Injustice: Human trafficking

Activist: Evelyn Chumbow

I was brought to the supposed land of the free, but I was far from free. My work was endless, it never stopped. I watched over their kids, I cleaned, cooked, and cared for them. Was it too much to want to be a kid as well? I was only 9, but I was raising another child. I’m not their mother, nor am I related to them. I wanted to go and play, to be taken care of. But what did I get, I got beatings, they were never ending. They hurt me, the pain went deeper than  the physical pain I felt. I wanted to be free. Was that not my right? Everyone talks about helping those around you but where was my help? I’m trapped, stuck in a house made of chains. It ties me down,the chains wrap around me so tight I can’t breathe. Everyday comes with another pain. They were supposed to be my new family, but to them I was just their slave. I went to my other family, ran away from the chains that held me down. But they followed me. 

“You said you were going to help me, send me to school. I want to learn. I want to learn!” I screamed, and cried. Not again this couldn’t happen again. 

“You’re my family, you were supposed to help me. Take me away from that house, protect me. But you only took me from them so I’d be your slave too!” My labour was forced, unpaid and never ending. Or so I thought, I soon realized that it was up to me if I wanted my freedom. I learned that I couldn’t wait and hope for others to give it to me. Not even my ‘family’. I would break my chains, I wouldn't let others place more on me. After year after year of captivity, I escaped. And I will never go back. I am only 17, and I know there are others going through the same struggles. I will do everything in my power to help them. I will break their chains too. No one should go through what I went through, but others are facing it too so I believe it’s my responsibility to stop this injustice.

Emotion: fear

Real life event: Amy’s story, Child Trafficking

When he first came I never felt safe around him. My mom left, the safety she made me feel left with her. Dad couldn’t do it, not on his own, so he got help. Don’t trust all the help you get. My aunt brought her boyfriend, John. He moved in with us, always felt eyes watching me and my brother. Eyes that were looking too deep, eyes that stripped me of my security and left me paranoid. Then it wasn’t just his eyes that stripped us. Every touch felt like a flash of ice cold water on my skin. It left me shaking, I dread every moment I spent with him, and then, he brought more. More shadows filled my house, it was filled more and more with darkness. I wanted to run, but what would they do to my brother? Then they started touching me. I felt like needles, stabbing into my skin, puncturing my veins, filling me with poison, leaving me paralyzed. I felt panicked, I tried to move but I couldn’t. I was drowning, I couldn’t breath, I kept scratching, screaming for a breath. A way to get out of the water before it could take from me what couldn’t be returned. Panic filled my heart but my screams were not enough. I couldn’t escape, and so I drowned and the water took what could never be returned. But this isn’t about drowning, it was never water that stole from me, and it wasn’t my life that was taken. I couldn’t stop him, I was afraid. I was alone. He used me and my brother. He preyed on us, used threats, it was like a gun was placed to my head and if I didn’t do what he said, he would shoot me. It terrified me. I feel like I can’t escape, I can’t run away, but I want to. I want  to hide, to crawl in a corner. Is it my fault? How do I escape from this ever ending torture. I can’t even remember how it started. All I remember is the feelings it left me, and those are the things I want to forget. Can I leave? I’m drowning, but not in water. Is there any way to escape? If I speak up, will I be struck down and dragged into an ocean of fear and pain. Maybe it is possible. The only way to find out is to try. I may be drowning but there is always the opportunity for me to swim.  I can swim, flee the pain, and if that’s an option then I will take it!

1. Misinformation can crest a wrong view on human trafficking and how it is very prevalent in the USA

2. Young kids are groomed and grow a trauma bond with their groomers.

3. Trafficking holds a lot of shame which can prevent victims from seeking the help of others.

4. Trafficking can happen to anyone, it crosses all socioeconomic statuses.

5. Don’t be quick to judge a victim, it is never their fault.