Survivor shares story with Province V on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

By Shireen Korkzan on August 1, 2024

Rachel Socorro, a human trafficking survivor and a co-founder of the nonprofit Total Life Wellness, shared information about human trafficking with members of Province V of The Episcopal Church in observance of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. July 30, 2024. Photo: Screenshot

[Episcopal News Service] Rachel Socorro is a human trafficking survivor and a co-founder of Total Life Wellness, an organization that provides support services to trauma survivors with a specialized focus on human trafficking.

"As much work as the Lord has done to heal me from my own lived experience, I'm grateful … that he still allows my heart to break every time we reflect on what happens to trafficked people – people who have been exploited in this endless crime," Socorro told members of Province V of The Episcopal Church in a July 30 webinar.

Total Life Wellness, which has helped 500 survivors since it launched in 2019, also works to educate the public on how to identify and eliminate human trafficking through training programs, conferences, workshops and other methods. It is now collaborating with Province V, which includes dioceses based in the Midwest. During the webinar, which was held on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons,

Socorro shared her story of being lured by her brother to move with her baby son into a seemingly nice home. She was promised financial stability. Instead, she was forced to live isolated in an abandoned house in Cleveland, Ohio, and to work as a drug mule and as a personal slave for a trafficker affiliated with one of the largest street and prison gangs in the Midwest. She was forced to marry her trafficker and soon after gave birth to another son.

The United Nations began observing World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in 2014 to raise awareness of human trafficking and to promote and protect the rights of the estimated 25 million trafficking victims worldwide. Human trafficking – a form of modern-day slavery with estimated annual global profits of $150 billion – involves obtaining some type of labor or commercial sex act using force, fraud or coercion. People who lack a social safety net, face mental health issues or economic hardship are vulnerable to falling prey to traffickers. Migrants are also susceptible to being trafficked.

This year's World Day Against Trafficking in Persons theme was "Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking." One third of human trafficking victims globally are children, who are twice as likely to face violence during trafficking than adults, according to a 2022 report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

During the webinar – which was moderated by the Rev. Heather Barta, coordinator of Province V – participants prayed for trafficking victims and to end the practice.

"May we be blessed with courage to confront injustice and exploitation of people so that we work for justice and peace," said the Rev. M.E. Eccles, rector of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Des Plaines, Illinois. "May we be blessed with tears to shed for those who suffer, so that we reach out to comfort them to turn their pain into joy. May we be blessed with enough faith and foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world and do what others claim cannot be done."

Human trafficking isn't limited to labor and sexual exploitation. The sinister nature of human trafficking often makes it difficult to recognize signs. However, the U.S. Department of State lists some key red flags to help identify a trafficked person:

Living with their employer
Poor living conditions
Multiple people living in a cramped space
Inability to speak alone
Answers questions in a seemingly scripted or rehearsed way
Employer has their identity documents
Signs of physical abuse
Acts submissive or fearful
Has little to no money despite working
Working in prostitution as a minor

"It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the issue of human trafficking, but we can take action," Betty Bowersox, of the Diocese of Missouri, said. "We can educate ourselves about the facts, and then we speak out and insist that our elected officials support effective legislation. Let us pray for action."

Socorro said her Christian family disowned her when she became pregnant at 17, which left her vulnerable to trafficking.

"No one had a conversation about safe sex or abstaining until I was married, even though I attended church every Sunday … those conversations were just not had. It was assumed that I would follow the scripture or follow, but that's not anywhere in scripture that we studied in Sunday school or youth group," she said.

Socorro said her phone was taken away from her one week after supposedly moving in with her brother. Because of this, her trafficker would answer all phone calls made to her. She never saw any of the money she earned working for a cosmetics store at a local shopping mall. She also wasn't allowed to attend parent-teacher conferences at her sons' schools. Additionally, her sons were trained to always refer people to speak with their father when asked questions.

"If you were my medical provider and you asked me for my driver's identification and insurance information, I would have to go to [my trafficker], get the documentation from him, bring it back to the window, give it to you and take it and return it back to him," she said. "Lack of a voice; lack of connection or eye contact; lack of access to resources; lack of freedom to make choices."

Socorro said reaching out to children and vulnerable people is a key prevention to ending human trafficking.

"If someone had a conversation with me about identity and worth and value and how precious I was in God's sight and how precious my gifts and talents were, it would have been very difficult for me to be groomed and recruited and trafficked."

Province V and Total Life Wellness are working to create an online curriculum to help people recognize human trafficking and support survivors reenter their communities. Province V's anti-human trafficking web page includes a list of upcoming informational events and resources to get involved.

Anyone who believes they are being trafficked or suspects a potential trafficking situation should call the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, or 911 if someone is in immediate danger. All calls are confidential.

— Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.