Not For Sale: Trafficking Survivor Brings Message Of Hope To ATL

EDITOR'S NOTE: As Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta approaches, more attention is being focused on the issue of human trafficking. Patch is committed to covering this international plague with a focus on local efforts to combat the crime. This is the latest in a series of articles on human trafficking as it relates to one of the world's biggest sporting events, which will happen on Feb. 3, 2019, in Atlanta.

ATLANTA -- Theresa Flores was a 15-year-old girl in a well-to-do suburban neighborhood before she became a victim of human trafficking. The Ohio native's father worked for a large corporation, and the family would move every couple of years or so. They eventually moved to a wealthy Detroit suburb, when Flores, then a sophomore in high school, was asked by a boy with whom she was smitten, if she would like a ride home.

Instead, Flores said she was drugged and raped. Afterward, she was told that pictures had been taken of her while she was unconscious, "and that I'd have to earn them back. They would drive me around all around the Detroit area, where I'd have to service between four and 10 men each time.

"My worst night was when I was left for dead in a Detroit motel," Flores said. She was an avid track runner and an older sister to three younger brothers. No one, not even her parents, knew she was being trafficked for sex.

Flores survived the experience and has gone on to found Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution (S.O.A.P.), which is bringing its message of hope and rescue to Atlanta before Super Bowl LIII. On Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 26-27, hundreds of volunteers will to label and distribute 60,000 life-saving bars of soap to every single hotel room in metro Atlanta leading up to the game.

Over the past nine years, S.O.A.P. volunteers have given out more than 1 million bars of soap, labeled with the National Human Trafficking Hotline, and victims of human trafficking have been rescued as a direct result.

Patch Exclusives: Not For Sale

• Fighting Sex Trafficking As Super Bowl Nears
• Removing The Physical Scars Of Human Trafficking
• Suit Against Cobb Hotel Targets Sex Trafficking
• Buses In Midtown Raise Sex Trafficking Awareness

Linda Bressler is one of the Atlanta coordinators of this weekend's event. A mother of one and grandmother to four, Bressler is a member of the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Buckhead. She's been involved in the battle against human trafficking for five years.

"Soap is a very discreet item that can get into the hands of children who are being trafficked," Bressler said. "We have a list of about 400 hotels that our groups will visit from 9:30 a.m. through 4 p.m. Hopefully all 400 hotels will get covered."

Bressler hopes the effort to fight human trafficking will continue after the Super Bowl. "We need stricter laws on traffickers and buyers, and we hope to alleviate the demand for this crime," Bressler said. "Even though this is a dark underworld that exists in our community, there are lots of people who care and who are doing something about it. This is an opportunity to make a difference and be a hero in a child’s life."

Flores began the S.O.A.P. Project nine years ago. Since then, 100,000 volunteers have come together to label and distribute more than 1 million bars of soap to hotel rooms, and victims of human trafficking have been saved as a direct result.

Details on how you can help this weekend:

Saturday: All Saints Episcopal Church, 634 West Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta, Ga. 30308

Sunday: Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave. NW, Atlanta, Ga. 30327

Agenda:

• 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. - Doors Open - Registration and Welcome
• 10:00 - 10:30 a.m. - Label soap and creation informational folders for hotels
• 10:30 - 12:00 p.m. - Training presentation
• 12:00 - 12:45 p.m. - Lunch
• 12:45 p.m. - Teams head out to hotels to deliver soaps
• 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. - Return to All Saints

Facts about human trafficking from the S.O.A.P Project:

• Human trafficking is the 2nd-leading crime in the world, including the U.S.
• An estimated 1.3 million go missing in the U.S. every year, and 33,000 remain missing at any given time.
• If a missing or homeless child is not recovered within the first 48 hours, there is a 1 in 3 chance they will be trafficked or solicited for sex.
• 12-14 years of age is the average age of entry into child “prostitution” in the U.S.
• If a person under the age of 18 is involved in commercial sex, they are being trafficked.
• If a person is over 18 and has a pimp, they are being trafficked.
• The majority of trafficking occurs in hotels and motels.
• Although there is always a demand for sex, sporting events and large events that draw a great deal of people increase the demand for sex-for-sale.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Image S.O.A.P. Project