My Why: From Survivor to Advocate
For several years, I have been working toward a degree in Professional Counseling. I’ve wanted to be a therapist working with survivors of sexual exploitation and have always known I was called to this field. I have been on an advisory team to help build an anti-trafficking organization in the area where I live, and I have sponsored education and awareness events of documentaries about human trafficking. All of my advocacy was born out of desire that others would not suffer the evil of sexual exploitation any longer, but I didn’t realize until later how this was a deeply personal issue for me too.
I was born into a system of exploitation and control, but I wasn’t aware until my mid-twenties. In my late teens, my heart was seized with a passion to help survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse because of the stories and documentaries about the survivors of this horrific abuse I had seen. Up to that point, I had not yet connected within myself the reality that I, too, was a survivor, sexually exploited by a family member. I just chalked it up to the fact I had been abused, and then others had been allowed to abuse me as well.
It is amazing how we can live in denial of our own stories, seeing what we only want to see. This largely has to do with the stories we are told. My family and my abusers continually told me that my experiences were not real and that nothing happened. I believed them because it was easier than the truth I was experiencing: excruciating betrayal by those who were supposed to protect me. This is how I lived until I came to a point of having to see my experiences for what they were: trafficking and exploitation. Then, I understood why my heart was so moved to fight for others who were suffering like I had.
To me, being a survivor of sexual exploitation means that I cannot be silent in the face of others who are experiencing similar situations to mine. My personal trauma has catapulted me to face the darkness humanity has to offer, and encountering the hope Christ offers gives me a light I can carry into those places. After stepping away from my education for a season of recovery, I can say that I am a better equipped advocate now than before when I was fighting not to acknowledge my own chains. In my own healing process, there is a natural movement to return to advocacy, and being a part of Dressember’s initiative is a part of that.
The driving forces of Dressember - awareness, advocacy, and the ethical treatment of individuals - are also key values of my own. It is an honor to be interning with an organization that shares these passions. I believe the work in the anti-trafficking movement needs to be done in teams and is not sustainable as an individual. To be a small part of this team is valuable, empowering my voice, and helping me be able to empower others as well.
About the Author
Grace is a survivor of human trafficking who is working on a degree in professional psychology. She is passionate about being a part of the movement to end slavery by providing trauma-informed services to fellow survivors after her schooling is finished. She is an avid reader, loves to create art and music, play with animals, and take note of the little bits of beauty that make up ordinary life.