Trafficking is thriving, but so are we!
By Harmony Dust
I founded Treasures because I remember what it was like to feel trapped, alone and to see no way out of exploitation. When I left my pimp in 1998, nobody was talking about trafficking and I didn't know of any resources for women like me. I had to fight to find a path forward. My faith propelled me forward, but overall, it was a very lonely journey.
Church became an uplifting place to attend on Sundays, but I was pretty sure my fellow Christians wouldn’t be quite as grace-filled as God was if they knew where I came from and what I had gone through.
Thankfully, I was wrong.
I remember the first night I shared my story in a small recovery group the church was hosting. I was sobbing so hard I couldn’t even open my eyes. When I finally looked around, rather than judgment, shock and awe, I saw faces of compassion and understanding. I even heard some of the most powerful words in the English language, “Me too.”
It was this powerful revelation that brought healing to my own heart. This same revelation prompted me to start Treasures and has empowered me to continue the work of supporting women in their recovery from exploitation and trafficking for over 21 years.
I am not alone.
In fact, it is estimated that at any given time, 6.3 million people are in forced commercial sexual exploitation globally.¹ This number is likely higher due to the hidden nature of the crime and the threat of criminalization for victims, preventing them from coming forward.
Escaping trafficking and exploitation is hard…
Staying out is even harder.
Criminal records, a lack of education and job history and the harsh realities of poverty and homelessness create barriers to financial stability. Beyond that, the women we serve represent some of the most vulnerable in our society.
70% have been in foster care²
91% have been arrested and many have criminal records³
75% have experienced homeless⁴
Up to 90% have histories of childhood sexual abuse⁵
97% of our clients have reported mental health issues, including but not limited to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), illustrating the profound impacts of their past experiences⁶
Our Services
Treasures strives to offer not only immediate support but also long-term empowerment, helping them to rebuild their lives and move towards a more hopeful future. Through our programs, our clients receive the care and resources needed to empower financial stability, physical and psychological health, and emotional wellness.
When a client contacts Treasures for a pathway out of exploitation, they are often scared, alone, and lack the essentials needed to rebuild their lives and experience permanent freedom from exploitation. Treasures’ holistic approach includes the following programs and services:
Care Program
Our care program provides gentle case management, trauma-informed mentorship, financial resources, and supportive services to over 900 survivors annually. We equip women with the resources they need in order to holistically address the needs and challenges they face.
Support Groups
Three times a week, Treasures offers online support groups to women who have experienced exploitation and trafficking. They are designed to be a safe place where women can experience peer support, skill building, community, and an opportunity for healing and restoration. All of our support groups are led by lived-experience experts (survivors of exploitation and trafficking). Last year, 492 women attended our online support groups.
Outreach Program
Each year we reach over 1,400 women and girls in strip clubs & porn through our in person outeaches with the message that they are loved, valued, purposed and support is available. Through our online outreach efforts, we reach at least thousands of women each year.
Training Program
Our training is designed to equip and empower allies, service providers and churches to effectively reach and support women in their cities who have been impacted by sexual exploitation and trafficking. To date, we have trained outreaches in over 120 cities on 6 continents.
Explosive Growth and Growing Needs
In 2020, the number of women we serve annually tripled.
Like many nonprofits, the pandemic forced us to re-think our services and pivot in order to adjust to quarantine. As a result, we launched online support groups and expanded our virtual mentoring services. This coupled with an influx of women reaching out for services led to explosive growth.
Like many of us, the lives of the women we serve were turned upside down by Covid. Many who had managed to find employment in the service industry after escaping trafficking found themselves unemployed due to shut downs. Unlike many of us, they did not have the social support system or financial means to carry them through. Treasures became a lifeline for them.
This year, the number of women we serve has once again skyrocketed, increasing by another 30%.
Trafficking and Exploitation Are Thriving
For many years, we've known that trafficking and exploitation brought in extremely large amounts of money but the specific numbers weren't clear.
Until now!
The newest Global Financial Crime Report that Nasdaq just released indicates that in 2023, an estimated $3.1T in illicit funds flowed through the global financial system, and of that, an estimated $346.7B was brought in by human trafficking alone.
That this was more funds than the NFL, MLB, NBA, global soccer, global video streaming, global theatrical movie releases, global music sales, and U.S. gambling combined.
