Content warning: this story contains mentions of sex trafficking and sexual assault.
Annabelle's* trafficker was on her knees in the courtroom, crying.
For two years she had sold Annabelle for sex via a brothel in the Philippines that masqueraded as a bar. She had told her there was a way she could make good money. She had transported the 15-year-old Filipino girl to hotels in the city, to be abused night after night, by customer after customer. That is, rapist after rapist.
Annabelle's trafficker was facing life in prison. And she had asked Annabelle for a plea bargain to reduce her sentence.
"It was a very difficult decision for me to make, I didn't want to say 'yes' to her request...So I didn't," Annabelle told the author of Wildflowers, a new book raising awareness about human trafficking and raising funds for the organisations fighting it.
That person had really, really hurt me. And a lot of trauma had come to my life through these things.
"But then I really prayed about it and I realised it's also difficult for her. She has a family."
"Finally we had to go to the court, and I had to face her. She knelt down in front of me, and she asked for forgiveness."
Wildflowers to raise money for organisations on the ground
Annabelle's story is one of 14 detailed in Wildflowers, a soon-to-be published book by Australian author and photographer Belinda Ramirez. I went along with Belinda to a safehouse for sex trafficking survivors in the Philippines in 2016, to learn more about the project in its earliest phase.
The book takes readers inside the group homes, focusing on tales of hope as well as the organisations on the ground supporting survivors through the courts and life afterwards.
"The idea behind telling these stories is not to take us back to these horrible, traumatic things that happened to them, but to actually show that the survivors are not defined by their past, that they've got hopes and futures, thanks to a number of key organisations," Ramirez told The Feed.
Journalist Alice Matthews visits a sex trafficking safehouse in the Philippines in 2016. Source: Belinda Ramirez
"It's so readers can be inspired and can see who is making a tangible impact in fighting human trafficking."
Ramirez aims to crowdfund $17,000 to print and distribute the book, directing the money spent buying Wildflowers to four organisations it's partnered with:
- International Justice Mission, which raided the brothel in partnership with police to rescue Annabelle and the other girls being held captive, as well as assisting her and countless others through the legal process.
- Voice of the Free, which runs safe homes for survivors.
- 10 Thousand Windows, which provides scholarship and job readiness initiatives.
- Renewsiya Foundation, which offers survivor training and wellness programs.
Ramirez says $27 of the $59 cover price will go directly to those organisations, as well as a seed fund to support future anti-trafficking initiatives (with the rest spent on design & printing, distribution and crowdfunding fees).
An estimated 60,000 to 100,000 children in the Philippines are exploited in prostitution rings, and tourist areas are hotbeds, according to UNICEF.
But fighting human trafficking isn't out of our hands, Ramirez said.
We are responsible and we can do something about it, no matter how small.
"We can't be at these two ends of the spectrum where we are either completely ignorant or so wracked with guilt that we are frozen into inaction," she said.
The crowdfunding campaign is an all or nothing one, which means if the $17,000 target isn't met by the 16th of December 2019, none of the money committed is passed on.
At the time of writing, the campaign had raised almost $10,000.
At the discretion of a survivor
Sex trafficking survivor Annabelle wants Australians to know about one thing:
Forgiveness.
"Before I said yes to [her plea bargain], I told her 'Oh I am SO angry!' I said ALL my feelings."
"Then [the trafficker] started crying, and she asked for forgiveness again because she had all of her children."
"I said yes [to the bargain] and she was so happy, because if I'd said no, she would be in prison for the rest of her life."
Now she has hope to see her children again.
Forgiveness didn't come easy. For some survivors it can take a lifetime, if it comes at all.
Annabelle's case had been in court for three years. Ramirez writes that "Annabelle saw a vision, where as long as she didn't forgive her trafficker, she would always be tethered to the woman."
"She became aware that it was critical to her own wellbeing to forgive this woman but was also assured that forgiveness didn't mean her trafficker would not suffer the consequences of her actions."
The trafficker was sentenced to 15 years jail.
An image from Wildflowers by Belinda Ramirez. Source: Belinda Ramirez
After spending years in safehouses getting an education and going through therapy, Annabelle graduated from a culinary course.
She dreams of becoming a baker.
*name changed and specific locations removed to protect survivor's identity
If this story raised concerns for you, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au.
