About 80 women and girls freed in Latin America, a trafficking network was dismantled

Freedom began the way it always must: with courage. 

Law enforcement reached out to The Exodus Road and asked them to be part of the multi-disciplinary team needed to handle a case of this scale. Together, they managed to make contact with over a dozen of the young women who were in these houses. 

Despite all the ominous threats their traffickers had been making, these women bore witness on behalf of everyone else who was trapped. They gave law enforcement and The Exodus Road’s investigators the evidence they needed to make a plan. Police helped bring these witnesses to immediate safety. 

When the day came, the large team of advocates had to move on a handful of houses at once to ensure word about their actions didn’t spread among the traffickers. Even so, a couple managed to escape. But the majority of the network was taken into custody, their illicit businesses shut down, and the network dismantled. The testimony against them is so strong that they are very likely to face charges. 

The houses looked like any other in their neighborhoods: simple architecture common for family homes in Latin America, located on otherwise quiet residential streets. 

But this handful of houses held much darker realities. They were the sites used by a network of traffickers to sell around 80 women and girls to paying customers for sex. 

Most of the women were far from their own immensely unstable country. They’d come to this Latin American country seeking safety. Instead, they’d been recruited into hellish exploitation, controlled by threats and a steady influx of psychoactive substances.

In total, around 80 survivors were freed from exploitation, now working with social workers to help them process the trauma they were experiencing.  (Image representative)

In total, around 80 survivors were freed from exploitation. The women felt a wide range of emotions as they processed the shocking turn of events: confusion, frustration, and sadness. The government provided social workers to help them process the trauma they were experiencing, taking them into aftercare services as they now begin recovering. 

Restoring freedom for so many courageous survivors was only possible because The Exodus Road is supported by a dedicated community of advocates around the world who continue to make freedom possible. Thank you for being one of those advocates!