PHOENIX — A survivor of sex trafficking is sharing her heartbreaking story with 12News about her fight to find freedom after being sold back and forth for months.
We're protecting her identity as she describes the unbearable chapter of her life that left a lasting impact.
The survivor explained there was little-to-no hope of ever getting out.
"Chances of living through the ordeal are very slim," she explained. "I always held hope, I just ask that you believe in yourself, seize your moment and get out as soon as possible."
A sex trafficked victim, a statistic, a survivor, she was understandably too terrified to get out of her car or even show her face on camera but brave enough to voice her terrors.
"I am still afraid to go out in public in fear that I might run into my pimp or the four people who used to traffic me. I still deal with anxiety revolving the situation and revolving around what I went through."
She described it as a daily fight to find hope and to find freedom.
"It traumatized me so much, it was a very scary time, I did not see myself ever getting out of the situation."
Sadly, some don't escape. In 2021, more than 890 calls from Arizona were to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
In an effort to shed light on the darkness that plagues numerous cities including Phoenix, the Respect Our Daughters Organization took to the streets for entire month of January.
The organization's president, Frantz Beasley set a 500 mile goal for the month, broken down into 12 mile walks around the Valley each morning.
"I grab my signs and I grab my gear, and we chose an area and we walk that area, just raising awareness and making sure people know," Beasley said. "Be there to answer questions but more than anything else, I want Arizonans to know, there's no one safe from this ugly business."
Selling people and putting them through atrocious ordeals is a multi-million dollar business.
According to the Arizona Governor's website the average age of sex trafficking victims is just 13-years-old.
"All of us need to be aware of what is going on and what those triggers are and looking out for each other," Beasley said.
The hope is to identify groomers preying on potential victims, and close gaps that would otherwise get the best of girls, believing the predator has their best interests.
"I was approached by someone who was sweet at first and promised me the world, and then before you know it I was forced into sex trafficking and it was as easy and as simple as that and they're targeting more and more women every day," the survivor explained.
The tip line to report trafficking in Arizona is 1-877-4AZ-TIPS and the national hotline is 1-888-373-7888.
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