National Human Trafficking Resource Center: 1 (888) 373-7888
Key Statistics
- Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, operated by Polaris, has received reports of 14,588 sex trafficking cases inside the United States.
- In 2014, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimated that one in six endangered runaways reported to the center were likely sex trafficking victims.
- Globally, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.5 million people trapped in forced sexual exploitation globally.
- In a 2014 report, the Urban Institute estimated that the underground sex economy ranged from $39.9 million in Denver, Colorado, to $290 million in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sources: National Sex Trafficking Resource Center and Polaris Project
Muncie may not be the hub of sex trafficking, but that doesn’t mean residents can’t be victims, a Muncie woman said as she shared her story March 30.
Marti MacGibbon is a Muncie native who was a sex trafficking victim. She gave a presentation entitled “Overcoming Human Trafficking, Trauma and Addiction” as part of the Fifth Annual Breaking Chains Speaker Event. Northeast Indiana Area Health Education Center (NEI-AHEC) and Ball State's International Justice Mission (IJM) co-hosted the event.
Judge Kimberly Dowling, the Delaware Circuit Court 2 judge, introduced MacGibbon at the event. She said it’s important to raise awareness for sex trafficking.
“The more people who know about [sex trafficking], the better chance we have of fighting it,” Dowling said.
The presentation covered topics such as common vulnerabilities of victims, trauma, addiction, resilience factors and recovery, interwoven with MacGibbon’s personal story.
“I want to tell you how happy I am now,” MacGibbon said. “Whatever negative happens to you, life keeps going on and you triumph.”
MacGibbon did not meet her trafficker until she was living in San Francisco, after experiencing sexual assault as a teenager. She was in an abusive relationship, doing and selling drugs and an alcoholic by that time. MacGibbon saw her trafficker as a way out. She made a point to say her trafficker was a woman in order to break the assumption that all traffickers are men.
Looking back, MacGibbon said she could see there were red flags. She could only meet certain people at certain times of the day, she got a rushed passport, an unlimited visa and a one-way ticket to Japan. Once there, MacGibbon learned she was not part of an escort service—she had been sold to the Japanese mafia.
During her time in Japan, MacGibbon was forced to see customers each hour for long days. Her perpetrators would watch via cameras in the room in order to see if the customers were satisfied; she was punished if they weren’t.
“That’s what makes trafficking so hard to spot,” MacGibbon said. “The victims are forced to perform and look like they love [the perpetrator].”
MacGibbon said she thought about going crazy and letting her abusers kill her. However, she had a moment of clarity and reclaimed her mind.
“I made myself two promises,” MacGibbon said. “One was: I’m going home for Christmas. The second was: I would treat the people around me with as much basic human respect as possible. It wasn’t for them; it was for me.”
It was actually a client who helped her escape, and she made it back to the United States two days before Christmas.
After MacGibbon returned to the States, the trauma of what she experienced began to set in. So she went back to what was familiar. This meant San Francisco, the abusive boyfriend and drugs.
Eventually, she ran to northern California, where she was homeless. She lived in her car, worked odd jobs and was involved in the drug world.
“In the circle of friends I had, I never knew anybody by their real name,” MacGibbon said. “Everyone had an alias or some underworld code name. Everyone but me—I was too high or too lazy to come up with anything but Marti.”
However, it was during this time, MacGibbon met the man who would be her husband. The beauty of life is so astounding, she said.
“At my very worst point, I met the love of my life,” MacGibbon said.
It was her husband who began to lead her out of drugs. His motivation to leave the drug world, and eventual success before MacGibbon’s, eventually drove her to a constant sadness that made her realize something needed to change.
While in recovery, MacGibbon used cognitive behavioral therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy. She said she would recommend both methods to anyone in recovery.
MacGibbon also started celebrating everything and expressing gratitude for everything. Now, whenever MacGibbon is stressed about something, she remembers her “Big Three.”
“I have three things I’m always grateful for,” MacGibbon said. “I’m alive, I’m not locked up and I’m not strung out.”
MacGibbon now is an award-winning author and inspirational speaker. She has spoken at the White House and is both a certified addiction treatment professional and relapse-prevention specialist.
Kurt Green, a junior architecture major and a member of Ball State’s IJM, said he thought MacGibbon’s presentation was full of new and interesting information.
“MacGibbon was insightful about what recovery looks like,” Green said. “She was serious and passionate about what she does, but also captivating with her sense of humor. It was refreshing.”
MacGibbon closed with a story about a white tree in her backyard, which was full of green trees. She and her husband had lived there for years, but had never noticed the tree. She learned from a passing biker it was an albino redwood. Not only is the tree extremely rare—one in 10 million—Native Americans saw it as a sign of spiritual cleansing. It was miraculous, and they didn’t even know it was there before, MacGibbon said.
“That’s what I want to leave you with tonight,” MacGibbon said. “Look for those things in your life that are rare, beautiful, precious and miraculous.”
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