This is Mary’s story. Brought up in a strict Indianapolis home, Mary* started hanging out with the wrong crowd during her senior year of high school and met a much older man. They began dating, and eventually, he raped her and she became pregnant. He later married her so he could own her. Now that he ‘owned’ Mary, it wasn’t long before he invited other men to party. At those parties, he would sell Mary to the men, forcing her to perform sexual acts against her will.

This nightmare continued for over 10 years.  At times these ‘parties’ became so brutal and painful that to escape, she began to disassociate herself with reality—becoming someone who could survive the pain and terror. Eventually, her behavior became so bizarre that she was committed to a hospital only to discover during her hospitalization that her husband took her son and disappeared.

Currently, Mary has two children—both with different fathers, and for a period of time she was cut off from them. Mary is now trying to make a new life for herself and her children, away from the horrors of her past life. She still struggles with the evil that constantly seeks to destroy her: human sex trafficking.

What is human trafficking? The United States Department of State defines human trafficking as: 1. Sex trafficking—in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act is not 18 years old. 2. The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of an individual for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of slavery. –Trafficking in Persons Report (IN.gov) 2009

What is being done to combat trafficking? The United States passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 with the intention to, “punish traffickers, protect victims, and prevent trafficking from occurring, and the ultimate goal is to free victims from this modern-day slavery.”

In 2006, Indiana passed legislation to make charges of promoting human trafficking a Class B felony. Furthermore, if the victim is under the age of 18, the charges move to a Class A felony (TIPR 2009).

How does trafficking happen? Traffickers coerce victims into believing they are headed for a better life. When all a person knows is extreme poverty, hearing stories of a life with limitless food, the newest gadgets and money they would otherwise not earn working in their village—a new, better life starts to sound enticing. No matter what form of trickery they use, the end result is a human trafficked.

Signs of trafficked victims. Signs of a human trafficking victim include, but are not limited to:

•         Accompanied by a controlling person or boss; not speaking on own behalf;
•         Lack of control over personal schedule, money, I.D., travel documents;
•         Transported to or from work; lives and works in the same place;
•         Debt owed to employer/crew leader; inability to leave job;
•         Bruises, depression, fear, overly submissive.

What can I do about human trafficking? Join us, a coalition of concerned Indiana citizens, by attending StAT (Stand Against Trafficking), a community forum intended to help our community learn how to get involved in eradicating human trafficking from Indiana—for good. The forum will be held on September 9, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at Heartland Church (corner of I-69 & 96th Street). StAT committee members and special program guests include faith-based leaders, educators, law enforcement officials, and human trafficking experts.

*Victim’s name is changed for safety.