Did You Know?
Human Trafficking Victims are Being Charged as Sex Offenders for Life!!!
You may ask how could that happen, or did I read that wrong?
It is true that many victims of trafficking are being charged as sex offenders and having to register as a sex offender for life. As you can imagine, this is basically a death sentence for any hope of a normal life for someone who has already been through the living hell of trafficking.
In our experience working with victims of trafficking, we have become aware that around 50% of adult victims we have helped had some part in the trafficking of others.
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So how does this happen?
There are two ways we have seen victims of trafficking end up with this label.
One way this happens is:
Traffickers will consistently use force, fraud or coercion to make their victims engage in trafficking others. They do this in the following ways: traffickers will make the victims recruit others into prostitution; they will force their victims to show others how to prostitute or solicit themselves and have communication with the Johns (sex buyers); they will make their victims groom other, newer victims to become accustomed to the trauma of selling their body; and they will make their victims rent hotel rooms under the victim’s name.
Traffickers will do all of these things so there will be less evidence with their name on it to convict them of sex trafficking.
When a trafficking raid happens, often everyone at the scene is arrested, while any minors there are released. Many times adult females will be charged with human trafficking and will be sentenced for as long as the actual trafficker, even though the adult female is actually a victim of the trafficker, just like the minor is.
We are working to help and advocate for a woman in prison that is going through this right now.
The second way this happens is:
Before a girl is trafficked for the first time, she would never dream of selling her body. Then, when she is forced to sell her body by a trafficker, she is typically forced to do drugs to numb herself so she can do this type of work.
After a while, she gets desensitized to selling her body, and to the complex trauma and abuse that go along with it. Sometimes, the girl is able to escape her abusive trafficker, but she is often still addicted to drugs, homeless, and has no way of making money besides what she is used to doing, which is prostitution.
This girl is often very mentally and physically beaten down and not confident that she can do anything besides prostitution, so she will start prostituting independently without a pimp.
Time passes and this girl is no longer a girl, but an adult woman. Other girls and women who have been trafficked may see this woman being successful at prostituting without a pimp. They see she is not being beaten and that a pimp is not taking all of her money, so they may see her as a “successful businesswoman”.
This type of lifestyle can be inviting to other women, who want to keep more of the money they earn and work in a non-abusive environment. The woman who is prostituting independently may invite other women to work with her or under her, thinking she is helping to empower them. Other women may ask her for advice and help so they can work for her or prostitute independently.
If this happens, and there is a trafficking raid, especially if a minor is involved, this original woman will likely go to prison and be sentenced for human trafficking.
We are currently helping a woman who is experiencing this enormous difficulty.
Repercussions in Both Situations
In both cases, the adult victim of trafficking will be sent to prison for trafficking and have to complete a long sentence without rehabilitation.
Then, they will have to complete a sex-offender program before release, which is geared toward pedophiles, even though these victims are not pedophiles.
Most trafficking victims are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, as well as rape that is involved in being trafficked, so this program can be very triggering and traumatizing for a victim who actually needs help.
When the trafficking victim is released from prison, they will have to register as a sex offender for life.
This means that, along with the label of being a pedophile and being treated as one by people who only see the label and don’t know the person, additional trauma is added on to them.
There is almost no housing available for sex offenders coming out of prison or wanting rehabilitation.
There are good transitional, healing homes for victims of trafficking, but none for victims who are registered sex offenders.
If they do not have a good support system with people who are able and willing to house them, they will likely end up back in the same situation and surroundings they were in before. This situation was very unhealthy for them and contributed to the circumstances that led to their prison sentence, especially if they are still dealing with unresolved trauma.
What is the Solution?
We are fighting to change legislation so that these victims will not be charged as sex offenders. Instead, they will be able to attend a program, if a prison sentence is necessary, in TDCJ that is geared toward victims of trafficking.
The program would help them rehabilitate and heal, learn other job skills, and avoid continuing the cycle of trafficking.
Firsthand Accounts of Victims Who Trafficked Others:
“I was trafficked 5 times, mostly when I was a minor. The last time I was trafficked, my pimp was trafficking a minor as well. He made me show her how to do things.
When the cops showed up, they arrested me along with my trafficker, and we are both in prison, though I never made a dime, and my trafficker had $1,500 on him from the minor he trafficked.
He made me hold his two phones when we were being arrested so it looked like I was responsible for trafficking. He also blamed me for everything when questioned by the police.
My lawyer was court appointed and had no education about human trafficking, so he did not help me in the way I could’ve been helped. I was sent to prison for 15 years and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of my life.”
-Mia
“I thought I was empowering these women, I encouraged them and gave them pep talks about the business (prostitution) and working independently.”
-Kathy
“This (prostitution) was all I knew to do. I was severely beaten up by my pimp, so I escaped him and started doing this business for myself. Other women saw I was successful and wanted to make money like I was, so I showed them the ropes. Now I wish I hadn’t, but that’s where my head was at the time.”
-Piper
“My pimp told me to recruit girls at the support group I was going to for trafficking survivors.”
-Jenny
“While I was being trafficked, I introduced my neighbor to my trafficker, and she ended up being sold as well.”
-Kinsley
“My pimp made me book the hotel rooms so they wouldn’t be in his name, and talk to the Johns on the phone. When there was a raid, originally the cops thought I was a minor that needed to be rescued. When the police found out I was an adult, I was the one who was arrested along with my trafficker. I have been in prison for 12 years now.”
-Lindsey
“The pimps are always trying to make the girls traffic others. I did it once.”
-Kianna
“I was caught showing underage girls how to prostitute. My pimp made me do this, and I was the one who got arrested for it.”
-Johnna
“I have been prostituting for 15 years. A couple of years ago, a 14 year old was running away from her abusive pimp. She was trying to make it on her own, she was desperate and asked me for help to start prostituting on her own.”
-Rosa
*Names have been changed to protect survivors
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