It was nine years ago and I still hear a type of vehicle and the hair on my neck raises, my stomach starts churning, I feel like I will vomit.
[…]
I saw individuals who were sex trafficked, who were forced to do other horrendous crimes, because it was demanded of them. You don’t get a voluntary out. You do what they tell you or you get a consequence. And if you get too many consequences, you become a liability and you don’t come back.
[…] it started when I had a significant injury, developed an addiction issue, and changed to stronger and more significant drugs.
I ended up owing a lot of money that there was no possible way to pay off. I was violently beaten multiple times until there was a submission and I told them I would do whatever they wanted.
But because I was in a wheelchair and using a walker, I wasn’t very attractive or capable of doing the sex industry stuff.
[…]
I had multiple stints in jail, and the bill kept piling up. They’d always hav someone waiting for me outside jail to take me to do more.
[The cycle continued for three years, until her traffickers thought she stole from them. She insisted she didn't, but they locked her in a room. She was sexually assaulted and beaten]
On day three, someone left a door open and I escaped. A passerby saw me and offered me help and took me to a trauma centre.
I know that it was time. I was going to die if I didn’t start doing something to start saving myself and trust someone somewhere. That was my out.
[…]
You can’t get clean, sober, and deal with your trauma in three months. People think of trafficking and trauma and they want to put a very square box on it, they want to blame someone, but they have to look at the situation as holistic. The trauma that comes from trafficking, it’s a life-long trauma.
[…]
Police are stuck to a letter of the law mentality, it's either black or white. You're innocent or you're guilty. But instead, you have to look at the human element, the context. We're still at a crossroads, because the barriers to people getting out are significant. Having a criminal record holds people back for life.
Narrative provided by CBC
