Until They’re Free: Fighting for the victims of human trafficking
I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change…I’m changing the things I cannot accept. — Angela Davis
As the faces of the #MeToo movement have emerged in the pages of our newspapers and the screens of our televisions and computers, some have proven more shocking than others - and perhaps none more so than Allison Mack, the onetime star of the TV series Smallville accused of unspeakable abuses against the female inductees of a thus called sex cult.
Keith Raniere, head of the group Nxvium, has been arrested in Mexico on charges of sex trafficking. Mack, for her part, is being implicated in the branding, threatening, starving, blackmailing and corporal punishment of young women who were allegedly morphed into sex slaves for Raniere’s pleasure. She was arrested last week on charges of sex trafficking. She has plead not guilty.
Although never officially affiliated with Legendary Women, Allison Mack and her strong, spunky character of Chloe Sullivan on Smallville had drawn so many admirers from our staff and all sectors of the feminist community. I have seen and felt the pain of my friends, my colleagues, women who have become sisters to me.
I have come to know the stories of some of the young women allegedly entrapped by Nxvium, including India Oxenberg; the daughter of amazing actress Catherine Oxenberg, a regal woman of royal blood who says that she is living in hell as her talented, beautiful daughter is drawn into a cesspool and an emotional dungeon.
By God, am I pissed.
As a longtime feminist activist, I know that the idea of the female lure is not a new one. Abusive street pimps will dispatch their prostitutes to lure young women into their trade. Abusive husbands will employ female friends to find out the whereabouts of their wives in hiding. Prospective rapists will ask their girlfriends to invite desired victims to what is supposed to be an innocent party; a party where the unsuspecting victim is then drugged and assaulted.
The devil wears many faces, some of them smiling and feminine; and as Katie Couric once said, “”There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
We, the activists who protest sexual violence and sex trafficking in all its forms, are ready to bring our own hell.
We will not rest until all of the Indias of this world are freed, and reunited with all the Catherines who await them with heavy hearts and baited breath.
We will not rest until all of their abductors and assailants are rotting in jail.
We will not rest until people of all genders can live free from danger and dominance, violence and threat.
We are relentless and merciless in our quest; so if you count yourself among those who exploit and victimize women, know that we will not rest until you are brought to justice. You have traded on the kindness and vulnerability of those younger and more trusting; our only kindness as activists is reserved for these victims. I don’t give a damn why you hurt these women, I only want to see you stripped of your freedom and dignity as you spend the remainder of what I hope will be a miserable existence reflecting on what you did to them.
For the victims, in this case and others: We love you and are fighting for you. You are not alone, and we will not rest until you are home and safe. Please, if at all possible, reach out to your families; or contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at:
1–888–373–7888
TTY: 711
Text: 233733.
For more information about how you can help victims of human trafficking, please visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org/mission.
We don’t need a TV superhero to give us power - each of us holds the power within ourselves to give a voice to the voiceless. Together, we will win this war.
