I was a graduate with a BA when I entered, after multiple rapes and eventually being discarded in a foreign country by a man who claimed he wanted to marry me. I had to survive and I was a foreigner with no legal right to work where I was. I feel that the word “trafficked” could and should expand to include the class of women who are forced their through oppression/elimination of realistic alternatives/male abuse/discrimination. Then we’re talking about nearly every prostituted woman. However, the C-PTSD that results from the trauma is REAL. I didn’t have a pimp, but the johns did enough of the traumatizing for them. Unfortunately I cannot separate the damage though. Was it the rapes before entering? Was it the rapes while in it?

All of the above, of course.

But re-entering is extremely difficult. My survival instincts have motivated me to cling to a male (relationship) to keep from going completely under, but of course this sort of desperation is how women often end up with abusers (and I did). Now I am single, refusing to be abused further, but completely on my own with how to sort out my life and get up on my feet. Every single day is agony trying to live through. I have finally reached a point where the panic attacks have ended, but the Stockholm I still have plus the extreme anxiety and vulnerability to stress is basically UNMANAGEABLE. The more I read about survivors of trauma and the long-lasting effects, the more I see that I am a classic case. At the very least, I get comfort from knowing that my experience isn’t due to me being inherently flawed–it’s amazing to see study after study nailing to the T exactly what I’m experiencing. But then I am staggered to see the apathy of others, the victim-blaming, the shaming, and the outright DENIAL of our situation.

If I have to listen to ONE MORE PERSON tell me that this is a CHOICE I made, I really don’t know how I’ll contain myself much longer.

I wanted to cure cancer.
I wanted to negotiate a Middle East peace deal that would end the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
I wanted to start my own NGO for refugees and trafficked women.
I wanted to write a book.
I wanted to be President.
I wanted to be a professor.
I wanted to be a researcher.
I wanted to be a healer.
I wanted to be a mother.

It goes on like that.

Now I’d be happy if I can have 2 months in a row without the carpet being pulled out from under me again. It’s like trying to outrun a fire on a bridge that is coming from both ends. Run through the fire? Jump off the bridge? Die?

We are left to die.

Here’s a thought: how about those with privilege extending some of THEIR privileges to those of us with none, like maybe coughing up scholarship funds and jobs for destitute exited women (regardless of age or when exited) with a law school or grad school aptitude who is committed to helping other marginalized, poor exited women since we’re the only ones who really have a dog in this fight.

As to the “good work” she’s doing, she’s also compensated quite well for it. And that same work could also be done by lot of destitute exited women if only given the chance with grad school scholarships and first dibs at those jobs. But we never seem to be the ones to get that chance. Which is a real slap in our faces. There needs to be a LOT less opportunists making their pile off of disprivileged women and a LOT more investment in disprivileged, poor exited women. But as long as the power-overing and privilege-clinging I have seen, and continue to see, remains unchecked within the anti-trafficking movement; I am not optimistic that such investment will ever happen.

http://ruthjacobs.co.uk/2013/05/01/linda-sullivan-executive-directorpresident-of-b-e-s-t-master-certified-coach-for-victims-of-human-trafficking-interview/

“The public health consequence, and ultimately, the devastation to society caused by male demand for commercial sex is astronomical.” —> God is it ever, and it’s beyond time to start making things RIGHT. ALL resources and funding must ONLY go to exited/survivor-run anti-trafficking organizations in order for the job to be done right!! These women are without a doubt the ultimate experts and the only ones who know EXACTLY all that is needed to get REAL support to victims needing to rebuild their lives. Anything less than that is an epic fail. (Male) egoes and power plays need to be put aside, this is a human rights disaster.

I like how you laid out at the end what needs to happen to tackle the problems, because I think a lot of people don’t know, plus there are so many layers to all the services and supports needed, which again, is why survivors are the leaders and must be the ones receiving ALL the private and public funding to do the job RIGHT!

Thank you for this, it is such valuable information.

Oh and I too am sick to DEATH of Christian and other “faith-based” organizations getting the lion’s share of money and “market share” of anti-trafficking resources. Not only is it incompatible with the abortion NEED as you brilliantly laid out, but such “help” comes at a Spiritual cost of these women having to accept whatever values the Christians want to impose on them. This is ethically wrong. Of course, immediate help is immediate help, which no one would or should decline, but it’s very disrespectful of any organization to attach a cost to their help, whether it’s religious or Spiritual or whatever.

Churches are some of the biggest landowners here in the Americas — all those large, beautiful buildings empty so many days of the week, that could be converted into multi-unit residences and fully operating safe homes for exited/exiting prostituted women to begin rebuilding their lives.