I'm a sex trafficking survivor. America's laws won't let me leave my past behind

 

Photograph: Alamy

I am a survivor of sex trafficking in America. I’m also a former sex worker. Because of the latter and despite the former, the legal system views me more as a prostitute who deserves to be punished than a victim in need of assistance. And, until we decriminalize sex work, it always will.

A new law to save minors from survival sex will force them into state custody, Brendan M Conner

Criminalization contributes to our inability to exit sex work or end trafficking, rather than helps us. Whether sex workers or sex trafficking victims, thousands of women and men are arrested on charges of prostitution, trespassing, curfew violations and all sorts of crimes, limiting our ability to support ourselves in less dangerous or stigmatized ways when we so choose.

We are, instead, pushed underground, where we are forced to engage with pimps for protection because the police don’t protect us. Many of us want a different life, but don’t know a way out, while others have decided this is our path in life. None of us deserve abuse or arrest; we should have the right to decide how to use our bodies, and we don’t need more abuse and fear when we’re already on the streets in what is inherently a violent industry.

Sex traffickers tell girls like me that we will be arrested and treated like “dirty prostitutes” if we escape or go to the police – which was true in my case. The judicial system should realize that by prosecuting sex workers, potential victims become scared to come forward, even if they are unwilling victims.

Criminalization contribute to a cycle in which even women who wish to exit sex work are economically coerced into remaining in a life they don’t want, by virtue of the fact that businesses in the formal economy prefer not to have anyone convicted of a crime on the payroll.

I didn’t expect my life to turn out this way. But, when I was 17, I met a guy on Facebook who offered to take care of me after my mom went to prison for white collar crimes and I felt like I had nowhere to turn. Instead of helping me, he sold me to men across the United States from Texas to Washington DC. Alone and far from home, I had no way to escape or refuse without risking my physical safety.

It wasn’t until the police targeted my traffickers in a brothel raid that I was able to escape; and, though I testified against them, I had been arrested and my previous prostitution charges remained on my record.

Even after leaving my traffickers, I felt like I had no options to rebuild a normal life: my arrest made it difficult to find work, and I didn’t feel like I could go home even when I finally had one to return to. I ended up back in the life of sex work, in part because, after years of being abused and only experiencing that life, I felt like that’s all I knew how to do or to be.

At first, I worked on my own. But, soon I was lured into a relationship with a pimp who put me on the streets of Washington, DC. Unlike my previous traffickers, I felt we had a true connection. While he didn’t lock me inside a brothel, he monitored every move and forced me to bring back $2,000 a night or risk being beaten I was afraid to be on the streets alone, and initially he offered a false sense of safety and love.

However, my pimp did not protect me as he claimed he would, and a serial rapist bought and raped me in Washington, DC, held me at knife point in his van and then left me on the street, severely injured both physically and emotionally. Despite my fear of arrest, I needed serious medical help and couldn’t hide from the police but, unlike a lot of women in my situation, I was lucky to find some truly sympathetic detectives and prosecutors. I testified against him in 2013, and he will spend the rest of his life in prison where he belongs.

After the attack, I was put into contact with Free, Aware, Inspired, Restored (Fair) Girls, a nonprofit providing housing and critical care to survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation. It was there that I was finally able to start on my long path toward recovery: during the past three years, I have gone through counseling, enrolled in a job training program, and eventually reconnected with my parents. I have volunteered for Fair Girls, spoken out about my story and mentored younger girls at risk of exploitation; that really helped me, knowing I was helping other girls.

But even after months of working with Fair Girls and a pro bono attorney to get my record expunged – which is supposed to be standard for victims of trafficking – I was ordered by the state courts to do community service and submit to regular, state-administered STD testing. That, it seems, is part of my punishment for the crime of prostitution, and the cost of having a chance at a normal life, despite being a victim of trafficking.

In the eyes of the law, I’m both a criminal and a victim – and the impact of being arrested as a prostitute because I was trafficked left deep emotional scars. But the consequences of my arrest goes beyond the anxiety and hurt feelings: it impaired (and continues to impair) my ability to find a job, to obtain housing and government benefits and, really, to improve my life.

