The story of a survivor who was a victim of human trafficking

Human trafficking: A Survivor's Story

FOX 2 sat down with a survivor who was trafficked starting at 4-years-old. Samantha Mansfield says she would be taken to locations, and it happened weekly from age 4 to 8.  Her mom’s boyfriend was her trafficker.

(FOX 2) - January is National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month, an epidemic that creeps into every corner of society.

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Details in this story are disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

FOX 2 sat down with a survivor who was trafficked starting at 4-years-old. Samantha Mansfield says she would be taken to locations, and it happened weekly from age 4 to 8. 

Her mom’s boyfriend was her trafficker.

"My mom, unfortunately, at the time, was an alcoholic, and it was very easy to drug her. You made drinks for her and then, late at night," she said. "He would take me to another location. It was his father’s house, and there would be multiple men there. I thought I was supposed to serve men and women in a certain way and that was my worth."

This led to a life of drugs and being trafficked twice more by men she trusted. Then it all came crashing down.

"I tried to kill myself. I couldn’t handle it anymore," she said. "I couldn’t handle having to do all the home dates with men and women. It was too much for me, so I attempted suicide. I overdosed on heroin and Xanax, and I was found naked on the side of the road."

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Six years sober and now employed at Sanctum House in Oakland County, a safe house for trafficked women affiliated with Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, or DWIHN.

Through their doors, Samantha hears their horror stories.

"They’ve been housed in cages. They’ve been held and chained in basements. They’ve been tortured. It has been as bad as you can possibly imagine. It is, it is," she said.

Samantha says she wants people to get educated on how to spot the victims this Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month.

"I still have a lot of night terrors. I don’t think those ever go away, but you know they get better with time and with therapy," she said.

You noticed that we blurred Samantha is still fearful her traffickers are out there and might find her again.