metro
Human Trafficking
Former victim explains the horror
and why Michigan is a hot spot.
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16 October 2 • 2014
Marilyn Nathanson, co-chair; Susan Gertner, executive director, NCJW/
Greater Detroit; Susan Marwil, president, NCJW/Greater Detroit; Theresa
Flores; Joan Kreiger, co-chair; Sharon Leider and Maxine Sherman
Contributing Writer
A
t 15, Theresa Flores looked
like the typical all-American
teenager — a pretty blue-
eyed blonde who lived with her par-
ents and three younger brothers in
Birmingham, where the family had
recently moved.
But Theresa's life as a high school
student was anything but typical. She
unwittingly fell prey to a local ring of
human traffickers, who forced her into
sexual slavery with hundreds of men
procured by her captors.
Now an author and ardent advo-
cate for the prevention of human
trafficking, Flores spoke to more
than 200 people who gathered at the
Birmingham Temple on Sept. 16 for
an event co-sponsored by National
Council of Jewish Women, Greater
Detroit Section and the Greater Detroit
Chapter of Hadassah.
According to Flores, human traf-
ficking is the second leading and
fastest-growing crime in the world,
an industry that generates a stagger-
ing $32 billion a year. This form of
modern-day slavery is not confined to
Third World countries; it has become
epidemic in the United States, includ-
ing Midwestern states such as Ohio
and Michigan.
Human trafficking, according to
federal law, is the recruitment, harbor-
ing and transporting of a person for
commercial sex (or labor) using force,
fraud or coercion. Flores cited FBI
records showing more than 100,000
teens are currently being trafficked
in the United States, and these are
only the cases under investigation;
the actual number of victims is likely
much higher.
Horror Begins
Flores' nightmare began when a fellow
Groves High School student offered
her a ride home. Flattered by the atten-
tion of a good-looking boy, she accept-
ed, ignoring her suspicions when the
boy said he had to stop at his house to
get something before taking her home.
After innocently drinking a Pepsi,
she found herself back home with no
memory of the previous few hours.
The next day, she learned she had been
drugged and raped by the boy and
some of his friends. They had taken
photos, which they threatened to dis-
tribute to her family and friends unless
she complied with their demands. She
became a sexual slave, sneaking out
of her home at midnight whenever
she was summoned by the boy who
had offered her the ride home. He
would transport her to various homes
throughout Oakland County, where
she was forced to have sex with dozens
of men.
Her ordeal went on for 18 months,
during which time she missed school
frequently, did poorly in her classes
and became increasingly anxious and
jumpy.
In retrospect, Flores said her big-
gest mistake was not confiding in her
mother, but she kept quiet because she
was terrified of the repercussions. Her
tormentors frequently threatened to
kill her parents and brothers if she told
anyone what was happening; they left
dead animals in her mailbox to show
her they were serious.
"I had no idea what to do:' she said.
"I didn't know how to get out of it."
It took Flores almost 20 years to
come to terms with her terrifying
experience, but she is now a staunch
advocate committed to saving other
victims from enduring the same hor-