Sold three times and branded with the names of her captors, this sex trade survivor is working to help other victims
FORT COLLINS — Rebecca Bender was sold three times over the span of six years, and branded and tattooed with the names of her captors, but did not think of herself as a commodity in the world’s $150 billion sex trade.
“I just thought I was a domestic violence victim forced into prostitution,” Bender, 36, said Thursday during Colorado State University’s first human trafficking symposium.
Only later did she understand that she was part of a much larger sex trafficking business that probably takes in 20 million girls and women, some of whom are auctioned to the highest bidder.
“When you are beaten so much and then your trafficker says he doesn’t want to waste his time hitting you and he will let his friends do the beating for him, it messes with your brain,” Bender added. “I was a smart girl. But when you live like that everyday, and you are denied food and water, you really don’t think very clearly.”
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Rebecca Bender is a human trafficking survivor, book author and consultant for the FBI and Homeland Security. She spoke at the Human Trafficking Symposium at CSU on Thursday Feb. 22.(Photo by Andy Cross,The Denver Post)
Rebecca Bender is a human trafficking survivor, book author and consultant for the FBI and Homeland Security. She spoke at the Human Trafficking Symposium at CSU on Thursday Feb. 22.(Photo by Andy Cross,The Denver Post)