MADISON — Lisa never thought sex trafficking could happen to her family. It seemed like something that only happened in big cities, to people from “broken” homes, who didn’t go to church, and weren’t paying attention to their kids.
But now she knows that none of those things are true. Because sex trafficking happened to her caring, involved, churchgoing family. And it took away her son.
One family’s story
Jeffrey’s path to trafficking began in the tumultuous years around middle school.
It was a rough period in his life — he felt bullied and alone and started to hang out with a new group of friends.
Unbeknownst to his mom, Jeffrey started to abuse the medications he found in a friend’s medicine cabinet.
“He got caught at school,” remembered Lisa. “I was absolutely dumbfounded. I thought we were this regular, normal family. I had no clue my child was using drugs.”
Although Jeffrey spent time in the hospital, rehab, and, eventually, juvenile detention, nothing seemed to help.
His drug use crossed the line to harder drugs and he began to run away. Once, after he’d disappeared for weeks, Jeffrey called and asked Lisa to come and get him.
“He had little understanding of how much time he’d been gone and there was evidence that he’d been beaten,” she said.
Lisa tried to get her son help; he had a social worker and a therapist.
But what she didn’t know was that during the time he’d been gone, he’d been trafficked — and his traffickers were still in touch.
They called him and sent him letters and were effectively brainwashing him, Lisa now knows. “At that point, Jeffrey no longer had any clue as to what was right and what was wrong,” she said. “We didn’t understand all that he had been through, so we didn’t know how to help.”
Eventually, Jeffrey disappeared again. And this time instead of a desperate call for help, there was a sheriff at the door telling Lisa that Jeffrey had accidentally overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl.
It wasn’t until Jeffrey had been gone for months that she learned he had been trafficked.
What you should know
It’s been nearly a decade since Jeffrey died. Nearly a decade since he overdosed on drugs — drugs Lisa believes were provided to him by the men who trafficked him.
Since then, she’s been fueled by a passion to share Jeffrey’s story, a desire to stop another family from experiencing the suffering her family has.
Here are four things she’d like people to know.
The family medicine cabinet can be a dangerous place.
Drug use increases vulnerability to trafficking and the home medicine cabinet is an all-too-easy place to start. “Know and monitor what’s in your medicine cabinet,” urged Lisa.
Social media plays a big role in trafficking.
Initial contact with a trafficker often starts online — apps and gaming chat rooms are common points of contact.
Lisa urges parents to talk honestly with their kids about the danger of online channels and to keep a close eye on how their kids are using their phones, tablets, and computers. “Until your children are adults, you should be able to look at their devices any time,” she stressed.
Traffickers often use friendships to lure their victims.
All too often people are trafficked by someone they’ve grown to know and trust.
From a young age, teach children to respect their bodies and to have boundaries around them.
Boys and men are trafficked too.
There’s a tendency to think sex trafficking happens only to girls and women, but that’s far from the truth.
A national study from 2016, found that more than a third of young people involved in the U.S. sex trade were boys and young men.
Presentation in Madison
Lisa will share more of her story at “In Our Own Backyard: Sex Trafficking in Madison,” a presentation being held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 401 S. Owen Dr., Madison, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m.
Due to the mature subject matter, the suggested attendance is high school age and above.
Other speakers include Detective Jeff Wissink of the Fitchburg Police Department; Mckenzie, a survivor and advocate from Project Respect; and Marlene Sorenson from Zeteo Community.
Organizations that provide services and advocacy for trafficking victims will also be on hand and Queen of Peace will be collecting full-size personal care items, socks, mittens, and hats for Project Respect.
If you have questions, email [email protected]