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Faces Behind Atrocity

Human trafficking is globally pervasive, economically motivated, and emotionally overwhelming. The International Labor Organization estimates that there are nearly 40 million victims worldwide, more than half of whom are women and girls. It’s a horrific industry that pulls in about $150 billion every year – and it isn’t just an issue for developing countries. Polaris estimates that there are hundreds of thousands of victims in the United States.

Despite increasing efforts and a global movement to raise awareness about the atrocities of human trafficking, many people remain unaware that modern day slavery persists in alarming numbers. 

The Faces Behind Atrocity series aims to advocate for and alongside the survivors, amplifying their voices and documenting their healing and the organizations that support them through it. The project has roots in Nairobi, where local nonprofit HAART Kenya works within national borders to rescue and rehabilitate human trafficking survivors. The original series involved seven young women of four different nationalities, ranging in age from 13 to 16 years old. They were rescued from the horrors of the trafficking world and are in various stages of the healing process. Masked to protect their identities, the survivors allowed me to capture a visual representation of their resilience, beauty, and strength, while also providing a written account of how they were trafficked and the atrocities they faced.

Ash

Ash at fourteen was abandoned by her mother. Left with her alcoholic father, she was then trafficked by her aunt. Taken to live with her aunt and her family, Ash was made to sleep on the floor and work as a housekeeper. Ash suffered this abuse for 2 years. After being sexually abused by her uncle she ran away. Confiding in her grandmother, Ash was taken to a hospital. She was later taken to a HAART Kenya Shelter. Ash delivered a healthy baby girl. Her daughter is now 2 years old.

Amani

“I was fourteen when a family friend introduced me to a much older man. This man soon became my husband.” Amani dreamed of attending school but realized early her plans for an education was not possible. Amani shared her story with a neighbor, who later helped her escape and find help.

Shirley

Shirley came from a family of 7 children. At the age of 12, her sister organized with her brother for Shirley to travel to Nairobi to start schooling. Her sister helped her board a bus from Kapsabet and her brother picked her up from the bus station in Nairobi. Unfortunately, when she arrived in Nairobi her brother lost his job. Her brother’s neighbor requested that Shirley help with housekeeping. Shirley then moved in with this neighbor. While working for her neighbor she was responsible for all the cooking, cleaning and childcare. During the 6 months Shirley worked this neighbor she did not attend school and was never paid.

Milele

Milele always knew that she had to go through the “cut” as her community called it. She knew that after that marriage was inevitable. However, she had dreams and hoped that she would avoid her fate. As age14, the inevitable did happen and she went through the “cut” and was married off to an old man. She was able to run away and was rescued by HAART Kenya, an organization working to combat human trafficking.

Pendo

"I came from a poor family in Tanzania. I knew very early that to get ahead I would need to work hard and going to school was not something I could dream about." At age 16 a family friend told her that she could find some work across the border in Kenya. Believing her, two days later she traveled to Kenya with this family friend. However, when she arrived there, she realized that a lot of what she was promised was not true. She was forced to work as a prostitute. Overworked, abused and no money, a year later, she was lucky to find someone that helped her escape.

Tumaini

“When I was 14, I met a family friend in my hometown in Ethiopia, he promised to take me to a good school in Nairobi. A few days later I traveled with this family friend to Nairobi. When I arrived, he took me as his wife and I worked for him in his house.” Every day he physically abused her. After an abusive episode a nurse caring for Tumaini helped her escape.

Safi

Safi was 10 years old, attending fourth grade in a school in Uganda, when a cousin came and promised she could attend a better school in Kenya. She packed her bags and was very excited because she always wanted to go to Nairobi. When she got there she was not taken to school but had to work as a domestic servant for five men. At the end of each day they beat her and denied her food. A neighbor helped her get help. Now she lives in a shelter supported by HAART Kenya.

Cary

Cary is a US survivor of sex trafficking. After an abusive childhood spent in and out of youth centers, she fell prey to sex trafficking at the age of 19. Cary spent the next 11 years isolated, beaten, drugged, and moved between states, forced to sell herself night after night to meet the quotas set by her pimps. Thanks to the support of organizations, Cary escaped ‘the life’ and has new identity – as a mother, a fiancée, a survivor, and an advocate.

Mary

Mary is a US survivor of sex trafficking. She grew up in Portland Maine, the fifth of six children, as a child she was sexually abused. At age of 18, she went to Texas to visit a sister and was lured into the life of sex trafficking on the false of promises of love and security. Over the next 5 years Mary was controlled by heroin addiction and exploited by her trafficker in a city near the border of Juarez Mexico. In 1998, Mary found recovery and began to rebuild her life and heal from the trauma she endured. Today, Mary is the Chief Advisor and Survivor Lead at Just Love Worldwide, an organization working to prevent and restore victims of human trafficking in Westbrook, Maine.

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