At just 12-years-old, Karla Jacinto thought that she had met her Prince Charming who would save her from her impoverished life in Mexico.
“He bought me clothes and shoes. He told me ‘You’re going to be my princess,’ says Karla.
But three months into the relationship, her scam-artist boyfriend revealed his true intentions. It turns out, her 22-year-old “prince” was actually a pimp part of an organized crime ring based in Tenancingo.
Karla quickly went from living in a fairy tale to living out her biggest nightmare.
Her pimp sold her for sex all across Mexico, forcing her to keep a daily log of the men she slept with. She was forced to have sex with at least 30 men every day for four years without a single day off, according to reports by CNN.
“I started at 10 am and finished at midnight,” recalls Karla. “Some men would laugh at me because I was crying. I had to close my eyes so that that I wouldn’t see what they were doing to me so that I wouldn’t feel anything.”
The now-23-year-old estimates that from age 12 to 16, she was raped no less than 43,200 times.
After finally escaping those four years of pure hell, Karla has made it her life mission to raise awareness about the dangers of sex trafficking. From press conferences to public events, she’s told her survival story to anyone willing to listen. Karla even shared her heart-wrenching journey with Pope Francis at the Vatican and spoke to the US Congress in hopes of getting legislation passed to prevent other young girls trapped in human trafficking rings.
“I’m going to fight against this until the end,” says Karla. “Every day when I wake up, I wonder if I’m gonna be alive at the end of the day because of what we do, and what I have experienced makes me a target. Death is lurking.”
But even the threat of death is not enough to stop her from fighting against the twisted industry that scarred her for life, along with thousands of other helpless girls. See more from Karla’s brave story in the CNN interview below.
To request help or report suspected human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Or text HELP to: BeFree (233733).
