Survivor Perspectives: Interview with Cristian Eduardo

Over these next weeks leading up to July 30’s World Day Against Human Trafficking, ECPAT-USA will be amplifying the voices of our Survivors’ Council on how the color of their skin has impacted their experiences as trafficking survivors. This interview is with Cristian Eduardo, who was first trafficked in New York City in Queens.

(Responses have been condensed for space.)

How have you been feeling since the death of George Floyd?

I have been feeling triggered, because seeing how law enforcement can abuse power, it’s a reminder that that can happen to any of us.

Have you had interactions with law enforcement?

Yes, that is why I am so conflicted about what is happening now, about defund the police, abolish the police. I am a survivor of human trafficking and I needed to do a report with law enforcement. When I knew that the police would help me, it gave me the strength to escape from my trafficking situation. When I filed a report, the police were there for me providing support, and they were concerned about what was happening to me. 

Most survivors, we have to think about this before.  Is it right to call the police, is it wrong to call the police?  Should I fill out a report?  Sometimes our traffickers are part of our family, our community.  It is important for people to understand, this is not about right or wrong, this is about grey...When people are kind of forcing these thoughts on society, it is hard for us survivors. It’s making us feel that we are doing something wrong. We are reporting to police, it’s not only about us. It’s that we want to stop this from happening to other victims, we understand the long-term consequences of being trafficked. 

I have had interaction with NYPD in NYC.  To be honest, I feel that they were disrespectful because they assumed that I can’t speak English because of the way that I look, because I am a person of color and I don’t fit their profile of an American. They were checking backpacks on the subway. Instead of helping me, I felt that they were looking for something, that I had done something wrong. 

What would you want law enforcement to know about victims of sex trafficking?

Even for the victims, it is extremely difficult to identify and understand that they had been trafficked. I would like them to understand that we are conflicted, that we have developed bonds with the trafficker. It is hard to file a report, even when we have escaped. I’d like them to acknowledge their privilege, their power. They can’t forget that we are human beings. They are there to protect people, not to kill people. They are not the last stop of justice, but part of the process. Even if we don’t look like them, even if we don’t speak the same language, we have a different color or accent, we are all human beings.

How have you experienced the connections between race and sex trafficking?

I was trafficked because of my race, because I’m an immigrant, because of my membership in the LGBTQ community, because of my lack of finances, my lack of knowledge for the laws in this country...Communities that experience discrimination and poverty are the same communities subjected to sex trafficking. African American communities, Latino communities, immigrant communities. We need to understand that commercial sexual exploitation, prostitution, is a system of oppression. The roots are in systemic discrimination. It is power and control. It is fueled by privilege and income.

Exploitation is super complex and it pains me when people try to explain something that they don’t understand. It pains me when people are trying to impose an idea when they have just read books. They are trying to silence me when they are explaining exploitation. I respect your knowledge, but what you have learned in books is not what I have experienced.

What else do you want people to know about your experience?

Even if there are people in prostitution surviving on this, that doesn’t mean that it’s not harmful, that it’s not a system rooted on racism, on oppressions, on privilege on power and control. That does not mean that the narrative of “choice” in prostitution is really happening out there. 

Raising awareness, especially children and young people, traffickers and exploiters are somebody that they know, someone part of the family, someone they love. The perception of trafficking, especially with young kids, is that it’s happening from an outsider. That’s not true...We need to understand the dynamics of grooming and commercial sexual exploitation. With technology, we need to understand how easy it is.  We need to understand the grooming process and how harmful it is. 

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