Right now, I am standing on a track… an area where women are girls are sold for sex. As they walk up and down this street, thousands of commuters drive by every day, not realizing that trafficking is happening, right here. Traffickers often use motels like the one behind me to sell their victims out of and or to do webcamming and amateur porn.
Exploiters and traffickers are capitalizing off of the Covid crisis in America.
When it comes to trafficking, there are three parties involved. The buyer/user, aka the demand, the trafficker, and the person being sold. Last week, we talked about the fact that Covid has led to an increase in the demand for commercial sexual services. Ultimately, demand creates opportunities for exploiters and traffickers.
But first, let’s take a step back and talk about what distinguishes an exploiter from a trafficker. An exploiter is anyone who profits off of or benefits from the sexuality of another person. As soon as Covid hit, we saw exploiters coming out of the woodworks with trucks driving around LA with billboards recruiting women into escorting and webcamming; people and corporations looking to meet the demand by capitalizing off of those experiencing economic hardship.
A trafficker is an exploiter who uses force, fraud, or coercion to recruit, groom, and ultimately sexually exploit their victim. Some use manipulation and trickery- others use outright violence. The truth is, 84% of women in prostitution are working under the control of a pimp or trafficker. In a survey we did last year, 31% of women working in strip clubs reported that they were trafficked.
In the midst of Covid, exploiters and traffickers are working overtime to meet the increase in demand by any means necessary. Primarily by seeking out and preying on the vulnerable.
We know this because up to 90% of women in the commercial sex industry have histories of childhood sexual abuse. Between 70% to 86%[i] of domestic sex trafficking victims have been in foster care.
From my personal experience in overcoming exploitation, I can tell you that childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and neglect were a few of the key factors that left me susceptible to an exploiter
This cannot be overstated. The most vulnerable in our society are, and always have been, the most susceptible. Many of the women we serve have told us that they are being pressured to return to the sex industry by the traffickers and exploiters they worked so hard to escape. It’s up to you and I to do something about this.
To learn more about how you can join us in the fight to bring opportunities for recovery and freedom to those who have been exploited and trafficked, visit our website at www.iamatreasure.com
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Harmony Grillo, MSW
Founder & Executive Director
Survivor of exploitation turned UCLA honor student, Harmony’s goal is to help women and girls entrenched in sexual exploitation find freedom.
Armed with personal experience, evidence-based theories and a Master’s Degree in Social Work, she comprehensively sheds light on the impact of a pornified culture and the lives of those trapped within it. Her pursuit of justice has led to Congressional recognition and opportunities to train the Department of Justice and FBI in best practices. In 2003, she founded Treasures to support other women in their recovery from the commercial sex industry and trafficking.
Harmony’s memoir, Scars and Stilettos, details her harrowing account of moving from victim to survivor to liberator.
