A woman is now safe after asking us to help her escape from a trafficker in the United States.
Caroline* had become trapped in a situation of sex trafficking in the Midwest. She had also been coerced into a co-dependency on the male perpetrator to meet her basic needs such as shelter and food.
Previously, Caroline had managed to leave exploitation on her own, but with nowhere to live, nowhere else to go and feeling desperate and hungry, she had seen no option but to return to her trafficker. This had happened on more than one occasion, despite several attempts to seek help and in spite of receiving support from multiple organizations.
One of our Investigators, Devon Greiter, said: “Traffickers often ensure their victims are entirely dependent on them to meet their basic needs for survival. Because of these tactics, it is often very difficult for survivors to establish independence without additional supports, often leaving the victim vulnerable to returning to the trafficker for survival.”
When Hope for Justice became involved, our team acted immediately to find Caroline a location that would be safe for the night. Our investigators picked her up and transported her there. We also focused on long-term planning, which involved linking her with a service that would provide assistance with secure housing, trauma-informed care, support structures and future independence.
Devon explained: “We have an amazing investigative team that mobilizes quickly to ensure survivors are brought to safety. Sometimes that may be finding transportation to a safe overnight stay or sometimes it may be something more long term. Our investigators have established contacts in the community that allow us to take a multi-disciplinary approach, and we can call upon those contacts when different needs arise. This makes the process very quick and the transition more efficient for the survivors to get to safety.”
*Name and image changed to protect identity of the survivor
