Each year on the 30th of July, World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is observed. This year’s theme is “Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking.” The United Nations reports that around the world one in three persons being trafficked is a child.
At Xquisite, we have always been driven by the passion that “every woman is a daughter, what if she was yours?” What would you do if one of those three trafficked children was your child?
We have discovered that over 97% of sex trafficking survivors we have walked with, were first sexually exploited at age 3. That start in life sets a child up for being vulnerable to bad characters that will exploit that vulnerability and potentially trap them in the dark world of sex trafficking.
In conversations with survivors, I have heard them share experiences of what their life existed of, superficial smiles, assurances that they are “fine” when they were not at all “fine” and deep inside screaming will someone please see me! We have come to understand that child sexual exploitation often occurs by someone close to them, a trusted family member or friend. The mental terror and manipulation often paralyze survivors making the ability to escape nearly impossible especially if that terror is inflicted by a trusted family member or friend. We have also learned that if we can ask the right question, it opens up the ability to reach beyond what paralyzes them.
One survivor shared an experience with me about a time that they were left isolated, underage in a hotel room for days without food. The only thing their trafficker left them was alcohol and weed and a very real threat to keep silent. The room was on a floor too high to escape from. One night they sat by the window, opened for fresh air which pulled the curtain out from the wind. Sitting alone experiencing abandonment and rejection, hunger and fear, a knock came to the door. It was law enforcement responding to a call from someone to do a welfare check, stating that it appeared that someone was going to jump and commit suicide. The survivor assured them that was not the case, so the officers left. They came 3 times with the same result. No one looked beyond the obvious, a minor alone in a hotel room, impaired. No one asked the question. No one noticed the fear. The survivor said to me, why didn’t anyone see me? Why didn’t anyone help me?
We have learned from youth we serve who have shared that they were only allowed to go to school a few days a month. They never interacted with teachers or students, but because always got their schoolwork done, no one questioned their truancy. No one questioned why? We see youth weekly who are crying for help, often those cries come through running away, fighting, substance abuse or harsh flippant behavior. Below the surface of difficult behavior, however, are cries for help, cries for wanting to be loved, sense that they belong, wanted and matter. When their caregivers abandon them because they consider them a burden and berate them with names no one should call anyone let alone a child, the cry for help is can you see me? Can you love me?
When you reconsider the statement that 97% of survivors, we have visited with were first sexually exploited at age three. The lifetime of exploitation lends itself to cries for help!
We have had youth hug us and beg us to take them home. We can’t leave them behind. That is why we fight hard for them to be seen. It is our commitment and passion to encourage and empower them to realize their incredible potential, instill self-esteem, and champion dreams.
How many youths are suffering in plain sight, suffering in silence, being treated with unspeakable torture that need us to see them and by seeing them change the trajectory of their lives. It only takes being seen, being believed, and given a chance. Xquisite is committed to be the ones to see them. We are learning to ask the right questions. To not accept when something doesn’t seem right and do nothing about it. We look beyond the circumstance and look into the eyes of the ones crying for help and realize that every child is someone’s and we will consider them as our own. We will do our best to make sure that no child will be left behind on our watch.
It is indeed a privilege to join arms with the world and link our community together on behalf of the millions who are suffering in silence and empower them to live a life free from sexual exploitation. Free to be seen, to be heard, to be loved, to be wanted, to be believed, and to dream. Free.
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