ECPAT-USA Survivors' Council Member Shares Impact Statement At Trafficker's Sentencing

Delia, a member of ECPAT-USA’s Survivors’ Council, testified in February at the sentencing hearings of the men who exploited her for over three years. The impact statement she read at one of the hearings is below.

We have chosen to publish the statement in full, and its content may be challenging for some readers as it contains descriptions of sexual assault and abuse.

Good Afternoon, Your Honor,

Francisco Melendez Perez trafficked me from Mexico to the United States when I was a child, and then arranged for thousands of men to rape me for money for three and a half years. I was introduced to Francisco in Mexico when I was only 13 years old. I thought that he was handsome and nice, and I was excited that he wanted to be my boyfriend.

I was so young, hungry for food and for affection. Francisco offered me food and, I thought, love. He knew how easy it would be to take advantage of my hunger.

When I was 14 years old, Francisco took me to his family’s home and raped me anally. It hurt so much and I bled. I was trapped there, but I believed that Francisco loved me. Even if I had been able to go home, I couldn’t, because my family situation at home was bad. Francisco knew that I could not run away because there was nowhere else for me to go.

Francisco told me that we had to come to the United States so that we could work, make money and return to Mexico, have a house and children together. He promised me a beautiful future but it was all a lie. He forced me into prostitution and threatened to kill my family if I refused.

Francisco did everything he could to make sure that he could sell me for sex, no matter what. It didn’t matter if I was scared that I might get a sexual disease. It didn’t matter if I was panicked that a client would kill me. It didn’t matter if I was starving or exhausted. It didn’t matter that my vagina was swollen and sore because I was in pain from so many men penetrating me. All he wanted was for me to make them money. I was a child who was suffering because men were paying money to rape me, but Franciso did not care.

My body suffered so much in prostitution. The pain from being forced to have anal and vaginal sex with so many men made it hard to walk, and sometimes I bled. Giving oral sex to men made me feel like I was choking and I even threw up. Clients threw me down the stairs, causing a lot of pain in my hips. Each time that I asked Francisco to protect me, he did not care. All he wanted was for me to continue to make him money.

Because my traffickers made me take pills to stop my period, I didn’t have a normal menstrual cycle, which is harmful for a young teenager. Even with all the pills, I worried that if I got pregnant, my traffickers would make me have an abortion against my will. When my period was late, Francisco would grab my legs and yank me off the bed, really hard, onto the floor, to make me bleed. It hurt so much, and I still have pain in my lower back and legs. My traffickers controlled my body. They wouldn’t get me normal medical care because a normal doctor would have said that they can’t sell a child for sex. I also suffered beatings from Francisco and from the men who bought me. I felt like I was in hell. When I told my traffickers that I could not do it anymore, they said they would kill my family if I left. Francisco also said that he would bring my younger sister to the US and do the same to her if I did not continue working for him. I was terrified that he would carry out his threats so I stayed. When I finally tried to escape, Francisco beat me in the face so hard that I could not open my mouth the next day. I felt completely broken and helpless.

After a sex buyer threatened to kill me with his knife, I knew that I had to escape or I would die in prostitution. I was 17 and still a child, but I found the courage to go to the police. Even though Francisco had told me that the police would not believe me, that they would arrest me and deport me, he was wrong. That night marked a big change in my life. It meant so much to me to be heard and believed.

The damage that Francisco Melendez Perez caused when he trafficked me has never gone away. My back and legs constantly hurt and even walking is painful. My jaw was so badly injured that I would cry when I tried to chew food, and for years I could only eat soft food, like a baby. I needed multiple surgeries to correct it, including total jaw replacement, but it will never completely heal. I still can’t fully move the right side of my face. I need more physical therapy and surgery for these injuries but the medical care has left me in debt and I can’t afford the bills.

The emotional damage has been equally difficult. [We never separated, because I escaped, Delia added during the hearing]. After I escaped, I was deeply depressed. I felt that I could not function in society. I was fearful to be in public because I was terrified someone would recognize me and try to bring me back to the life I hated. When I escaped, I could not work a job because of my post traumatic stress disorder. I could not go back to school because I had lost too many years to prostitution. I felt my dignity had been taken from me, I felt dirty, I felt unlovable. I had trouble trusting other people because I felt they only wanted to use me. I have a sign next to my bed reminding me that I have escaped because I still wake in the middle of the night from terrifying nightmares, panicked that Francisco is still trafficking me.

I have had years of therapy and worked incredibly hard to overcome these feelings and to find value in myself again. I now know I am not alone. I know I am lovable, I am free, and I can stand up for myself. I want other victims to know that no one is entitled to take away your freedom or your dignity. No one has the right to enslave another.

Francisco said that he loved me, but instead he tortured me for three and a half years. Instead of caring for me and respecting me, he abused my body and mind, causing damage that will never fully heal. He took away my childhood, my dreams, my dignity, my health and my voice. I will never forgive Francisco. Francisco, I hope that you go to hell because that is where you put me. While that is in God’s hands, I ask the court to give Francisco Melendez Perez the harshest sentence possible for what he did to me and to the other victims.

Thank you.