In the midst of the current COVID-19 crisis, so many of us are looking for new and innovative ways to serve clients and learn best practices for meeting needs in changing and challenging times. The launch of our new online course has come at a time when people are relying on technology for both learning and connecting—two of the central themes of our six-week Advanced Residential Institute on Serving Trafficked and High-Risk Adolescent Girls.

At My Life My Choice, we, like I’m sure all of you, have been wrestling with our response to the current public health crisis caused by Covid-19 (Coronavirus). We are working to balance the safety of our staff, the needs of our mentees, and the general public good.

It’s the end of January which means Human Trafficking Awareness Month is coming to an end. Over the past 30 days or so there was an uptick in events, discussions, and informative memes relating to human trafficking. As the leader of an anti-trafficking organization, I should relish this time. It should feel like an incredible opportunity. Instead, after ten Januaries dedicated to awareness, it feels like a cop out.

Last year, 38% of the youth served in our Mentoring Program identified as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. LGBTQIA+ are at increased risk for CSEC - not because of their identities, but because of the many intersecting and overlapping obstacles, including increased risk of being rejected by their families, leaving then without shelter, basic resources, and/or crucial social support.

As a prosecutor working on cases of commercial sexual exploitation, I saw the darkest parts of humanity on a daily basis, but My Life My Choice presented a bright spot in that world—helping to restore those traumatized by this horrific industry and empowering survivors.

“Each one, teach one.” That’s what I say when people ask me why I work at My Life My Choice. It means to share what you learn so that we can all rise up together.

At My Life My Choice, we believe policy change is urgently needed in order to protect the most vulnerable people impacted by the commercial sex industry. However, there is a lot of confusion about the different options…

Do you see meDon’t judge me by my hairstyle, the clothes I wear, or the colors I seeIf I identify as he, they, sheDon’t judge the color of my skin, my past I was inI have a degree in faith, change, creativity, I have a degree in “ME”

As I watched the dollar bills float in the air and eventually land on my skin, I felt what I thought was validation. The temporary feeling of finally being good enough…

“What was so painful about the Jeffrey Epstein case is that it wasn’t shocking,” Lisa Goldblatt Grace, co-founder of My Life My Choice, told me. “A wealthy white man leveraged his money, privilege and power to sexually abuse, to rape, young girls.”

This past June, My Life My Choice staff marched in the Boston Pride parade for the first time. We marched to represent and support LGBTQ youth who are survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. My Life My Choice serves the most vulnerable in our community, including LGBTQ youth—young people who have endured extremely unfair life circumstances, simply because of who they are.

The latest news is a strong indicator and proof positive of our purpose. It's about time that investigations are leading to indictments intended to be carried out.

My Life My Choice serves as a model for communities across the country set on changing not only lives, but the structural inequities that give rise to trafficking and sexual exploitation.

You don’t have to take a person’s passport to enslave her. It is not necessary to lure them from China and hide them in massage parlors they can’t leave. It is possible to trap them in plain sight, where most of us don’t see their plight or powerlessness.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft was recently charged with allegedly buying sex. But we know that the real story here is not about one man. The real story is all of you who think it is acceptable to buy someone. Here is what we want you, the buyers, to know.

The heart-wrenching details emerging about the lives of exploited women may have shocked members of Patriots Nation, but, sadly, were not shocking to us at My Life My Choice who deal with the realities of commercial sexual exploitation every day.

While the partial government shutdown has ended, it’s effects may be long-lasting for the most vulnerable in our communities. The safety net so many relied upon was stripped away creating a feeling of desperation and re-traumatization of going without.

By the age of 16, Cyntoia Brown had experienced multiple rapes, physical and mental abuse, run away from home, and was being sold for sex. On August 6, 2004, her life would change forever when she was sold to a 43-year-old perpetrator named Johnny Allen.

The recent documentary, “Survivor R. Kelly”, tells the stories of the women and children who were abused and psychologically imprisoned by R. Kelly. He used his fame to approach them in schools and malls and make them feel special and cared for.

At My Life My Choice, we are thankful to be able to support our youth through every up and down life throws their way. We are sustained by celebrating each and every small, yet so significant, glimpse of hope and positive change in our mentees’ lives.