Chosen: Yvonne’s Story

Editor’s note – This post covers material that is not your happy, good news type of stuff that you usually read on the Update. Yvonne’s story is very disturbing, but it illustrates why this upcoming community education event on June 24th at SJCT is so important. More on that at the end of the post…

Yvonne’s Story

My stepdad was my trafficker. He used me for pornography at five years old, then for sex, and then for sex with his friends. By seven I was a runaway.

By 11 I had already been introduced to IV drugs on the street, a place that felt much safer than home. I kept trying to escape the torture but there was literally no one to turn to. Once I told a police officer what was happening and begged him not to take me home…but he did just that. I realized then that no one would defend me and vowed to be the defender for my little sister and brother.

The night I saw my stepdad in my two-year-old sister’s bed, molesting her, I realized the story I had told myself was a fantasy and that I had to get help. Eventually, some people came and took us all away and put us in separate homes.

I ran from foster care and spent a year on the streets squatting in vacant houses with other homeless kids. On my 13^th birthday, a friend and I went to a park. To my horror, my stepdad was there, grabbed me, and this time locked me in the basement, where I was forced to service the men he brought in. I was 14 when I gave birth to a baby boy in that basement. And that is when anger and vengeance took deep root in my spirit.

I was put in a group home, my baby in a foster home. I ran immediately and was picked up by a guy who let me stay with him and bought me nice clothes, food, drugs. As long as I had sex with the men he brought – politicians, doctors, and other with expensive cars – I didn’t get beaten. One night, a man violently attached me – as I struggled for my life, I reached the little knife I carried and stabbed him. There was no such thing as self-defense for a “prostitute.” At 15 I was sentenced to adult prison for manslaughter.

I walked out five years later, alone and with nowhere to go. I was in and out of jail, finally hitting bottom when I gave birth in prison and my daughter was taken from me. In the chapel, I wept and grieved for the first time ever, begging Jesus to restore me…and the transformation began.

My climb out of the pit wasn’t straight up, but day by day I got stronger. I began reading the Bible and going to a church where I met Linda Smith, who offered to train me in job skills at Shared Hope. During my time there, my daughter’s father also became a Christian, and we were married.

A narrative that began with abuse, homelessness, drugs, sex trafficking, and prison has miraculously become a life story of restoration, my greatest joy? Reuniting with my husband, all my children, my mother, and little sister and brother, and my foster parents. My only loss? Anger and vengeance. In their place is a thankful heart and a life of purpose.

* * *

On Wednesday, June 24, Shared Hope International will present the first screening of a new sex trafficking film on San Juan Island – Chosen. The San Juan Community Theatre will open its door to students, parents, and concerned community members to help spread awareness of an often hidden crime happening at alarming rates to U.S. children: sex trafficking.

Between 100,000 to 300,000 children each year are victimized in prostitution in America. Regardless of skin color, home life, social and economic status, ANY child can become a victim of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST.) These children are not imported from other countries; they come primarily from Small Town USA – towns like Friday Harbor and East Sound. Sex traffickers target small towns because people are more friendly, more trusting, and have little knowledge of how children are lured into the trade.

The gripping film tells the shocking true story of two All-American girls who, through deceptive, manipulative relationships, were tricked into trafficking. Brianna and Lacy explain how pimps targeted them in their seemingly secure Southwest Washington small-town neighborhoods and how they were rescued. They were vulnerable simply because they didn’t know about trafficking.

A survivor of DMST will share her story, and a panel discussion will follow the 20-minute documentary.

Admission is free.

This event will equip our community with information to protect our children. Education is a defense; learn how to protect friends and children by recognizing trafficker’s tactics and what to do about it.

Shared Hope International, founded by former Washington Congressman Linda Smith, was established in 1998 to prevent, rescue and restore, and bring justice to women and children in crisis. They provide leadership in awareness, training, prevention strategies, restorative care, research, and policy initiatives.

Support for this program is provided by San Juan Community Theatre and Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor.

For more information about Shared Hope International, go to www.sharedhope.org. For more information about this event, contact [email protected].

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