In her 24 years, Zoey has accomplished more than many people do in a lifetime. The Filipino woman is a college graduate, entrepreneur and freelance contractor with clients in the United States.

Those achievements would be impressive by any standard, but her origin story makes them even more extraordinary. Just five years prior, Zoey was a high school student desperate to find a way to pay for college. Her desire for a bright future nearly dragged her to the abyss of sex trafficking.

Those words are an unexpected introduction to what was almost a tragic story. Time has given Zoey the space to talk about her experience more objectively than she could have before. But even in hindsight, she remembers the desperation to fund her education.

“I needed money because we didn’t really have that, and my aunt couldn’t afford to pay for my college tuition,” she recalled.

Zoey’s aunt loved her niece and worked hard to provide for her, but it just wasn’t enough to cover university.

Zoey’s aspirations for the future were slipping from her fingers with every day that passed. She didn’t want to put any pressure on her aunt, but she was desperate to find a way to cover the price of admission.

When she opened up to friends about her plight, they offered a solution: “They (told me about) this ‘alternative’ way of earning.”

Her friends put her in touch with a man they called a “handler.” His job was to connect the girls with customers who wanted to “party” with the understanding that the festivities would culminate in sex. He would act as a go-between, finding clients and taking a percentage of what they paid for his connection.

In other words, he was a sex trafficker.

Conflicted

Like many traffickers, the “handler” was an expert manipulator. “He knew how to get your favour or trust; he was very charismatic,” Zoey remembered. “I eventually said ‘yes’ because I needed the money to save up.”

It wasn’t long before the trafficker lined up work for Zoey and her friends. Several men had tasked him to provide girls for a pool party with the intention of selling them for sex.

The trafficker took Zoey and her friends to meet with the clients as a means of exhibiting his products. What none of them realised was that these clients were not actually sex buyers. “That’s where I first met with the Destiny Rescue agents, (though) I didn’t know it then,” recalled Zoey.

The undercover agents played their part well, making arrangements for the party. Later, when Zoey arrived at the party, she remembered not knowing how to act: “I just sat there quietly, waiting for instructions.”

Despite her friends’ assurances, she was nervous. The thought of being at the mercy of strange men frightened her. “I didn’t know what they could be capable of, if they were aggressive or things like that,” Zoey recalled. “I think that’s what made me scared.”
A narrow escape
As people began to arrive for the party, one of the victims made a startling observation that almost blew the entire operation. “My friend’s friend suddenly mentioned, ‘I think I know that other guy. I think I’ve seen him before. I think he’s an NBI agent!’” Zoey recalled.

Upon recognising the undercover agent, the three girls quickly made a plan. Worried they’d be arrested, they tried to slip away from the party residence unnoticed.

We need to take a moment here to recognise why these victims were afraid of a rescuer. Traffickers commonly control their victims in similar situations by convincing them of two things: First, that the “handler” is providing a necessary service (like the ability to pay college tuition). Second, that the victims will be jailed and prosecuted if the police find out. This lie simultaneously keeps the traffickers safe from police while fostering fear-based loyalty from their victims.

Zoey and her friends tried to sneak away, but one of the trafficker’s accomplices found them and forced them to return to the party.

Moments later, the raid began. Police swarmed the property, quickly taking the traffickers into custody. Zoey recalled how panic spread among the survivors: “All of us ran and scattered not only because we realised what was happening but because there were guns!”

It took time for her to realise that she wasn’t under arrest. She wasn’t going to jail; her record wouldn’t be marred by a criminal conviction. Instead, she was being given a new chance at life.

When asked how that realisation affected her, Zoey responded, “Relief. Really, that’s it. Overwhelming relief. And then I unfriended my friend!”

The two traffickers were arrested on sight, and 11 victims, including three minors, were rescued. In Zoey’s case, the timing couldn’t have been better. She experienced something unique among most of the survivors we rescue in the Philippines: she was rescued before she was physically abused.

That’s a testament to Destiny Rescue’s relationship with local law enforcement and our agents’ relentless pursuit of rescue. Destiny Rescue is an organisation whose rescue work in Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines Child Rescue helps fund.

A new direction

As part of her post-rescue care, Destiny Rescue helped cover Zoey’s school fees for her final year of high school. Zoey never abandoned her dreams of going to college. Instead of mourning a false opportunity, the industrious girl began her own small business, selling items like clothes and shoes. When Destiny Rescue’s team saw her indomitable drive to press forward, they decided to help.

Taking a step beyond their normal post-rescue services, Destiny Rescue’s team offered to help with Zoey’s college tuition. Thrilled at the opportunity, she gladly accepted.

Zoey didn’t take the help for granted. In a move that demonstrated wisdom beyond her years, she picked a major that complimented where she was in life. “When (Destiny Rescue) told me that they’d help me get into college, I looked around at the courses and chose Business Administration,” Zoey explained. “I thought that course was aligned with what I was already doing day to day.”

Zoey was a focused, driven student who never took her beneficence for granted: “That’s why I pursued hard with my online selling to make sure finances would not be a hindrance to my studies.”

Even when the global pandemic threatened to derail her classes, she pressed on. “Thankfully, I still didn’t stop or drop out,” Zoey recalled. “I kept on trudging forward.”

Free

Her effort paid off. Zoey successfully graduated college a few years later, landing a job immediately after graduation. She was ecstatic: “When I graduated, it felt so good to walk outside. (laughs) My aunt was so proud that she cried, actually.”

Currently, Zoey lives in her own apartment and works as a virtual assistant. “I have two U.S. clients,” the proud young woman said. “One full-time, one part-time. I handle their payroll department.”

Success hasn’t caused her to forget her aunt, either: “Ever since I graduated and got a job I’ve been… providing for her because she really was the one who took on the role of a parent to me,” Zoey said.

She sees her brush with trafficking as a turning point in her life, one that she doesn’t regret.

Zoey took time during her interview to thank the whole Destiny Rescue team, including donors.

Zoey’s future truly does look radiant. She has proven herself to be a self-motivating, ambitious, generous soul with immense potential. Exploitation smothers bright children like a flame smothered beneath soil.

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