sexual exploitation

In the Booth with Ruth – Kimberly Benson, Human Trafficking Survivor, Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate and Non-Profit Co-Founder

January 11, 2013 // 5 Comments

My passion stems from being a victim once myself. When I was 18, I thought I knew it all - enough to keep me from trouble, but didn’t know that trouble would come looking for me. I left home to live on my own. After having been in several negative and abusive relationships, I was all alone. A young lady and I became friends. She was the best, was always there, encouraged me, bought me clothes, took me to get my hair and nails done. We were great friends...

In the Booth with Ruth – William Eberle, Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate

January 10, 2013 // 4 Comments

It is my view of this problem that too often these people find themselves with little to no hope for bettering their situation. I realize that this is my view and doesn't necessarily reflect everyone's reality, but it is what motivates me. I remember a time when I had lost hope and it was through the caring of friends and family as well as my faith in God that I found hope again...

In the Booth with Ruth – Dina Leah, Survivor of Sexual Exploitation and Anti-Exploitation Author

January 10, 2013 // 9 Comments

Sex was so much the currency of my life that I didn’t even think about it. I just assumed that this was the price of my independence from an abusive home. Unfortunately, the price I ultimately paid was not just counted in physical trauma from violent rapes, but ongoing psychological trauma that has followed me throughout my life and made normal intimate relationships impossible, since sexual contact triggers my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I dissociate—my consciousness leaves my body and I am simply not present during the act.

In the Booth with Ruth – Jill Starling, Author of St. Agnes’ Place – a novel about child sex trafficking

January 9, 2013 // 3 Comments

Many years ago, Rob Morris, co-founder of Love146, a non-profit international organization that fights child sex trafficking, spoke at my church. What he said struck a chord in me; I couldn’t believe how in this day and age, children were put on display to purchase for one’s sick perversion. When I decided to write my novel, I wanted to bring attention...

In the Booth with Ruth – Michelle Sweeney, Anti-Human Trafficking Activist

January 7, 2013 // 18 Comments

I have a heart for justice. I cannot bear the thought of others exploiting people for their own selfish gain, plus the fact that the pain and terror the victims have to face is just pure evil and wrong. Knowing that it happens and the suffering that is forced on them breaks my heart. These children, women and men are human beings. Their lives are just as precious as anybody else’s...

Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January 5, 2013 // 11 Comments

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. In light of this, I am running a series of interviews with advocates and activists, as well as survivors of human trafficking