sex trafficking

In the Booth with Ruth – Mary David, Anti-Human Trafficking Activist, Motivational Speaker, Model, Former UN Advisor, Miss Wyoming United States

Mary David is an anti-human trafficking activist who has helped draft legislation in Maryland to strengthen anti-trafficking laws. She has testified before the Washington, D.C. City Council on human trafficking legislation. And she has held the post of Deputy Chair of Public Awareness for the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force. For the UN, she was an Advisor to the Ambassador of East Timor. She is also a motivational speaker, a model, and is currently using her position as Miss Wyoming, United States to raise awareness of human trafficking.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Mary David

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

I learned firsthand about human trafficking from survivors in Cyprus. I went on a study abroad program in college and met enslaved workers who had been tricked to come into the country. Their stories of beatings, rape, house arrest, threats on their lives and family members – they horrified me and broke my heart. As soon as I met the victims, I wanted to help.

What draws you to support people who are trafficked and sexually exploited?

The cruelty and gruesomeness of taking away someone’s freedom, dignity, and innocence makes me more angry than I can put into words. I have always been drawn to underserved groups and advocating for exploited people. When I meet survivors and hear what they have gone through but then also see how strong they are despite what they have endured, I can’t help…

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In the Booth with Ruth – Christine Stark, Child Trafficking Survivor, Award Winning Writer and Visual Artist

“I want to be part of a global movement to end this thing that nearly destroyed my life. I want to live in a world where children and women do not have to figure out a way to get up the morning after being tortured the night before. I want to live in a world where women and children are not sold for men’s pleasure.” Christine Stark, Survivor of Child Trafficking and Award-Winning Writer and Visual Artist.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Chris Stark

How did you become involved in supporting the abolition of prostitution?

Various family members sold me in a prostitution and pornography ring throughout my childhood and teen years. I always wanted to get away from them but since I knew what happened to kids who ended up on the street, I never ran away. I figured my best chance at survival was to stay home and get away by going to college. If I had run away, I would have become more expendable. They would have either caught me and punished me, or I would have ‘disappeared’. Given that I was used by my family, they had more accountability toward me than a youth picked up on the street by a pimp. For instance, they could only bruise me where the marks would not be seen. Bruises couldn’t show on my arms and legs and face. Plus, if one day…

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In the Booth with Ruth – Virginia Heath, Anti-Human Trafficking Advocate and Filmmaker

Virginia Heath, who has made three films about the sex trafficking of young people in the UK, shares about those films and the research involved in creating them.

Ruth Jacobs's avatarRuth Jacobs

Virginia Heath Film Director

What inspired you to support the movement against human trafficking and make films about human trafficking and sexual exploitation?

As a woman filmmaker, I have always felt strongly about issues of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. In 2009, I was asked if I would write and direct a film – My Dangerous Loverboy – that would raise awareness of the sexual exploitation and internal trafficking of young people in the UK. At the time, this was an extremely hidden issue. There was a slowly growing awareness of women being sex trafficked into the UK from abroad but very little recognition that British teenagers were being groomed, moved around and sexually exploited by gangs in our own towns and cities. It was happening right on our doorstep. As part of the research for writing the film, I was taken to hang out in places like shopping malls, back streets and parks…

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