Theresa's story

Theresa Flores, human trafficking
survivor and victim's advocate, spoke at
the Sisters of Providence Women in
Leadership luncheon on March 7.

Each year the Sisters of Providence sponsor a Women in Leadership luncheon. We invite women in the Wabash Valley who work in profit and not-for-profit organizations. The event consists of a lovely meal and an inspirational speaker.

Last Wednesday, Theresa Flores was our speaker. She shared with us her story as a survivor of human trafficking. Ms. Flores’ story broke every stereotype I held of a trafficked girl/woman.

Theresa told of growing up in a devout Irish Catholic family. Her parents were active in their parish, loving toward their children. Their lifestyle was, in her words, “more than comfortable.” Her father worked for a corporation that moved him (therefore the family) every two years to another Midwestern city. It was this constant movement that made Theresa the “perfect victim” of a trafficker.

At 15 years of age, without a group of friends who had known her for long, with no extended family nearby, she was susceptible to the advances of a young man who paid a great deal of attention to her. Finally, he invited her to his home, drugged and raped her and took photos of the act. These photos kept her enslaved to this man. He would pick her up nightly to “service” (the expression used by those who traffick women) 10 to 15 men a night. He returned her to her home at 2 or 3 a.m.; she would sleep a couple of hours and then go to school. Her parents never knew any of this until Theresa finally had the opportunity and courage to escape.

Freed from this bondage, Theresa experienced “a call from God” to educate others to the realities of human trafficking within each of our US cities and towns and to work to liberate these modern day slaves of human greed.

A licensed social worker, she is the director of training and education at Gracehaven House as a refuge for adolescent girls freed from trafficking. She initiated SOAP – Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution. This organization places bars of soap in hotel and motel bathrooms. The soap wrapper lists a 24-hour free 1-800 number for a girl to call to be rescued by local police authorities and SOAP volunteers.

To read more about Theresa Flores or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.traffickfree.com/. She has written a compelling book – "The Slave Across the Street."

If you are like I was — unaware of how close in proximity I am to adolescent girls being victimized and abused — check out Theresa Flores and her story.