Survivor Perspectives: Interview with "Faith Robles"

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 third interview is with “Faith Robles,” who was first trafficked in New York City and the surrounding communities via a “delivery” service. 

(Responses have been condensed for space.)

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

Well, it seems bad, of course, to hear that he died in the hands of a police officer. I think the officer could be able to prevent killing him. In my own perspective, if police officers get more training on how they could arrest someone, they could find a way to get training on how to arrest someone in a proper way so this does not happen again and again.

Have you had interactions with law enforcement?

[While I was being trafficked,] I was in Philadelphia for a week, and I had money on me. I had no ID with me. At the time I was probably 14 or 15 years old. A girl between 14 and 15 can’t have three or four thousand dollars. I had to take bus transportation to come back from Philadelphia but I did not know where to go. I tried to ask him for help, but this police officer was unable to help me. He did not speak Spanish. He scared me, just from the way he looked at me. 

If he had spoken Spanish, if he had said, “why are you shaking, why are you nervous,” “why is a 14 or 13 alone on the bus, at the bus station.” If he had asked me, “are you OK?  Do you need help?,” I would have said “yes.” If they had asked, “why do you have all this money on you,” it would have been hard to say what had happened to me. If they had asked “have you been trafficked,” I would have told them...how could I talk to them when they looked at me in a scary way?

[After I escaped I met a detective.] I did not speak English. He had to use Google translate to see what I needed. The first thing he asked me was if I needed food. There was a female on the case and I loved that. That really made a difference. They made me so comfortable all the time, they made me feel safe. They were always trying to make sure that everything they were doing was the correct way. They always made sure that I was safe.  

Why did you go to the police for help?

My trafficker said to me, if you go to the police department, they will never believe you. My trafficker would make me practice the story that I was on my own, that I had to do this because my parents were sick. 

When I found out that my trafficker had another victim, I got angry….there was a documentary, Tenancingo to New York...My trafficker and his uncles were saying “this is all a lie.” When I saw the documentary on Youtube, I said, “oh wait, that happened to me,”  and I saw that law enforcement helped the victims. It inspired me to get help. It took me another three or four months to talk to the authorities.

When I testified [against my traffickers] they made me feel safe. This time was better because I was able to speak English. I felt that made a change in my life and for them as well because I was able to express myself in a way that was different from before. Somehow, I know if there is anything wrong, I can contact the authorities and they can help me.

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

If they see a victim, of course, a victim reacts...If they notice that the girl can’t communicate, that she speaks Spanish, they could ask, “Necesitas ayuda? Dónde necesitas ir?” If the police officer notices that she is not looking at his eyes, she seems nervous, she seems shaky, she starts to cry, they should get someone who speaks Spanish to see if she is OK, if she needs help. Probably she won’t be able to recognize that she has been trafficked. 

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

My first language is not Spanish, I speak a Mayan dialect called Cho/l. The girls in the class would make fun of me. They would say that she doesn’t speak Spanish. They said I had lice, which I did because I lived on a farm, but my mom would work hard to take it out. I used to translate from Spanish into the Mayan dialect and I would recite a poem. I loved to do that. My classmates would make fun of me.  

My trafficker knew that I spoke a Mayan dialect. My family did not have the resources to investigate. They never suspected anything at all. They never suspected anything. My trafficker’s family had a farm....when I was under their control, they did show that they had power. My family is Indigenous, they did not know about pimps, they did not know about trafficking.

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