When she arrived in a new Latin American country after fleeing instability in Venezuela, Patricia* was hoping for a fresh start. She never imagined where she’d find herself instead: trapped in a house transformed into a brothel, in a small bedroom on the second floor, forced to offer sexual services to more than a dozen men every day.
The young woman’s traffickers offered her less than a dollar per customer, a tiny percentage of the income they’d promised her. They fed her a steady stream of psychoactive substances to keep her compliant. If she dared resist, she suffered additional sexual and physical abuse. All of the threats were used to coerce her into staying in the house that served as a trap.
At 25 years old, Patricia could have believed that her life was over. But she had some fire in her still.
The Exodus Road’s team of investigators in Latin America had discovered the network that was trafficking Patricia, a shadowy organization that operated several residences as brothels. They learned about Patricia. They wanted to bring her to safety.
The undercover investigators paid the traffickers a fee to take Patricia out on a lunch date. As soon as they had her alone, they started planning her exit. Despite all of the abuse she’d endured, despite feelings of intense worthlessness, Patricia pushed through her fear of her traffickers. She agreed to escape with The Exodus Road’s team.
Patricia explained everything she knew about the inner workings of the trafficking operation. The investigators added that to their own evidence, submitting a detailed package to law enforcement. The Exodus Road covered the costs of Patricia’s immediate needs: food and housing. Then, they made sure that she was transferred into the compassionate protection of an aftercare partner.
This case is still ongoing, and it is yet to be seen what kind of impact Patricia’s testimony will have on this network of traffickers. But it is certain that her courage has led Patricia to escape her abusers and claim a new start for herself — this time, for real.
