FALL 2024 ISSUE - Flipbook - Page 93
factors to this complex issue into two
categories. The orst is that survivors
truly have a fear of whatever the threat
is that the traïcker is using against
them. It could be that the traïcker
and survivor have biological children
together; or that the traïcker knows
where beloved family members live and
will kill them if the survivor tries to
leave; or even an illegal act the survivor
was forced to commit and the traïcker
threatens to call law enforcement.
Safety coercion, i.e. you won9t be safe if
you leave me, is an ongoing fear tactic
by traïckers.
The second category, according to
Clayton, is the psychology traïckers
utilize. A common strategy is for a
traïcker to convince survivors that
a life of being traïcked is a better
life for them. Traïckers promise
to provide clothes, shoes, maybe a
glamorous lifestyle, and all the freedom
a survivor wants, whereas being part
of a successful program like the Vida
House that FAIR Girls operates will
have rules, lack of freedom, and less
8perks9 involved. As Senior Housing
Manager, Jackson revealed that she
had one survivor tell her that it
didn9t bother her that she was having
sex with other people because if she
wasn9t having sex with them, she9d be
having sex with her traïcker who was
also her boyfriend. To her, it was just
another couple of people and she and
her boyfriend-traïcker were making
money of of it.
Clayton laments,