CASS COUNTY, Mo. — Human trafficking is an issue that has impacted many worldwide, including here in the Kansas City area.
A local woman, who is choosing to be identified as Mary, is a human trafficking survivor and is sharing a first-hand account of the horrifying world she was forced into.
“It’s a secret society closed off from the world," Mary said. “ I thought I was going to die in it.”
Mary says her trauma began when she was a teenager while living with family.
“I remember my uncle coming onto me with a bottle of Jack Daniels, and I fought myself off of him," Mary said. "I told my grandma, and she told me to keep it a secret."
Mary said she started looking for loved outside of family, and found something much worse.
“You know looking for that love, not knowing that I was getting into a situation where I was being groomed,” Mary said. “I ended up running away and I remember going to a pimp and his girls house.”
Mary said at the home, she was then introduced and sold to another pimp into a world she didn't know existed.
“I saw darkness that a lot of people don't think exist but it does,” Mary said. “I saw a lot of bad things happen to minors when I was in this lifestyle. A lot of them being sold to the slave trade.”
Mary spent roughly a decade as a victim of human trafficking, and says that it changed her perspective of the world.
“For me, being in that life, I will never look at the world ever the same,” Mary said.
At one point, she left the world of human trafficking, but then found her way back in it.
Mary then got pregnant with her daughter, who she says helped her find a purpose and go after her dreams.
“I went home for a couple of months and I ended up pregnant with my daughter, and I knew that she was my purpose of getting out,” Mary said.
Now in her 30s, Mary is finding her way after finally leaving the the world of human trafficking, with the help of ReHope.
“There was just times where I was just ready to die, and something always happened to where God saved me," Mary said. "And that’s what kind of gave me purpose and the hope of getting out."
Rodney Hammer, the president and founder of ReHope, says stories like Mary’s are more common than people think.
“This is abuse; women are forced to sell themselves 10-12 or more times a day, seven days a week,” Hammer said. “Folks that have been victimized, that have been abused, have been mistreated and they have suffered horrifically from that.”
Hammer says human trafficking in the Kansas City area is more prevalent than people might think, targeting children and tearing apart our communities.
“Physical transportation distribution is what makes business good in Kansas City — unfortunately it's also good for traffickers, there's kind of a circuit of traffickers in the heartland,” Hammer said. "Unfortunately, traffickers seeking to meet that demand and making a lot of money is high here, there are several different types of trafficking going on.”
ReHope's focus is to help victims like Mary find their way back into society.
“We restore survivors of human trafficking, that's what we do,” Hammer said. “It is a long term program, one to three years. It takes a long time to deal with the trauma and then to be reinvigorated and be equipped for a successful life back on society.”
Mary is on her way to success thanks to ReHope, something she didn't think would happen.
“Sometimes, I think — am I really going to be able to survive out here sometimes?” Mary said. “ I think I was made to be somebody slave.”
Mary now has a new purpose not only for her future, but also for that of her daughter's.
“I’m excited to get out to have my own place, to decorate my daughter's room, to have my coffee spot in a certain spot, those little things mean a lot to me," Mary said.
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