19.770 --> 02:22.009 to different medications and I just 02:22.009 --> 02:25.479 never really felt Um , like that I was 02:25.479 --> 02:27.757 being helped and , you know , you know , 02:27.880 --> 02:30.600 coupling all that with , uh , being a 02:30.600 --> 02:33.440 teenager and , um , you know , living 02:33.440 --> 02:37.039 in a rural area and it just , just all 02:37.039 --> 02:40.440 of it , it just was so much . So by the 02:40.440 --> 02:42.662 time that I went to college , I went to 02:42.662 --> 02:45.789 college at age 17 and I was very , very 02:45.789 --> 02:49.720 naive . I was very sheltered growing 02:49.720 --> 02:53.679 up , um , and , and that's not a , you 02:53.679 --> 02:55.679 know , testimony against my parents 02:55.679 --> 02:57.940 like . You know , oh they didn't , you 02:57.940 --> 03:00.107 know , tell me the ways of the world , 03:00.107 --> 03:02.218 but I , I was , they , they protected 03:02.218 --> 03:04.162 me and they made sure that nothing 03:04.162 --> 03:06.384 could ever hurt me . And so then when I 03:06.384 --> 03:08.551 was out , um , in a situation to where 03:08.551 --> 03:08.460 all the things could hurt me , I kind 03:08.460 --> 03:11.100 of didn't know what to do . So I went 03:11.100 --> 03:14.279 to college at 17 . Me and two other 03:14.279 --> 03:17.509 girls , um , were , we went to , we 03:17.509 --> 03:20.139 rushed for a sorority and we went to a 03:20.139 --> 03:23.080 fraternity party and we were all three 03:23.080 --> 03:26.220 dosed with what we think is GHB . 03:26.740 --> 03:29.990 Um , which , you know , in the early in 03:29.990 --> 03:33.039 the late 90s , early 2000s was a big 03:33.039 --> 03:35.710 kind of a date rape drug . You 03:36.360 --> 03:38.582 sometimes you can have memory from it , 03:38.582 --> 03:40.749 sometimes you don't , I , I don't have 03:40.749 --> 03:42.916 any memory from what happened . But um 03:42.916 --> 03:45.138 it was the first time that I'd ever had 03:45.138 --> 03:47.471 and it was the first and I got pregnant . 03:47.471 --> 03:51.169 Um I chose to have um uh 03:51.169 --> 03:53.929 the , the pregnancy terminated for a 03:53.929 --> 03:55.762 lot of reasons , a lot of health 03:55.762 --> 03:58.850 reasons that I won't go into go into 03:58.850 --> 04:02.850 here um about , but there were um 04:03.330 --> 04:05.274 there were a lot of reasons that I 04:05.274 --> 04:07.219 chose to have that decision that I 04:07.219 --> 04:10.639 chose to do that decision . So after 04:10.639 --> 04:13.360 that , um , the college basically 04:13.360 --> 04:15.582 called my parents and we're like , no , 04:15.582 --> 04:18.079 she's not going to class , she's not 04:18.079 --> 04:20.246 showering , she's not eating , she's , 04:20.519 --> 04:22.575 you know , in the bed all the time , 04:22.575 --> 04:24.686 like you need to come get her . So my 04:24.686 --> 04:26.797 parents came and got me and they took 04:26.797 --> 04:28.963 me to a treatment center and I got off 04:28.963 --> 04:30.797 the drugs that I had got back on 04:30.797 --> 04:33.019 because of that whole depression . Um , 04:33.019 --> 04:35.720 and everything was good . Um , I 04:35.720 --> 04:38.429 started working at a very prominent , 04:38.549 --> 04:42.299 uh , restaurant in Virginia and , um , 04:42.309 --> 04:44.750 started training to be a chef . And I 04:44.750 --> 04:46.917 was so proud of myself and I was doing 04:46.917 --> 04:49.083 so good , and , um , but I didn't have 04:49.083 --> 04:51.139 my car , right ? So I had to walk to 04:51.139 --> 04:53.361 work and I was walking to work . It was 04:53.670 --> 04:55.989 um it was just 2 or 3 blocks to the bus 04:55.989 --> 04:58.045 stop and it was about 8 blocks to my 04:58.045 --> 05:00.156 job . So depending on what time I got 05:00.156 --> 05:02.322 up , I was either walking to my To the 05:02.322 --> 05:04.619 bus or to the job . So there's a little 05:04.619 --> 05:07.209 store right beside the bus stop , and 05:07.420 --> 05:09.531 they , I would stop there and I would 05:09.531 --> 05:11.753 get cigarettes or , you know , I'd grab 05:11.753 --> 05:14.031 a soda or something on the way to work . 