She was an innocent 14-year-old girl until she found herself wearing high heels and short dresses, walking the streets as a prostitute in Arizona. Even San Antonio has more human trafficking victims than most would know.
About 25 percent of victims are here in Texas.
One of the state's highways is among the busiest in the country. Interstate 10 between El Paso and Houston also happens to be a main corridor for human traffickers.
It can happen to anyone, anywhere. One victim in the video above was just an average teenager. She was an innocent 14-year-old girl until she found herself wearing high heels and short dresses.
For months she walked the streets of Arizona as a prostitute, thrown into the world of sex trafficking. She said it began when she logged onto MySpace. She had no idea what she was signing up for, and neither did her parents.
"They preyed after her and they found her under false pretenses," said the victim's mother. "she was expecting one thing and got another and didn't have a choice."
Human slavery exists, and it can be happening around you. In San Antonio, more victims exist than anyone would think, said Miriam Elizondo with the Rape Crisis Center.
Dozens of the center's cases are victims of sex trafficking, but Elizondo believes many cases are misidentified. That number could be in the hundreds.
Most of the cases have been identified as child sexual abuse or indecency with a child. Once rescued, the Rape Crisis Center works with law enforcement to provide counseling, protection and recovery for victims. But Elizondo said education and awareness is the key to combating human trafficking.
For this victim's family, the agonizing search continued for six long months. The 14 year old was rescued just in time. Her parents believe plans were under way to take her out of the state, maybe even out of the country.
What's more, the 14 year old's father is a police officer.
"I guess i felt kind of guilty of what i do for everyone else, but what I wasn't able to do for my own children," her father said.
This family can't erase what happened.
"I think it's just hard for me to really just wake up and say, 'Yes this did happen,' and know this wasn't a dream," the victim's father added. It wasn't a dream, but it was a nightmare and a reality of modern-day slavery that has forever changed the life of this teenager.
"I'm so much better than what they told me i was," said the victim. "I'm a young lady and I need to be respected. I deserve so much more in life. I have a purpose I need to fulfill.
