It began with a friend request.
He was friends with some of the people she knew at school. He was older, and kind of cute. She felt special.
They talked online for months. One night, he offered to pick her up and take her to get something to eat. So, without her parents knowledge, she snuck out of her house.
That night would forever burn in her memory.
They (he brought a friend with him) put a cloth bag over her head so she couldn’t see where she was going and drove for what seemed like hours.
Eventually, they got out at a hotel and there – in a dingy room – made her do unimaginable things, threatening her life if she didn’t.
Afterwards, he told her, “No one will want you now. Your parents won’t love you after what you’ve done. I’m the only one who can take care of you.”
She was just 16-years-old.
Every night, countless young women are exploited at the hands of their traffickers.
The Phoenix Dream Center’s Human Trafficking Program is one of the largest and most successful in the nation. Our purpose is to rescue, rebuild, and restore lives like this young woman’s.
Nestled in the secure location of our campus, our Human Trafficking Program for young men and women now serves 48 female survivors, 30% of whom are pregnant or have a small baby and need additional services, as 12 young male survivors at a time.
Our Program addresses the specific needs faced by male and female victims of the growing sexual exploitation industry, which includes sexually based acts by Force, Fraud or Coercion and can include forced rape or sexual acts, involuntary sexual acts for food or shelter and forced prostitution.
We offer safe refuge and specialized sexually-based trauma counseling so that victims of sexual exploitation in all its forms can be restored as functioning members of society, and be equipped to live a healthy independent life.
If you are interested, click here for more information.