The sad truth is that, while all of this money is being spent on the exploitation of human beings, the amount of money being given to nonprofits that support the recovery of those very same people has gone down 30%
Treasures is no exception. This year, donations are down by 25%.
And yet, we know we must persevere. Lives are literally hanging in the balance.
The trauma experienced by individuals who have been exploited and trafficked is so profound. It highlights the pivotal role that holistic and trauma-informed organizations have in their recovery.
The Path To Freedom
Through our survivor-led, trauma informed services, Treasures helps women find a path to freedom from exploitation and trafficking. From attending our support groups, to being matched with a mentor, to receiving gentle case management services, we provide women with the services and skills they need to truly LIVE FREE.
This year so far, we have provided life-changing services to over 900 women!
Here are a few tangible examples of outcomes we are seeing:
We helped one woman get 600 links to websites containing exploitation content removed so she can go on with her life without fear of re-exploitation,
One woman had a felony from the time she was being trafficked. We helped her find the legal support to get the felony removed so she can complete nursing school and achieve financial sustainability. She is one of several women we are helping with expungement.
We helped a woman obtain a T-Visa so she could become gainfully employed.
We were able to secure housing for a woman who is currently incarcerated so she and her children have a place to live when she gets out.
We have helped over 60 women secure/maintain stable housing and reliable transportation this year alone.
Through Treasures, 35 women have been provided with economic empowerment services in order to further their education and/or vocational training.
Here is what women are saying about the support they are receiving…
“I love my mentor! She’s changed my life! She's even more than a mentor to me. I consider her my friend. I love her! She has done more for me, more than what years of therapy could do. I am forever grateful.”
“Treasures has opened up a small door of hope, where I see and feel like I do matter. Treasures is a priceless miracle. I am grateful for all who made this possible”
“Treasures has opened up a small door of hope, where I see and feel like I do matter. Treasures is a priceless miracle. I am grateful for all who made this possible.”
“The Treasures support groups have been not only helpful but very valuable. I think they are probably the only such ones in the world - not only that, but they are also free of cost AND willing to be of service to anyone regardless of place of residence.”
“Thank you for all that you have done to empower me in my survivor-hood. Without your support, my children and I would not have been able to make the strides we have.”
The Dream
My dream is that no human would have to face the traumas and atrocities of exploitation and trafficking.
Until that dream becomes a reality, Treasures will be here to help women heal and rebuild their lives. In doing so, we recognize that we are not just making a difference in one person’s life, but in every life that person touches and the generations to come. Ultimately, we are empowering women to break generational cycles of abuse, poverty, exploitation and trauma.
As a survivor myself, I know first-hand what it takes to be the transitional generation. To break chains in order to provide a better life for myself and a better foundation for my children. It is this intimate knowledge that drives me to press on and continue this work.
The journey is not easy, but it is worth it. And no one can do it alone. I needed a community of support to help me learn to thrive. The women of Treasures depend on our life-changing services. And we need you.
Without the support of our generous partners, Treasures would not exist. And that is a reality I do not want to ponder.
I will leave you with words of inspiration that have been a motivating force for the 21 years since I began the work of Treasures.
To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. ~Nelson Mandela
May each of us use the privilege of our freedom to respect and enhance the freedom of others.
Join the movement!
Want to help women in the sex industry and survivors of trafficking find lasting freedom and healing. Click here to learn how you can get involved.
Citations
2011 report by the state government of Connecticut: https://portal.ct.gov/dcf
Dr. Melissa Farley, Prostitution Research and Education, Quick Facts: http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/Prostitution%20Quick%20Facts%2012-21-12.pdf
Bracey, D. H. (1982). The juvenile prostitute: Victim and offender Victimology, 8(3-4), 151-160.
Harlan, S., Rogers, L. L. & Slattery, B. (1981). Male and female adolescent prostitution: Huckleberry house sexual minority youth services project. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Melissa Farley, 2004, Prostitution is sexual violence. Psychiatric Times. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/sexual- offenses/content/article/10168/48311
Norton-Hawk, M. (2001). The counterproductivity of incarcerating female street prostitutes. Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 22, 403-417.
Silbert, M. H. (1980). Sexual assault of prostitutes: Phase one. Washington D.C.: National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape, National Institute of Mental Health.
Weisberg, K. D. (1985). Children of the night: A study of adolescent prostitution. Lexington, MA & Toronto: D.C. Heath and Company.
Based on a survey of our clients