05:14.031 --> 05:15.976 Well , there were these um 3 girls 05:15.976 --> 05:18.350 there . And they would always like talk 05:18.350 --> 05:20.517 to me and like or they bum a cigarette 05:20.517 --> 05:22.628 off me or they give me a cigarette or 05:22.628 --> 05:24.739 then it like progressed and they were 05:24.739 --> 05:27.700 always there . And they're very , very 05:27.700 --> 05:30.260 friendly to me , and I was in a new 05:30.260 --> 05:34.089 city in a new occupation . On a huge 05:34.089 --> 05:37.410 depression with an undiagnosed um . 05:38.369 --> 05:42.320 But untreated major mental illness . So , 05:42.450 --> 05:44.570 um , I was what , you know , we at 05:44.570 --> 05:47.399 Virginia call uh ripe for the pickings , 05:47.890 --> 05:51.049 and they kind of saw me coming and come 05:51.049 --> 05:54.170 to find out later , these girls were 05:54.170 --> 05:58.010 actually paid to um to groom 05:58.010 --> 06:00.730 me and that's what they did . They 06:00.730 --> 06:02.952 became my best friends , they became my 06:02.952 --> 06:05.769 sisters , they became my family . Um I 06:05.769 --> 06:07.769 was estranged from my family at the 06:07.769 --> 06:11.630 time . And um they just stepped 06:11.630 --> 06:15.070 in and did what I call uh very similar 06:15.070 --> 06:18.670 to love bombing , which is uh it's a 06:18.670 --> 06:20.837 very , uh so they do a cult where they 06:20.837 --> 06:23.003 just sort of like just attack you with 06:23.003 --> 06:25.059 like love and like we're your family 06:25.059 --> 06:27.799 and you know , you can depend on us and 06:28.070 --> 06:30.570 just all the things that you need at 06:30.570 --> 06:32.070 that moment , they see the 06:32.070 --> 06:35.399 vulnerabilities . And they provide the 06:35.399 --> 06:37.566 opportunities for you to feel safe and 06:37.566 --> 06:39.788 for you to feel comfortable and for you 06:39.788 --> 06:41.899 to feel like you're in a family . And 06:41.899 --> 06:43.899 that's what they did . So after a 06:43.899 --> 06:46.121 certain amount of time , um , obviously 06:46.121 --> 06:48.232 I guess started doing drugs with them 06:48.232 --> 06:50.899 again . I was completely unable to 06:50.899 --> 06:54.540 continue to keep my home and um they 06:54.540 --> 06:56.859 were like , hey , why don't you move in 06:56.859 --> 07:00.140 with us ? And at the time that seemed 07:00.140 --> 07:03.320 like a great idea . I was 23 07:03.660 --> 07:06.859 and um I was not speaking to my parents . 07:06.940 --> 07:08.996 I know there , you know , means of , 07:09.510 --> 07:11.732 you know , any financial income . I was 07:11.732 --> 07:15.260 not working and I , you know , I found 07:15.260 --> 07:17.482 out like , you know , my lifelong dream 07:17.482 --> 07:20.019 was to be an attorney and I was on the 07:20.019 --> 07:22.179 um the pre-law program track at the 07:22.179 --> 07:25.010 college that I was at . So to have 07:26.079 --> 07:29.160 Basically failed out of college to have 07:29.160 --> 07:32.040 had an abortion , to have just like 07:32.040 --> 07:34.151 felt like I disappointed everybody in 07:34.151 --> 07:36.600 my life , and my family , you know , my 07:36.600 --> 07:40.079 friends and and myself . I was um 07:40.480 --> 07:43.200 I was at , at the bottom . And so when 07:43.200 --> 07:45.311 these people came along , it was like 07:45.311 --> 07:48.429 the , the perfect storm of 07:51.070 --> 07:54.959 exploitation to happen . So that was 07:54.959 --> 07:57.070 where it began the House of Horrors . 