[Content note: this story includes references to Satanic ritual abuse as well as sexual violence.]
Survivors of sex trafficking know: darkness has many shades.
There’s the deep betrayal of trusting a job offer and finding yourself in torturous exploitation instead.
There’s the terror of being drugged and waking up to find that your body has been violated without your permission.
Then sometimes, there’s the spiritual violence of superstitious rituals that are purposefully entangled in the exploitation as a means of coercion.
Several women and girls in Latin America knew these shades of darkness intimately. They were being trafficked through bars by a criminal network that operated with a deep cultural belief in witchcraft. Perpetrators often drugged the girls’ drinks to keep them compliant through forced rituals and sexual services.
The network included numerous bars, all operating in an affluent suburb. No one could have imagined the darkness behind the bars’ walls.
Helena (an alias) had withstood trafficking for months when she saw an opportunity arise. Her captors were distracted. Helena ran.
This determined survivor found her way to the nearest government building. She told them her story, explaining that she had originally been offered a job in the entertainment industry. When she arrived, she was immediately drugged. That marked her descent into a hellish half-life of abuse and exploitation.
Law enforcement immediately called on The Exodus Road’s global investigative team. With the information they gathered from the survivor’s testimony, our team tracked down the numerous brothels involved in the network. They gave police everything they needed to apprehend those operating the ring.
The determined survivor found her way to the nearest government building where she told them her story, (Image representative.)
The perpetrators who had been operating this twisted criminal enterprise were arrested. Alongside Helena, a handful of additional female survivors were freed. All of the women were shocked by the sudden arrival of the police, but grateful that help had arrived. They have entered the protection of the government’s aftercare services.
This trafficking operation is permanently closed now, its exploitation and dark spiritual superstitions interrupted. No more young women will live in this particular dark ever again.