My story demonstrates why decriminalizing sex work is vital to protecting sex workers and sex trafficking victims from future abuse and stigma. We should be focusing on arresting those who sell or buy victims of trafficking. They are the ones who should be in jail, losing their dignity, and unable to get a decent paying job – not girls like me.

MSIGWA TENA 2015 JIMBO LA IRINGA MJINI

Tume ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi (NEC) imemtangaza rasmi Mchungaji Peter Simon Msigwa (Chadema)kuwa mbunge wa jimbo la Iringa mjini kwa 2015-2020 jioni hii. Tume imemtangaza Msigwa kwa kupata kura 43,154 dhidi ya mpinzani wake Frederick Mwakalebela aliyepata kura 32,406.

MO DEWJI FOUNDATION YATANUA MBAWA, YASAIDIA UBORESHAJI WA KITUO CHA FURAHINI MKOANI K’NJARO

Baadhi ya vijana hao wakiwa darasani wakifurahia masomo wanayopatiwa ya kujiandaa na elimu ya sekondari katika kituo hicho cha Furahini mkoani Kilimanjaro.

Na Mwandishi wetu

TAASISI ya misaada ya Mo Dewji Foundation imekubali kufadhili mradi wa kituo cha mafunzo cha vijana cha Furahini (FYLC) wenye lengo la kuboresha upatikanaji wa elimu katika kijiji cha Kisangara mkoani Kilimanjaro.

Imeelezwa kuwa taasisi hiyo ya bilionea Mo Dewji imetoa shilingi milioni 7 kusaidia ujenzi wa miundombinu inayotakiwa na kituo hicho chenye lengo la kuboresha elimu kwa watoto wa kijiji hicho.

Baadhi ya watoto hao ni wawafanyakazi wa mashamba ya Mkonge ya MeTL yaliyopo jirani na kijiji hicho.

Ufadhili huo unaenda sambamba na sera za MeTL za urejeshaji wa faida yake kwa wananchi kama sehemu ya wajibu wake kwa jamii, wenye lengo la kuimarisha ustawi wa jamii inayochangia biashara za kampuni hiyo.

Taasisi ya Mo Dewji ambayo ndiyo inatekeleza wajibu wa kundi la makampuni ya MeTL la kurejesha faida kwa umma, kwa ufadhili huo kwa kikundi cha Furahini wametanua wigo kutoka katika shughuli mbalimbaliw alizokuwa wakufadhili mkoani Singida.

Lengo la ufadhili huo ni kuwezesha jamii yenye kipato cha chini kabisa kuweza kumudu mikiki ya elimu ili kukabili umaskini.

Toka mwaka 2000 kundi la makampuni ya MeTL imekuwa ikitanua mazingira ya urejeshaji wa faida kwa umma kutokana na shughuli zake mbalimbali. Katika kipindi cha miaka mitano taasisi ya Mo Dewji imetumia zaidi ya dola za Marekani milioni 3 kusaidia miradi mbalimbali ya jamii.

Baadhi ya vijana hao wakiwa darasani wakiendelea na masomo katika jengo la kituo hicho cha Furahini ambacho kinatarajiwa kukabaratiwa na kwa msaada wa Mo Dewji Foundation.

Tangu kuanzishwa kwa Taasisi hiyo, shughuli mbalimbali zimedhaminiwa na kufadhiliwa. Miradi hiyo ni pamoja na ujenzi wa shule, uchimbaji wa visima, ugawaji wa vyandarua, usambazaji wa unga wa mahindi kwa wananchi waliokumbwa na baa la ukame kwa mwaka 2005-2006,ufadhili kwa wanafunzi wa sekondari,afya kw awale waliozidiwa kiafya, kujenga kitengo cha macho katika hospitali za mkoa,kuweka taa katika mitaa, msaada wa chakula kwa waliokumbwa na ugonjwa wa ukimwi, ununuzi wa vifaa vya michezo na vifaa vya wakulima.