07:57.070 --> 08:00.880 And just to let you know , so as of 4 08:00.880 --> 08:03.119 years ago that the house that I'm gonna 08:03.119 --> 08:05.286 tell you about has since been razed to 08:05.286 --> 08:07.508 the ground and no longer exists . It is 08:07.508 --> 08:10.079 an empty field . Um , well , there may 08:10.079 --> 08:12.190 or may not be some wild flowers there 08:12.190 --> 08:14.357 that some people that I may or may not 08:14.357 --> 08:17.119 know of planted there , but , um , it's 08:17.119 --> 08:19.063 no longer exists because it was so 08:19.063 --> 08:20.897 nefarious and there were so many 08:20.897 --> 08:23.008 terrible things that happened there . 08:23.008 --> 08:25.600 But this was just a gentleman who um 08:25.600 --> 08:29.600 owns this house , and he worked at a 08:29.600 --> 08:32.799 regular , you know , 9 to 5 job and you 08:32.799 --> 08:34.966 never would have thought that he would 08:34.966 --> 08:36.577 have had anything to do with 08:36.577 --> 08:38.577 trafficking . Um , but there were 5 08:38.577 --> 08:40.940 bedrooms in this house and he allowed 08:40.940 --> 08:44.159 um the drug and the human traffickers 08:44.159 --> 08:48.030 to live there and um I was there 08:48.030 --> 08:51.919 willingly for about 3 months . And 08:51.919 --> 08:54.119 I realized that this is not for me , 08:54.239 --> 08:56.350 this is not where I want to be . This 08:56.350 --> 08:58.789 is not who I am , and I tried to leave 08:59.200 --> 09:01.479 and that's when we were locked in the 09:01.479 --> 09:04.719 basement . You know , myself and two 09:04.719 --> 09:07.880 other girls were locked in the basement , 09:08.080 --> 09:10.247 and the only time that we were let out 09:10.247 --> 09:13.679 was when we were late to work , if you 09:13.679 --> 09:15.790 want to call it that , if you want to 09:15.790 --> 09:17.901 call it work . Um , and that was it . 09:17.901 --> 09:20.510 Um . The way that I got out , and this 09:20.510 --> 09:22.710 is why doing this particular video is 09:22.710 --> 09:26.710 so important to me , is um I am not um 09:26.710 --> 09:29.659 military at all , but my family is , 09:30.309 --> 09:33.109 and I come from a family of service , 09:33.190 --> 09:35.460 and I come from a family of military 09:35.789 --> 09:39.659 and between my family members , um , 09:42.229 --> 09:44.940 Many of you are either active duty or 09:44.940 --> 09:46.996 retired military , I was able to get 09:46.996 --> 09:49.051 out . They found out where I was and 09:49.051 --> 09:52.000 they came and got me . And that is a . 09:53.150 --> 09:57.130 That was huge for me because not very 09:57.130 --> 10:00.609 many victims had the opportunity to get 10:00.609 --> 10:03.669 out . For me personally , I feel like 10:03.669 --> 10:07.099 that was a gift . That was a gift from 10:07.450 --> 10:09.617 my higher power . That was a gift from 10:09.617 --> 10:11.839 God , and I believe that with that gift 10:11.839 --> 10:14.000 comes a responsibility . And for me 10:14.210 --> 10:17.140 that responsibility means doing 10:17.140 --> 10:19.196 everything that I can to help others 10:19.196 --> 10:23.000 get out . So , um , I am now the CEO 10:23.000 --> 10:25.111 and founder of an organization called 10:25.111 --> 10:28.070 2nd and 50 . It's called 2nd and 50 10:28.070 --> 10:30.710 because we don't even really start at 10:30.710 --> 10:33.229 until second chances , right ? Because 10:33.229 --> 10:36.909 survivors need so many chances . We 10:36.909 --> 10:39.659 need , because so many survivors don't 10:39.659 --> 10:41.830 get the opportunity to even start at a 10:41.830 --> 10:44.109 first chance . They might not , you 10:44.109 --> 10:46.165 know , the barriers that are created 10:46.165 --> 10:48.780 for survivors . Um , of trafficking , 10:48.830 --> 10:50.719 whether it be trafficking , labor 10:50.719 --> 10:53.440 trafficking , domestic