The average age of children who are sold into the sex trade industry in America, is 13 years old.
Shirley was just 15 years old when she met her first pimp.
Her mother worked relentlessly to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, but Shirley says, she was lonely.
With no father around, and no one there to love her and comfort her, the teen ran away.
But what she found was 14 years of physical and sexual abuse, more loneliness and slavery.
What life is like when you’re being sex trafficked, as told by…
Sex trafficking is happening in cities and counties across America, right under our noses.
Posted by Today Show on Monday, July 31, 2017
“I found myself trapped, afraid to get out, and scared for my life.”
In 2013, Shirley admits, she just “wanted to die.”
Pregnant with her daughter, a pimp beat her so terribly that she went into labor.
It was at the hospital where Shirley found her saving grace.
A nurse that was caring for her at the hospital was able to recognize the signs of sex trafficking. She knew that Shirley needed help, and she introduced her to a community of women who could help.
Today, Shirley has been reunited with all three of her daughters, and she’s living free for the first time since that fateful day at 15 when she ran away.
An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked in the U.S. each year, with more than 600,000 being trafficked across international boarders.