Helping sex-trafficked survivors find healing, empowerment

凯西·海斯

The man who said he loved her was the same one who pressured Megan Lundstrom into having sex for money. The name she used in that life was Avery Day. “‘Avery’ was a person I could become, so I could separate from the exploitation I was experiencing.”

Intimate partners and family members are the biggest offenders of sex trafficking, says Lundstrom. 比如邪教领袖, they use psychological means to coerce victims into commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) which includes prostitution, performing in a strip club, 和色情.

Lundstrom is now director of research and the co-founder of 艾弗里中心 (formerly Free Our Girls), a national nonprofit based in Greeley that helps other victims and survivors along their journey to freedom. People may not realize it, but northern Colorado and the Western Slope have experienced high demand for commercial sex in recent years, according to local experts.

授权的幸存者

Sex trafficking knows no boundaries and affects women of all ages, ethnicities, and education level.

艾弗里中心 provides current CSE victims and survivors with direct services including financial literacy classes, 职业培训, 支持团体, and access to basic needs.

The Care Package Program is a powerful way to connect the center with survivors, who are working to reclaim their lives, 达娜伊·杜兰说, 服务总监. Shipped monthly to nearly 100 subscribers nationwide, packages include self-care products, an affirmation card with encouraging words, and a brochure about the center’s services.

“We want them to know that they matter, that we recognize what they’ve been through and we are here for them,杜兰解释道。. Care package recipients are more likely to reach out for help, she adds.

‘A target on their back’

Connecting with people who are still being trafficked helps the organization understand the importance of reducing demand for commercial sex, and how to decrease barriers for victims.

安吉亨德森, a University of Northern Colorado sociology professor and researcher, volunteered to help Lundstrom collect data to better serve the organization’s needs. She interviewed over 70 women to learn how they were exploited. Most of them were “boyfriended” in. The traffickers groomed their victims—taking them on dates, 给他们买东西, 向他们承诺天空.

“The woman falls in love with this man,” Henderson explains. “Then times get tough and the man says, ‘I know a way that you can make quick money.’” The trafficker may use physical, 情感, and sexual abuse to manipulate her to perform commercial sex.

Around 80 to 90 percent of victims experienced prior sexual abuse, assault, or rape, she notes. 贩运者意识到了这一点. Victims say they feel like they have a target on their back.”

需求减少

In order to reduce demand for commercial sex, the center works with area law enforcement on sting operations and education for first-time offenders to learn that buying sex is not a victimless crime but harms individuals and communities.

“We are all part of this issue,” says Lundstrom. “We need folks to be aware that this is going on in northern Colorado.”