New Blog Series

Hello everyone and welcome to my new blog series. My name is Baby and I have been given the amazing opportunity to share my experiences and story as a human trafficking survivor. After many failed attempts, I officially left the game and my sex trafficker on September 1st, 2020. Although I’ve been physically free from that nightmare for nearly five years, no amount of time can erase the memories that live on with me like scar covered arms. I never thought I would ever call myself a victim let alone a survivor but life in all its complexities has an interesting way of shaping us. I realize now that surviving is not just something I did but it’s a fundamental part of who I am and why I keep fighting for myself daily.

You may wonder why I chose the name Baby to represent myself instead of picking something more generic. When trying to come up with a name for myself I was met with a lot of discomfort. While in the game I went by so many fake names, personas and personalities that the thought of hiding behind a name other than my own causes me great pain. I chose the nickname Baby because it's the name of the main character in my favourite book called Lullabies for Little Criminals. It’s about a 12 year old girl who is trafficked by a Romeo pimp just like I was. When reading this book, I resonated a lot with the thoughts and feelings Baby had during her journey. Although I was 21 and not 12 when I was pimped out, I still felt like a baby. Scared, naive and so vulnerable without even knowing it. I was completely unprepared for the harsh world of sex, drugs, and violence that became my new normal. One day, when I am ready, I will wholeheartedly share my story with pride and confidence but until then I will be using the nickname baby and sharing snippets of my reality as a survivor of human trafficking.

I am a 26 year old woman who is passionate about helping others, making a difference and achieving my goals. I like expressing myself creatively, being in nature and staying active. Right now, I am training for my first ever sprint triathlon, I’m working as a special education technician in a high school and I am in school to obtain my special care counselling diploma.  My main goal for the future is to use my education, story and past experiences to advocate and empower other survivors of domestic violence and Human Trafficking.

For many years, I’ve stayed quiet about my trafficking experience for a multitude of reasons. I was ashamed, embarrassed and fearful of being judged etc. I couldn’t understand how something like this could have happened to someone like me. I thought I was too smart to have been manipulated, coerced, controlled and abused like that. I’ve come to realize that sex trafficking does not discriminate. It will prey on anyone it can without hesitation or mercy.

Thank you for reading my very first blog post and I hope you stick around for my next one. If I can leave you with anything it’s that our experiences don’t define us and we are not our past.

-Baby