Victims of human trafficking, especially those stolen against their will, are objectified and dehumanised. They are made to feel emotionless and powerless. Being a victim of this crime is found to contribute to: PTSD, depression, anxiety, panic disorder, suicidal ideation, Stockholm Syndrome, and substance abuse. Those who develop mental illness as a result of being a sex slave have a difficult time asking for help, whether it be because they are misidentified as “willing” participants, because they do not speak the local language, or because their physical identification has been confiscated and they have no proof or evidence to who they …show more content…
Many victims of human trafficking are brought from one country to another with false documents and names, exemplifying the premeditated nature of human trafficking. “G,” now a free resident in Michigan, was not always free. After her family in Togo, West Africa, fell under financial hardship, her father’s cousin, Joe, in the United States called, offering to house G and enroll her in school in Michigan. G willingly went, but with documents and a passport under a different name. Betrayed by her family, she was used for labor, made to cook and clean and do ridiculous tasks like take apart and power wash the car seats of Joe’s girlfriend’s car. She was physically abused for menial things like forgetting to turn off the television. Other children were brought into the home, and on the outside the group of kids and their captors looked like a functioning family. Neighbors and friends were lied to about the children’s true origins. The physical abuse, isolation, and workload ended when Joe threw her out for refusing to talk about her college classes and a nearby family took her end. Joe was eventually arrested and given eleven and a half years jail