Trafficking Victims Reclaim Their Stories In Photo Exhibit

Speaker 1: 00:00 A unique photo exhibit takes place in San Diego this Friday. The show called behold her, we'll feature the images of survivors of human trafficking and exploitation. The exhibit not only literally puts a human face to the issue of human trafficking, but also shows how former victimization does not define lives. January is national human trafficking awareness month. Joining me right now, our Cynthia lovely founder of an anti-trafficking group called shine San Diego. Cynthia, welcome. Thank you. And Monique? Ana is a trafficking survivor whose portrait is part of the exhibit. Monique, welcome. Thank you. Now, Cynthia, this exhibit features eight portraits of survivors of trafficking, but they have a wide range of experiences. Can you talk to me a little bit about that? Yeah, I'd love to. So when we think about human trafficking, and we might just think about some of the typical stories that we hear around pimping and pandering, but there's such a wide range. Speaker 1: 00:59 There's familial trafficking, homelessness, drug addiction. Colts and foster youth are also a demographic that are disproportionately affected by this. And so there's so many stories and so many different ways that people are exploited. Really what it comes down to is the economics and the vulnerabilities that people face. And Cynthia, the portraits will be accompanied by pieces of writing by the women. Yes. So each of the women have been a part of this and creating this. Um, so they wanted to share a little bit of their story in their own unique ways. So not only will it be a portrait of themselves, the way that they want to be seen, but also there's writing that goes with those pieces so that they can tell their stories. Now, Monique, your portrait is one of the eight. That's right. Some women might not want to be identified as a survivor of trafficking. Speaker 1: 01:51 So why did you decide to be a part of this exhibit? So my story is that my parents joined a cult and, um, I was born into that. Um, I'm the oldest of 13 and it's something that I honestly have never hidden. I felt like it was the past and it was the legacy of, of where I came from. And, um, it's just been in the past few years that I've actually moved into an activated position where I feel like I'm ready to give back and help the general public understand what it is that we're looking at. Was it difficult for you to remove yourself from the Colton and start another kind of life? You know, my story was a little bit different than a lot of my counterparts who left. A lot of them had to escape. I was invited to leave because I communicated directly with the leadership of the cult and called them and set on what was happening and said, we want to be legit, we want to be truly doing missionary work and helping the public. Speaker 1: 02:50 Like we were saying that we were, and they, they looked at me as a dangerous mind, so to speak, and invited me to leave. So I left with my two week old baby. So you left with no resources on the outside? That's right. So what did you do? Um, I ended up in the home of a wonderful family who were ex members. They joined and left with their 10 11 children. So I was just another child with my child in the house and I stayed there with them for a few months and then just kind of took off and, and made things work. Uh, I was able to access resources when I started in my college education. And so that was a big help. Um, and I was able to access mental health fairly fast after leaving. Now Cynthia P, people who come in from perhaps other forms of human trafficking, like sex trafficking and so forth, they also transition into a world where they probably don't have any real resources to fall back on. Speaker 1: 03:48 So what does shine San Diego do? So I'm looking at this as a economic equity issue. So I approach it from a business standpoint and teaching entrepreneurship, nonprofit startup and business, small business skills to survivors. And it's not so much about where they come from, but where they're going. I was thinking about this exhibit and the eight women who are featured and just here in San Diego alone, if the numbers are right for each one, they represent a thousand victims in our city. So we've got a huge issue. And it's going to take all of us participating in different ways and I believe that there are lots of resources and sort of the piece that was missing was entrepreneurship because if you've got a criminal background, if you have tattoos on your face, if you maybe haven't even seen what survivorship looks like after leaving the life, you know that there wasn't somewhere that I could say that I could go to see that. Speaker 1: 04:47 And so I'm about supporting the survivors and their businesses and their missions and their vision. So there's a wide range that Cheyenne works with and we do teach those business skills on a regular basis, employment opportunities as well. And just educating the community that the women have value and they have purpose and that they have something to offer. How do survivors find your organization? Do you work with law enforcement? No, we don't actually. Um, because we're survivor led really interesting story. We got a call. Um, and I think it's through means like this through the media and through the news that more people are hearing about shine San Diego. But we got a call, um, December 26, the day after Christmas from a young woman that, um, her trafficker had been arrested. So she had a small window of opportunity to get out. And so I immediately called the survivor network and within three hours, Monique had met with her face to face. Speaker 1: 05:47 Marjorie had secured her emergency stay for the night and Lavonne had helped find a short term housing program for her so she could go into recovery. That was all within three hours. And I truly believe it's because the survivors come from that life and they understand firsthand what it takes and they're able to meet victims where they're at. Now, Monique, how have you survived and thrived in the new world that you've, Oh, you've built for yourself? So when, when I first, like I said, left, I was, I was withX members and actually lived with another young mother who also had a daughter the same age as my daughter and we really collaborated and her younger siblings helped with bait baby sitting and stuff like that. And I got really lucky early on to meet a woman named Carla who ended up being babysitter for me and really was my family for a good five years and was amazing. Speaker 1: 06:41 An amazing support system. Um, and really it's just been getting lucky meeting people who could help me make that next step into the next phase. Cynthia, this photo exhibit is really a group effort among several anti-trafficking groups. What will be happening at the opening night event? Yeah, so we're really excited that space that's being sponsored by you belong here. So it's a wonderful coworking creative space. Then they can stay. CF opened up for us. I'm DTR. Testic will be the MC and he's one of the best DJs in San Diego. So he'll be curating the event and um, we will have an opportunity to meet the photographer, Omari Dixon. She'll talk about the portrait project. All eight of the women will be there to share their stories as well. And then I'll be there to talk a little bit about community activism and really this, you know, grassroots social change movement that's starting with shine and with the survivor business network. Speaker 1: 07:41 And Monique, since your face is one of the faces people will be seeing at this event, what do you want them to take away from this exhibit? That we are the ones that understand better the pathway to survivorship and success? I think that, um, I've met a lot of people along the way who helped me. Um, we're focusing on the business network and developing that with Cynthia and shine. Um, victory gardens sanctuary is a nonprofit that I started that's going to become a transition home. Right now we're communicating with tiny home manufacturers. We're looking for land to develop, um, and we have a few potential opportunities that we're in. We're negotiating, but really we're active. We're making waves and we've just started, I've been speaking with Cynthia, lovely of shine San Diego and Monique Ana whose portrait is part of the exhibit. Thank you both very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. The opening night of the behold, her photo exhibit will be held Friday night at you belong here and events space on El Cajon Boulevard. It will be on display through the 31st.