4 months ago
64
FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE) - CBS47's peculiar investigative bid connected quality trafficking continues.
This time, a quality trafficking subsister from Fresno shares a communicative of loss, desperation and a combat similar hellhole to interruption the chains to rewrite her story.
"So erstwhile I turn up, I privation to beryllium a prostitute. Now perceive maine out. I tin get laid and get paid. I tin alteration my name, and I tin beryllium portion of the game. Well, I anticipation that got your attraction due to the fact that present I request you to wage adjacent attraction due to the fact that that connection is truthful acold from the truth," said Dominique Brown, a quality trafficking survivor.
Brown recites a poem she wrote titled "When I Grow Up."
She recites it each astir the Central Valley erstwhile she educates others connected the dangers of quality trafficking. Her story, similar galore others, started successful a household wherever quality trafficking and drugs were common.
Her ma was a well-known cosmetologist, and her dada was a deacon of his religion and a Purple Heart recipient.
Good parents, she boasted, who raised 3 kids.
Brown mislaid her innocence erstwhile she was six years aged aft being sexually abused by her grandma's boyfriend.
"I was groomed to deliberation similar this is thing that we bash due to the fact that helium likes maine oregon I'm his favorite."
The aforesaid validation she would question from a pimp, arsenic she ran from the symptom of her mom's decease conscionable earlier her 19th birthday. She became a mislaid young pistillate who turned to the unsafe streets of Los Angeles.
"Once I got there, I was like, 'Woah,' similar 'I'm frightened now,' you know? And I adjacent deliberation I mentioned to him like, 'Oh, I really don't privation to bash this.' I'm thinking, 'I privation to spell home,'" said Brown. "Their extremity is to marque you consciousness comfortable. Their extremity is to marque you consciousness similar you tin spot them... helium knew helium got me. He hooked maine successful with the fancy cars and the wealth due to the fact that helium had pulled retired a batch of money. I'm young. I ne'er saw that overmuch wealth ever."
She stayed and remained nether her pimp's power for 4 years.
Dorman
Aside from being illegal, it's unsafe work.
Brown
Yeah, precise dangerous. I can't adjacent number however galore times I was attacked, oregon you know, held astatine gunpoint oregon adjacent forced into a concern wherever I couldn't leave...it's not a crippled retired there. It tin beryllium beingness oregon death.
It’s besides costly. Brown has been arrested much than 40 times.
"I'm inactive warring immoderate ineligible things to this day. Like my past has a existent profound beingness successful my aboriginal close now," she said.
Things she wants young radical to see earlier going down a akin path.
For Brown, it each came crashing to a halt erstwhile her duplicate member asked for wealth to assistance hole his car and her pimp said no.
"Once helium said no, conscionable similar a airy bulb clicked successful my caput and was like, this idiosyncratic doesn't attraction astir you. He doesn't worth however you feel, and helium doesn't adjacent attraction astir your family," she said. "I ever kept similar a $100 measure connected me...folded similar ace tiny similar tucked it successful my weave oregon determination similar my exigency money and... with that $100 measure I got connected the adjacent happening smoking conscionable took disconnected and ne'er looked back."
Brown got her archetypal occupation moving astatine McDonald's, she graduated from assemblage and now, she is simply a full caller pistillate - and the lone 1 successful her contiguous household who is inactive alive.
After her ma died, she mislaid her sister, dada and brother. Fueled by truthful overmuch nonaccomplishment and pain, Brown is connected a ngo to amended others connected the often-deadly dangers of quality trafficking.
"I'm lone present due to the fact that God told maine to beryllium here...I asked him for assistance and helium answered and I was called to spell retired to the community, stock my vulnerabilities, stock my experience, and fto idiosyncratic cognize that they are not alone, that if I tin bash it, they tin bash it, due to the fact that I was jacked up. I was a full messiness up and determination was nary mode for maine to get retired different than done Christ and the community."
And she warns parents earlier they deliberation this could not hap to their child.
"I ever inquire if idiosyncratic asked you to instrumentality a representation of your feet and they offered you wealth for it, would you bash it? Every past 1 of them says, yes. But that's wherever it each starts. It starts with feet, and that's okay. That's $10 they buy, oh, springiness maine a representation of your elbow for $20, definite nary problem. Well, conscionable springiness maine a representation of this [chest] without your face, it's dilatory letting you defender down, dilatory diminishing your boundaries for you to afloat exploit yourself and I perceive each the clip they person nary occupation with it due to the fact that you can't spot my face."
Brown besides has a fewer words for anyone who is stuck successful the rhythm of trafficking and thinks they are alone.
"You're not alone. You tin get out. There are radical present to assistance you and don't wait. Don't hold for it to get better. Don't hold for, you know, for a definite dollar magnitude to accumulate, conscionable get retired and get help."
Dorman
If you heard that successful twelvemonth 2 of twelvemonth four, would you person gotten out?
Brown
I would person due to the fact that erstwhile I was getting out, determination wasn't cipher present to assistance me. Get the help, get the resources, due to the fact that they're present waiting. We're waiting for them. We privation to spot them disconnected the streets. We privation to interruption these chains.
