Featured Story

I Am Like So Many

by Rani Hong, as told to Rhyen Coombs

I have always said if we survivors come forth and tell our story—reveal the truth of what happened to us—it will help people understand the realities of human trafficking. We can't stay silent. If we do, we stay in the dark and allow the traffickers to continue the destruction of innocent lives.

I am just like so many out there—a mother, a businesswoman. It wasn't until I was an adult that I found out I am a survivor of human trafficking. The deception was so great, as it always is with traffickers. I had known that I was adopted at the age of seven, but I had always believed it was because my mother had passed away and no one could find my family. That's what the traffickers told me.

I have very little memory of my childhood before I was adopted and came to the United States. The thing I remember most is crying and crying for my mother—crying out for her and the traffickers telling me to "be quiet," telling me "she's not going to come for you." My adoptive mother knew nothing of what had happened to me as a child, either. She was so loving, and had no idea of my history. But then my questions came.

To answer them, I went to Southern India to find my adoption records. It was an incredible miracle when I found my birth mother, instead. When I first saw her, the questions flooded out from both of us.

"What happened? Why was I adopted? What happened to me?"

And her replies—

"What happened to you? Where were you? I've been looking for you for 21 years!"

It was horrific to hear the truth. My mother told me that she had entrusted me to a friend who was going to take care of me. In reality, this friend was a child recruiter. She was selling children, taking them to transporters, to child brokers. When I was in India, I uncovered documents from the Indian government that tied me to my broker, who was later prosecuted for child trafficking. These documents revealed that he was stealing children and selling them, sometimes into orphanages. There is a picture of me—I look so bad. They abused me so badly; they treated me so terribly. It's horrific, unspeakable.

When I learned of my history, I knew little about human trafficking, but I educated myself. I found out that human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery. It can include sex trafficking, which is the recruitment and harboring of individuals for commercial sex acts. It also includes labor trafficking, which is the recruitment and harboring of people for the purpose of labor or services through the use of force, fraud or coercion. I found out that there are 27 million slaves in the world today—an incredible number.

Reading this, I felt the passion rise in me. I thought, "Okay, I have to do something to stop this industry." Once I learned the truth, it compelled me, and gave me the passion to be a voice for these voiceless women and children who have been sold into slavery.

My husband, Trong Hong, is also a survivor of human trafficking. We realized that we needed to do something more, and so we opened the Tronie Foundation. Our main role is to educate people about human trafficking, to influence public policy, and to provide services for the victims. Our mission is to reach out and rescue victims of human trafficking, and to restore their freedom. We provide safe havens for victims, and we try to equip victims with the skills to transform their futures. I believe one of the number one needs of survivors is a safe place where they can stay to heal. We provide basic needs such as food, clothing, social support, life skills and job training.

The Tronie Foundation also works with state and federal legislations because we need laws to protect these victims. Our passion is being a voice for those women and children who have been sold against their wills, who cannot speak to the world because they're held in prisons, held captive by traffickers.

For the past six years, I've used my experience to testify before legislators. We've passed several laws in the state of Washington that have become models for other states to follow. I'm proud to say that in 2002, Washington was the first state to pass a law to get a state task force against human trafficking. Since then, over 30 states have followed. This is a huge movement in our country—that's 30 states that have groups standing behind victims, saying, "You know what? We believe in you, and we're going to do something. We're going to get a body of people that can help make a difference in your lives."

Just two months ago, I had the honor of watching our governor, Christine Gregoire, sign a bill to address victim confidentiality, based on the reports we did for the Anti-Trafficking Task Force. Our senator. Jeanne Kohl-Wells also supported the bill, and that was exciting to me, to see our senator take the lead and be a voice for us survivors.

I have always said if we survivors come forth and tell our story—reveal the truth of what happened to us—it will help people understand the realities of human trafficking. We can't stay silent. If we do, we stay in the dark and allow the traffickers to continue the destruction of innocent lives.

There are so many myths about trafficking that I am committed to overturning. The Polaris Project produced a document that discussed many of these myths (see sidebar). Education is the key. By educating the general public, we can move forward in addressing human trafficking issues.

Media is a huge ally in the cultural, social, economic, and political transformation of this issue, but they can also perpetuate these myths. Sometimes they sensationalize the stories of the victims or report inaccuracies. But they can also play a very effective role in bringing awareness and mobilizing people to get involved to fight this industry. We need to build a coalition of media partners and popular personalities to advocate for anti-trafficking measures. As a victim, it's encouraging to see that there is hope through the media, there is hope through the celebrities who are speaking out in support of our efforts—we need them to help us be a stronger voice.

If you have a heart and a passion, you can use your voice to raise awareness, to educate people, whether it is through media, or through legislation, or just by talking to your friends. The biggest thing people can do is be a voice and raise the bar. As a society, we need to say that we will not stand for victimizing women and children in our country or anywhere in the world.

And it is so important to remember that we victims are people. We are just like your mothers, your siblings. We have hearts. We have minds. We would really like for people—the public, but especially service providers—to see us as individuals who have value, who have a voice. We need partners to help our voices be heard.

For those who have survived this industry, it is so important to get involved—whether that is in legislation, in speaking to the media, in telling the stories, or in helping other victims. When you start stepping out and helping others—when you start being a voice—you can begin the process of healing. It is very difficult, but it is beneficial to our own self-worth and self-image. We are overcomers, and we are survivors, and we can make a difference.