COLUMBUS, Ohio — “The predators go after people that are vulnerable. And they can usually tell when you’re vulnerable. The way you speak, your head is held down low, you have no self-confidence and they promise you that they’re going to help you,” said Felicia Snell, trafficking survivor.
Felicia Snell now knows how to spot a predator. Because when she was five years old, one spotted her.
- Over a thousand children in the state of Ohio will fall victim to trafficking each year
- Human Trafficking Awareness Day at the Statehouse brought together those from all around Ohio to tackle the issue
- The Statehouse is working legislatively to crack down on trafficking
She was forced into a life of sex trafficking — passed between pimps for decades.
“I was living in an abandoned garage. I took over someone’s garage. I was living with bed bugs, I was suicidal, my health was gone, I was spiritually dead,” said Snell. “Everybody that said they would help me, even my pimp, and my pimp was a female. Let’s not be closed-minded about it, it doesn’t have to be a male. Sometimes it’s female, and in the end, she turned on me.”
She says her female pimp put a gun to her head and forced her to work. She says she lost her will to live.
“I didn’t know how to get out. The only way I knew how to get out was to die. I looked up at the sky and said, God, if this is how I have to live for the rest of my life, I want to die,” Snell said.
Instead, Snell got salvation. A former sex-trafficked woman spotted her and pulled her out of the cycle. She fed her, clothed her, and got her on a new path.
Felicia shared her story as part of the 11th annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
The event aimed to bring together those from all around Ohio to tackle this issue that often goes unseen.
“It’s a great day for survivors, it’s a great day for advocates and groups that are here on behalf of survivors,” said Sen. Stephanie Kunze. “Maybe victims are feeling voiceless, but we’re trying to move them into a place of survivorship.”
Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard), the event’s organizer, says one of the biggest ways to prevent sex trafficking is being cognizant of the signs.
“Some of those signs could be where the girls are getting their hair done, their nails done, behavior problems, sexual problems, soon as you talk, they cut you off, and the number one is, they don’t trust anyone,” said Snell.
The Statehouse is working legislatively to crack down on trafficking, with bills aimed at beefing up punishments for traffickers.
If you, or anyone you know may be caught in human trafficking, you can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888.