WEBVTT

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I'm Jennifer, I am a sex

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trafficking survivor. I am also

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currently a Shelter Coordinator at a

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domestic violence shelter. I'm

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also a deputy part time and a

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mom full time to two kids.

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So my trafficking situation began when

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I was 21 years old.

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I was going to school full

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time. I was actually going

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towards a Criminal Justice degree.

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During that time, I was working

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two jobs, trying to pay my

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bills, trying to pay for school

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and it just, it was tough

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and also still trying to have

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time, you know, have money

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for fun things to do.

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So I had been to a bar,

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it was a college bar and

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ended up meeting somebody there

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who offered modeling services

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and offered to pay for our

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drinks all night. And that

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ended up being my trafficker.

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So the way that they ended up

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tricking me I guess or getting me

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into it is it wasn't

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initially him that came to me.

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It was another female,

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she came to me with a legit

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business card with phone numbers,

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and everything about this modeling company

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and me thinking it was legit,

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it looked legit, I mean

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there wasn't some guy hassling me

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about something, you know, it's people

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that you don't think would be,

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you know like out there getting

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you, it's not this guy sitting

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on the corner or this guy

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driving around the block and

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just gonna like put you in your

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car and you know it is

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unfortunately sometimes happens like that,

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but with mine, it was another

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college-aged girl, like asking me

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to a model with her

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eventually it turned around and then

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I was doing that same thing

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to others. So I was out

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there at college bars with

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business cards and trying to recruit

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other, you know, other girls

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that like, I don't know,

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just looked pretty and liked to have fun.

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So the moment that

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I realized that I was I

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guess being trafficked or had a

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pimp, we were actually

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working in Vegas. I was

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with three other girls there and

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our pimp and it was

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another girl we had met out at the

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club, she was helping us with

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something and then as she was

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driving us not home, I guess,

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back to the hotel, she was

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just kind of warning us of

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different things that people could do

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just saying that there's a

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lot of pimps out here and

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the girls are going to try

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to recruit you these are

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the type of tactics that they're

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going to use, You guys need

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to be careful and then

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asked why we were going to the

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hotel we were going to. She

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had said that a lot of pimps

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had their girls staying there.

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So just on the whole ride

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back it just like, it just

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kind of came to my mind like,

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wow, I have a pimp. Like

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this is crazy, this, I

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never would have like thought

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about it like this because he

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wasn't having, well at least he

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wasn't having me like have sex

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or anything for money with

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other people. Um but...yet um

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and so when I...we got to the

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hotel, I just remember looking

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over to one of the girls that

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I worked with and I just

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said like we have a pimp and

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that was just kind of like my

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lightbulb moment, I guess.

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So I think some things that

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really are things that maybe people

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should pay attention to

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in my situation, was that I

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got offered to do modeling,

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which I thought was okay,

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cool, this was, you know, easy money.

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And obviously when I got

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down to it, it was me

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getting forced to work at strip

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clubs or private parties or take

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nude photos for money and

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was being forced to do these

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things on a daily basis and not

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really, I guess, the modeling that I

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thought it was. I know that's

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a huge tactic that a lot

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of people use and at

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least, I don't know, with mine

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I started in strip clubs

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and thankfully it only lasted

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two months for me, but I

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think that was just the beginning

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and he was just conditioning me

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to see how far I would go.

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I guess, and to see

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how much he could get me to

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trust him to move on and

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actually engage in sexual activities.

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Well, I definitely think back to

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this and just wondered what would

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have helped me back in that

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situation to maybe not even get

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into it. And I think knowledge

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would have been the number one

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thing. I didn't know what

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sex trafficking was. I had heard

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of pimps and you know,

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like that kind of stuff, but

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it was mostly stuff that you

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see in movies, and it

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was more or less some big

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thing where they took you to a

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different country or had you, you

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know, like chained to a bed,

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that type of stuff. So I

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really had no idea going into

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it. I think like, even just

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schools, like kind of giving more

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knowledge or someone, you know,

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just anyone, I guess letting me

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know what it was. I had

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no idea. And that was

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probably the biggest thing and that's

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kind of what I do,

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why I do what I do now

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is just to give knowledge and

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just explain what it is and

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how different it can look than

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what you think it would be.

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I don't think that like the

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general public would have been able

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to tell that I was a

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trafficking victim when we were out.

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Normally I dressed in, I don't

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know, normal clothes, I guess

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that you would wear. Um nice clothes.

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We had to dress nice and

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appropriate when we were out going

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out to dinner, going out to

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like party or whatever.

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The only other time, I think

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that maybe somebody could have

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questioned it was when we were

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shopping and there was about four

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of us girls with one guy.

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I think that might have been

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the only questionable thing.

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So what we see in the media

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nowadays, just with stuff

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going through social media, you

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know, saying 'watch out for this

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person and I think they're

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trafficking' or movies, like, for

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example, the Taken movies where,

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you know, someone's like

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snatching you from your house.

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I think if that stuff would

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have happened to me, I would

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have probably been like, 'oh wow,

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this is really serious', but

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it obviously doesn't really work

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like that. I mean, in some

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cases it might, but with mine it

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was completely just them

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manipulating me and feeding me false

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information to get me to trust them.

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And that's what happened with me.

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That's what the scary part is.

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It's just you know, it

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seems so innocent to start until

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you got trapped into the

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situation.