servitude , most 10:53.440 --> 10:55.440 of it , you know , most of us don't 10:55.440 --> 10:57.551 even get the opportunity to start out 10:57.551 --> 11:00.030 until our 2nd or 3rd or 10th or 50th 11:00.030 --> 11:03.150 chance . And that's , um , that's , you 11:03.150 --> 11:05.261 know , that's what I care about , and 11:05.261 --> 11:07.483 that's what my heart is . And so I hope 11:07.483 --> 11:09.706 that anyone , you know , viewing this , 11:09.706 --> 11:09.700 if you'll just take a little time , 11:09.950 --> 11:11.989 watch the other videos of uh my 11:11.989 --> 11:13.989 brothers and sisters on this , uh , 11:13.989 --> 11:16.789 page . There's some amazing individuals . 11:17.349 --> 11:21.320 And um , you know , just , 11:21.330 --> 11:24.489 just please be aware that anybody 11:24.489 --> 11:28.179 listening to me right now . That I can 11:28.179 --> 11:32.179 hear my voice right now within 30 to 50 11:32.179 --> 11:34.590 miles of your house , at the minimum , 11:35.219 --> 11:38.250 the minimum . There's traffic going on . 11:38.380 --> 11:40.640 Somebody's being trafficked , a young 11:40.640 --> 11:42.862 girls being trafficked , a young boy is 11:42.862 --> 11:44.973 being trafficked , and an older woman 11:44.973 --> 11:47.029 is being trafficked . Like these are 11:47.029 --> 11:49.029 things that people just don't think 11:49.029 --> 11:52.530 about and so I really hope that um You 11:52.530 --> 11:55.309 know , you're able to take away from 11:55.309 --> 11:57.280 watching all these videos and the 11:57.280 --> 11:59.880 amazing things that survivors are doing . 12:01.049 --> 12:03.216 One of the things that I say is , it's 12:03.216 --> 12:05.438 and this is not my quote . This is from 12:05.438 --> 12:07.409 somewhere else , uh , the people 12:07.409 --> 12:10.130 closest to the problem are the people 12:10.130 --> 12:13.890 closest to the solution and that 12:13.890 --> 12:17.010 it's really not a truer statement than 12:17.010 --> 12:19.369 in this , in this sector , in this 12:19.369 --> 12:21.650 field . Survivors are the people that 12:21.650 --> 12:25.580 know . You know , all of the ins and 12:25.580 --> 12:28.619 outs and how we can shut these systems 12:28.619 --> 12:31.789 down . And so listening to survivors , 12:32.059 --> 12:33.809 centering survivors in your 12:33.809 --> 12:37.380 organization , paying survivors , um 12:37.380 --> 12:39.491 making sure that survivors have , you 12:39.491 --> 12:41.602 know , not just a seat at the table , 12:41.602 --> 12:45.250 but like Um , a voice at the table 12:45.250 --> 12:47.250 where they're actually listening to 12:47.330 --> 12:49.441 this is the way that we're gonna stop 12:49.441 --> 12:51.386 trafficking . This is the way that 12:51.386 --> 12:53.441 we're going to stop these systems of 12:53.441 --> 12:55.809 exploitation . This is the way that 12:55.809 --> 12:59.609 we're gonna save boys and girls and 12:59.609 --> 13:02.049 women and men . You have to center 13:02.049 --> 13:04.369 survivors in front , you know , in , in 13:04.369 --> 13:06.536 your organization . You have to listen 13:06.536 --> 13:08.758 to what survivors had to say . You have 13:08.758 --> 13:11.036 to listen to our input . Um , you know , 13:11.190 --> 13:14.280 consult with us . There are some 13:14.280 --> 13:16.169 organizations that are doing some 13:16.169 --> 13:17.891 amazing , amazing work , and I 13:17.891 --> 13:19.900 guarantee you , if you look at the 13:21.549 --> 13:23.840 buildup and the foundation of that 13:23.840 --> 13:26.007 organization , you will find survivors 13:26.190 --> 13:30.049 in key areas in key positions . 13:30.429 --> 13:33.150 So , um thank you for the opportunity 13:33.150 --> 13:35.909 for listening to me , and I hope that 13:35.909 --> 13:38.020 um you're able to take something away 13:38.020 --> 13:38.390 from this .