Lots of people tend to see people who are being trafficked as less worthy, less dignity, etc. But you know what they say about assuming. I didn’t wake up one day as a little girl and say "Hey, when I am an adult, I’d really like to sell my body for money." Nope! I wanted to be an astronaut. Clearly that didn’t happen. It was a process, one that involved my mental health decline, and an addiction rapidly increasing. I didn’t start with a pimp, I started solo. My girls thought I was next level, my boys (dealers) loved me. At first, the money was going to rent, food and important things. Then, they only changed hands from trick to me. Me to dealer, then up my nose. Then came the heavy stuff.
I was tired of having to track down dealers and wait, while scheduling tricks. So, when one of my boys said he would run a phone for me, pay for a hotel, get my nails and hair done and ensure I’d always have drugs, I was all over that. We left for Toronto the next day, and he made good on all his promises, except my money was paying for it. We would go back to my hometown and he would find a reason not to give me my cut. He would pay me in drugs, but I still kept working for him. He used my addiction to his benefits. I was afraid of him, and he knew it. This continued until he did a stint in jail. During this time, a friend of mine suggested going back to Toronto and laying low. Within a week, it was back to the same thing. We stayed in Toronto, stayed in hotels, got involved with gangs, etc.
During all of this, I was unaware I was being trafficked. I had a "Romeo" Pimp. The "Boyfriend" Pimp. "Gorilla" Pimps. They always seemed to have my best interests in mind, expect for when I wasn’t working, then there were verbal and physical fights. Drugs were taken away and I wasn’t allowed to sleep.
Human trafficking affects men and women. Traffickers have often been groomed or forced into that life as well. Raising awareness is so essential. Helping affected communities is something that can help combat human trafficking. Rather than convicting and jailing the perpetrators and victims of human trafficking, we should provide education, life skills and ways to make a positive change within the people who turn to human trafficking as a source of income, drugs, and escape.
Awareness brings change.
Written by Athena, participant in Restorations’ Peer Support Program.
Athena makes references to different types of pimps in this post. For more information about Romeo and Gorilla pimps, you can see this blog post written by a Survivor who writes for Safe Hope Home.
Note: Restorations recognizes the importance of financially compensating survivors for their time, energy, and expertise and, as such, we financially compensate all survivors who contribute written pieces for the blog. We strongly believe in the necessity of financial compensation for this work, and we urge other organizations who request survivors to speak, write, or consult for their organization to do likewise for the following reasons:
to demonstrate a commitment to honour and respect survivors’ time, energy, and expertise;
to demonstrate an appreciation for the emotional, mental, and physical energy necessary to share their experiences with us in order to benefit others;
and to demonstrate a commitment to developing the economic independence of survivors.
