Human Trafficking Awareness month

In the Booth with Ruth – Sheila Quigley, Author and Ally of Human Trafficking Victims

International bestselling author and ally to victims of human trafficking, Shelia Quigley, talks about sex trafficking and in particular, her bestselling novel, Run for Home.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Sheila Quigley

What inspired you to write about human trafficking and sexual exploitation?

The idea came from pieces I’d read over the years, and I hope my novels have taught some girls and women not to be so trusting when dealing with strange men. Always remember though, the shoe can be on the other foot. I think the best fiction has a fact basis; this is how people are able to put themselves in the characters lives and become involved. They are happy when the character is happy, sad, and sometimes frightened.

Can you describe the storyline of your novel about human trafficking and sexual exploitation?

My first novel, Run for Home, is about a family living on what some people call a sink estate. Thirteen-year-old Claire is enticed away by the delectable Brad, thinking she is going to be part of a film. He leads her to the docks where…

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In the Booth with Ruth – Barbara Amaya, Child Trafficking Survivor, Author, and Educator of Human Trafficking

“He had been a pimp, true, but for years I’d been thinking all that happened to me had been my fault, the abuse I suffered before I ran away from home, the beating he gave me to make me compliant and more. I had truly believed all of those things were my fault and I’d carried it with me for decades.” Barbara Amaya, Child Trafficking Survivor, Author, and Educator of Human Trafficking.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

How did you become involved in the movement against human trafficking?

I had the classic ‘aha moment’ or an epiphany last spring as I watched a newscast about trafficked teens in my neighborhood here in Virginia. At that moment, I realized that all those years ago when I’d been in the streets of New York, the man who’d exploited me had actually been trafficking me. He had been a pimp, true, but for years I’d been thinking all that happened to me had been my fault, the abuse I suffered before I ran away from home, the beating he gave me to make me compliant and more. I had truly believed all of those things were my fault and I’d carried it with me for decades. That night, something happened to me as I listened and reacted to the newscast about girls who were the same age as I had…

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In the Booth with Ruth – Bryn M. Barton, Mother of a Sex Trafficking Victim and an Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate

Blood gang member traffickers in California took Bryn M. Barton’s daughter, Kristi Merrill. In her interview, Bryn says, “It brought me to my knees, but I became almost insanely dedicated to finding her because nobody else would.”