Continuing its series of campus events, Slavery Still Exists — an ASUO group dedicated to raising awareness about human trafficking — held a candlelight vigil in honor of victims of such crimes around the world Monday night.
Students and community members gathered just before dusk to listen to the story of 43-year-old Sherry Dooley, a Eugene native who was forced into prostitution at the age of 16 when she was seduced with promises of money and compliments from her soon-to-be pimp.
“When people think of human trafficking, they think of it happening to people far away,” Dooley said. “But I grew up only five blocks from here, and this happened to me.”
Dooley shared her experiences as a prostitute in Portland, from the low self-esteem that caused her to become brainwashed by manipulative men to a particularly gut-wrenching tale of being abducted and raped by a would-be customer. Dooley escaped to a gas station and tried to file a report with police but was unable to because the officers insisted that a prostitute could not be raped. She said this attitude is what keeps so many victims of human trafficking trapped in their situations.
“That is why just talking about this issue is so important,” Dooley said. “By recognizing the problem, we can raise awareness about it and how close to home it is.”
Dooley also revealed that Portland is the second largest human trafficking destination in the U.S. behind Seattle, which were two of the main cities she worked in during her time as a victim of prostitution.
Dooley was eventually able to leave the sex trade, and she became a painter.
Huston Hedinger, a former University student who founded Slavery Still Exists in 2007, came from Portland to share his thoughts on the subject of human trafficking. He described going to countries such as Cambodia, where sex trafficking, particularly of children, is a major and highly visible business. Hedinger said the only difference between human trafficking in other countries and prostitution in the U.S. is that the selling of human beings abroad is more overt. He suggested that just because it is more hidden in the U.S. does not mean it is any more permissible.
“I challenge you guys to ask yourselves,” Hedinger told the crowd, “What does it mean to you to live in a world where human trafficking goes on? Do you have the courage to do something to change that?”
As dark settled on the gathering, participants took turns lighting one another’s candles as a symbol of illuminating this bleak issue by sharing knowledge of it with others.
Another survivor of human trafficking, Jeri Sundvall-Williams, was unable to make a personal appearance but instead wrote a letter, which was read to the crowd by a member of Slavery Still Exists. In it she claimed that she is not a victim of human trafficking but a survivor because she has recovered and now leads a healthy and fruitful life.
“I have no regrets about my experience because it made me the person I am today,” she wrote. “But I would never wish that life on anybody.”
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