Former survivor spreads awareness through soap

In the 21st century, enslavement can happen anywhere.

At only 15 years old, a white girl from a respected suburban neighborhood survives being sold to men nearly twice as old.

Theresa Flores was raised in a Christian household in Detroit and at 15 she was an older sister to three younger brothers and ran hard for the school’s track team.

She lived a fun-filled life in an idyllic suburban neighborhood, with no inkling she would soon become a sex slave for two years.

She is not alone. One in six of the 18,500 runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2016 were likely sex trafficking victims.

Flores parents were strict and forbid her to date until she turned 16. Nonetheless at school, she met a boy and grew to like him.

One day he offered her a ride home. But he didn’t take her home; he drove her to his house instead. Unbeknownst to Flores, he drugged her soda and when she passed out he raped her.

Flores hid this horror from her family and friends, fearing what they might think.

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Theresa Flores speaking at TEDx in Columbus, OH on Nov. 11, 2011

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Days later, the boy appeared at her school locker with embarrassing and compromising pictures. He threatened to share the photos and hurt anyone and everyone she loved if she told anyone what he did. Instead, he told her she could earn the photos back.

“I thought I had no other options and I still had no idea what ‘earned them back meant,’” Flores said. “What it meant was [he and his friends] would call my room in the middle of the night and demand that I appear immediately for service.”

When summoned, Flores said she would sneak out barefoot in her pajamas and walk to his black Trans Am parked on the street. He then drove Flores to beautiful, upscale homes where she would be ushered into a side door where only men would be.

The savage treatment she endured is the stuff of nightmares.

At times strange men tied her up and other times they tortured her. It was not unusual for her to hear women and children, perhaps the predator’s family, upstairs. No one, however, ever came to help.

The horrifying episodes always left her drained and exhausted. Her best hope was to survive the experience unscathed and at least get home for a couple of hours to rest before school.

Her worst night was the time she suffered at the hands of multiple rapists.

“They kidnapped me … drove me very far from home. They drugged me and beat me,” Flores said. “They pulled me by my hair from the car to a little open motel room. Twenty men waited for me. Here I was, the only girl, 16, in a sea of men.”

Flores was auctioned off to the highest bidder, over and over again until she passed out. She woke up – naked, bleeding, confused and went into the bathroom to clean herself.

Today, Flores travels speaking at college campus’, churches and any place that is open to hearing her horrific tale.

The first time Flores traveled back to Detroit, she thought back on the moments of herself and how other victims clean up in the bathroom. Flores realized she needed a way for victims to find their voice and talk to someone.

From those thoughts, she created the TraffickFree and the S.O.A.P campaign.

TraffickFree, which focuses on building awareness about this modern day slavery problem through the Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution (S.O.A.P) outreach.

TraffickFree’s mission as stated on the website, is an “organization that builds awareness about domestic sex trafficking and sexually exploited children in the U.S. Its purpose is to educate students, parents, professionals and motel owners and their staff about the signs of trafficking and how to identify a victim.”

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Theresa Flores speaking at TEDx in Columbus, OH on Nov. 11, 2011

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Flores and volunteers deliver tiny bars of soap to hotels and venues that surround the hotspots where the human trafficking sex trade thrives — the Superbowl, the Detroit Auto Show, The Arnold Classic or political or trade association conventions.

The soap bars are designed to help those find their voice, and find their freedom during their most vulnerable moment of collecting themselves.

The soap bar packages include the national hotline number for human trafficking with the idea that someone trapped in the sex trade might find a way to save their life.

S.O.A.P up Delaware, Ohio will be hosted on May 20, from 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Flores is a licensed social worker and received her master’s degree in counseling education from the University of Dayton and a bachelor degree in social work from Ball State University.

Flores teaches at Gracehaven, a home in Columbus that shelters girl’s younger than18 who have been victimized and sexually exploited.

Flores said each survivor learns her story.

Flores has written four books. Her most noteworthy is her memoir, “The Slave Across the Street”, is a best seller. She also has published an international book that is an international top seller.

Flores has been a guest on “The 700 Club”, The “Today” Show, “Nightline”, MSNBC’s “Sex Slaves – The Teen Trade”, “America’s Most Wanted”, and “For the Record” and has her own Ted Talks special. She is also featured in the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum in a traveling exhibit titled, “Invisible Slavery.”

Ohio Gov. John Kaisch recognized Flores for her work in human trafficking and received the Courage Award in 2009.

Flores was appointed to the Ohio Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Commission and she was instrumental in the passing of 2010 legislation that combats the issue in Ohio.