Kwa mujibu wa mratibu wa kituo hicho cha Furahini (FYLC) Bw. Msuya Isiaka, wazo la kuanzishwa kwa kituo lilitokana na uzoefu wa muda mrefu wa ufundishaji katika eneo hilo la mahusiano ya jamii.

Alisema wazo la kuanzishwa kwa kituo limetokana hasa na matokeo mabaya ya mitihani kwa wanafunzi wanoasoma shule za umma katika kijiji hicho.

“Elimu imekuwa tatizo kubwa katika jamii yetu hasa katika shule za serikali ambazo mara nyingi zimejikuta hazina walimu, na kama wakiwa wamebahatika wanakuwa na mwalimu mmoja wa somo la hisabati kwa shule nzima, bila kutaja masomo mengine kama fizikia, kemia na bayolojia,” alisema Isiaka na kuongeza kwamba kuna shida kubwa ya uwajibikaji kwa wlaimu na hivyo kluleta athari mbaya kwa wanafunzi.

“Tunaamini kwamba silaha yetu kubwa ya kukabili umaskini unaozunguka katika vizazi vyetu hapa Kisangara ni kuwa na elimu bora” alisema.

Kwa mujibu wa Isiaka kituo hicho kinatakiwa kuwa na maktaba kamili na chumba cha tehama.

“Kwa kuwa na miundombinu hiyo ya kujifunzia ya maktaba na tehama, wanafunzi wanakuwa katika nafasi ya kujifunza vyema na kuwa katika hali ya kukabili umaskini unaozunguka janmii yetu.” alisema.

Mratibu huyo alisema kwamba mafunzo katika kituo hicho katika masomo ya kemia,fizikia,bayolojia na hisabati yalianza Juni 2015.

Kituo cha Furahini ambacho kimejengwa katika ardhi yenye ukubwa wa nusu eka katika kijiji cha Kisangara kata ya Mtuva katika wilaya ya Mwanga mkoani Kilimanjarokipo umbali wa kilometa 2.5 kutoka kituo cha mabasi cha Kisangara.

Kijiji cha Kisangara ambacho kipo katika eneo kame wastani kina wakazi wa kutoka makabila mbalimbali ambayo yalifika hapo kufanyakazi katika mashamba ya mkonge.

Mkonge ndio zao kubwa la biashara ambalo linalimwa na kampuni ya MeTL ikiajiri idadi kubwa ya watu kutoka katika kijiji hicho.

Eneo la jengo hilo la kituo linavyoonekana kwa nje.

Ukame uliitafuta Kisangara kwa muda mrefu umesababisha kasi kubwa ya umaskini. Kutokana na hali hiyo watoto wameathirika zaidi kutokana na familia zao kushindwa kuwapeleka shule binafsi na kuwaacha katika shule za umma ambazo hazina ubora.

Kutokana na hali hiyo FYLC inajipanga kuhakikisha kwamba inarejesha matumaini kwa kuwawezesha wanafunzi hao kupunguza tofauti kati ya wanafunziw aosoma shule binafsi na shule za umma katika masomo.

Kituo kikiwa na wanafunzi 86 wa umri kati ya miaka 13 hadi 14 wanafundishwa kujiandaa kuingia kidtao cha kwanza kwa kufunzwa Fizikia, kemia,bayolojia,jiografia na Kiingereza.

Lengo kuu la kituo ni kuhakikisha kwamba wanawawezesha wanafunzi wanaosoma shule za umma wanakuwa na uwezo mkubwa kwa kuwapa nafasi ya kutumia maktaba na chumba cha Tehama na kuwapelekea walimu waliobobea kuwanoa wanafunzi hao na kuleta mabadiliko.

Aidha kituo kitatoa elimu ya maarifa ya afya ya uzazi kwa vijana ili kuweza kubadili maisha yao na kuondokana na tabia mbaya.

Ukarabati wa kituo hicho ukianza baada ya Mo Dewji Foundation kukipiga tafu.

Mratibu wa Furahini Youth Learning Centre, Isiaka Msuya katika zoezi la kupakia matofali kwa ajili ya ukarabati wa kituo hicho kwa msaada wa Mo Dewji Foundation.