Combating Family-Controlled Sex Trafficking
Change requires collective action.
I cannot forget the moment that I asked, “Did my parents know?” and the survivor replied, “Yes, I told them.”
Human trafficking is a heinous crime, but it often seems a world away. We assume that people sell the bodies of young children in other places, not in our neighborhood basements and barns. We think that the buyers are perverted people on the outskirts of society, not the elder in our church, the volunteer fire chief in our town, the teacher at our school. We do not want to believe that our pastors and parents know about the abuse and have failed to report it.
As a mother, it is a hard truth to acknowledge that parents are the most common abusers of their children. Sex trafficking is awful. Family-controlled sex trafficking is infinitely worse—and it’s far more common than we realize. 41% of all human trafficking victims report that their exploitation began with a parent or a caregiver. When the home is the crime scene, traditional responses fall short. Survivors are criminalized, dismissed, or retraumatized.
I have worked with several survivors of family-controlled trafficking. Some are public with their stories, some are not. My friend Kait Gannon is one of the most vocal survivors. She and Laurie Krull are co-founders of Mezzo Allies, a non-profit that educates people about family-controlled human trafficking.
Mezzo Allies is doing critical work to train people around the country. I joined their board because I see the devastation that family-controlled trafficking inflicts on vulnerable children. Family-controlled trafficking and organized abuse create unique challenges for survivors. As Mezzo points out, these types of survivors have:
Deep emotional ties to abusers
Normalized abuse from an early age
Lack of outside support networks
Complex trauma and dissociative disorders
Difficulty identifying as a victim
Abuse begins younger, lasts longer, and is more severe
As the daughter of church leaders who should have reported family-controlled sex trafficking, I grieve with survivors. As an advocate, I work to end oppressive systems through education and policy change.
Change requires collective action. So here I am, participating in a virtual walkathon to raise money for Mezzo Allies’ mission.