Theresa’s Story

Theresa’s story begins when she was a 15 year-old, blond-haired, blue eye girl living in an upper-middle class suburb of Detroit. There was not a lot of crime in her neighborhood, a safe haven to grow up in, or so she thought. She had a mom and a dad, family, and friends. Everything seemed normal—until predators targeted her.

When Theresa was in high school she was target by a group of men, some of whom she attended high school with. They would pay her compliments and show her positive affection, all in an effort to build her trust in them. After six months of this behavior, one of the guys asked Theresa if she wanted a ride home. “I jumped at the chance because by then I had a crush on him, and I thought everything would be fine. But he didn’t take me home.” Instead he took Theresa to his house and invited her in. “No, no, no I’m good” Theresa told him nervously. But he insisted, “But come on I like you.” The young man tried to smooth things over to make Theresa comfortable so he offered her a soda. Little did she know that the soda was laced with some-sort of drug. Within a short period of time she was incapacitated from the drug—and he raped her. Pictures were taken of the sex act.

He brought her back home and threatened that if she told anyone, her family would be killed. I can only imagine the terror and fright of this helpless teenage girl. Not only was she sexually violated, but pictures were taken, and now she is responsible for her family’s survival. She kept all this a secret—from her family, from everyone. For the next two years, under threat of harm to her family, Theresa was their sex slave. They allowed her to live at home but then would take her out at night to have her sleep with other men. Her traffickers were profiting off the pictures they were taking of her as well as prostitution she was forced into.

Theresa would be taken to very elite homes as well as rundown motels around midnight, where she would wait for men to come in to rape her. This would happen for hours—and then around three in the morning they would take her home. She would get a few hours of sleep, wake up around six or seven and then go to school. Remember, some of these older guys, went to her high school!

One night, after two years of this constant trafficking abuse, the group took Theresa to an inner city Detroit motel, where they had about twenty guys waiting to rape her. She was 16 or 17 around this time. “I think they had full intention of coming back to get me—but never returning me home ever again.” After everyone had left, and before the traffickers came back, she fled the dingy motel and just started walking. Luckily, a server at a small diner saw her and asked if she needed help. The police were called. Theresa was free and her and her family have safely moved away from the upper-middle class area they once considered safe.

Theresa started an organization called S.O.A.P, which stands for Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution. “I realized on my worst nights when I had been taken to that motel and left for dead that I really could have used someone to talk to. And these girls don’t know they are human trafficking victims. They don’t know there is a hotline number out there. And so I decided that I was going to get them this phone number so they can talk to somebody in their worst moments, which is generally in the motels where they are being sold over and over again.”[1] Theresa puts a hotline phone number on soap bars in motels and hotels, and also talks with the managers about the reality of human trafficking. Women have seen the bars of soap with the phone number wrapped around the bar and have called, asking for help.

After two years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, Theresa escaped. She has been through counseling, still is healing, but now speaks out against the horrific monstrosity and has written a book about her experience, The Slave Across the Street. Thersea, a daughter in a well-off family, in a well-off neighborhood experienced more pain in two years then anyone should ever have to experience in their lifetime. She experienced the reality that sex sells. Her traffickers made money off of the media they were selling of her as well as the multiple men who would pay to rape her.

The Fastest Growing Global Crime

Human trafficking is one of the world’s fastest growing global crimes with 5.5 million children being trafficked worldwide every year.[2] This is not only an issue in underdeveloped countries—but is actually a growing issue right here in our backyard—literally happening in our neighborhoods, even in nice neighborhoods like Theresa’s.

Recognize the Signs of Human Trafficking

The following are some of the warning signs of human trafficking:

• Is not free to leave or come and go as he/she wishes
• Is under 18 and is providing commercial sex acts
• Is in the commercial sex industry and has a pimp/manager
• Is unpaid, paid very little, or paid only through tips
• Works excessively long and/or unusual hours
• Is not allowed breaks or suffers under unusual restrictions at work
• Owes a large debt and is unable to pay it off
• Was recruited through false promises concerning the nature and conditions of his/her work
• High security measures exist in the work and/or living locations (e.g. opaque windows, boarded up windows, bars on windows, barbed wire, security cameras, etc.)[4]

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[1] “Human Trafficking: A Survivor’s Story,” Natasha Curry interviews Theresa Flores on HLN, accessed on May 31, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oogp8fiJXBU.

[2] “Infographic: A Global Look at Human Trafficking,” UNICEF, accessed on May 31, 2016, https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/infographic-global-human-trafficking-statistics.

[3] “Human Trafficking FAQ: What is Human Trafficking?” United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, accessed on May 31, 2016, http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/faqs.html#What_is_human_trafficking.

[4] “Recognize the Signs,” Polaris Project, accessed on May 31, 2016, http://polarisproject.org/recognize-signs.