Background

May 23, 2018

Shandra Woworuntu’s story is a unique one, but it starts off the same as the rest; she carried hopes and dreams for the future but unfortunately, they eventually took a turn for the worst. She came to the United States in June 2001 with aspirations to further her career in the hotel industry. She was excited because she had just arrived in a new country and was ready for all the new experiences she was going to encounter. She lost her job the previous year in Indonesia when the country was hit with a financial crisis, so she decided it would be best for her to find work overseas in order to support her three-year-old daughter. For that reason, it seemed like a small miracle when she found an online advertisement that publicized a job in the hospitality industry for well-known hotels in the United States.

The warning signs started almost immediately. When she landed at the airport and walked to the arrival hall, she was met by a man holding a sign with her picture on it. He was supposed to drive her to the hotel she would be working at in Chicago, but she arrived at JFK airport in New York. She was with four other women when the man, named Johnny, approached her. He took all of her legal documents and split up her and the women up into two different groups. They were escorted to a car where a driver transported them to an area not far from where they had just landed. The women were told to get out of the vehicle and separate into three different cars.

This occurred twice more where Shandra was asked to get out and be placed into another car until she was in a vehicle where the driver was a bit more threatening considering he was in possession of a weapon. According to Shandra when talking to BBC, she recalls the encounter by saying, “The fourth driver had a gun. He forced us to get in his car and took us to a house in Brooklyn, then tapped on the door, calling ‘Mama-san! New girl!’ By this time I was freaking out, because I knew ‘Mama-san’ meant the madam of a brothel. But by this time, because of the gun, there was no escape.” That was when she understood what was really happening. She had been hoaxed into believing that the job offer was real when in reality she had landed in the hands of dangerous men.

The traffickers told her she owed them $30,000 and the only way she could pay off her debt was through a $100 deposit for every man she “served.” She was taken to numerous brothels and apartments where she was sold as a sex slave to different men every day. She recalls never feeling much emotion, which left her to feel numb and broken; she was afraid of receiving a beating if she expressed her sadness or fear in any way so she decided it would be best for her to remain emotionless.

Despite her emotionless exterior, her mentality had also been destroyed because of the way she was constantly treated. She remembers, “Because I was compliant, I was not beaten by my traffickers – I was threatened, but not hurt by them—but the customers were very violent. I was their property for 45 minutes and I had to do what they said or they hurt me. What I endured was difficult and painful. Physically, I was weak. The constant threat of violence, and the need to stay on high alert was also very exhausting.” Although her pimp never physically attacked her, she still suffered beatings from the men she was sold to. Above all however, she was hurt mentally because of the lack of concern for her well-being.

Fortunately, Shandra Woworuntu became one of the few women who was able to escape but her mental health will forever remain damaged. Despite the pain she will most likely have to endure for the rest of her life, she has made it her mission to help others with their experiences in sex trafficking while also trying to bring awareness to the ways women can be coerced into the illegal trade and exploitation of humans.

Why is this so important to mention despite the fact that Shandra was sold for sex more times than she could count? It is because of the way she was tricked and coerced into the sex trafficking ring. She responded to an ad online that she believed was legitimate and meant to further her professional career. What she got instead was a trap that lead her into a life of exploitation and pain. The power that people have given electronic forms of communication is shown through the experience that Shandra had to live through. No one thinks it can happen to them; women believe they are immune to this “trap” or coercion because they stay away from fishy ads or weird direct messages. However, the reality is that it can happen to anyone because of the mischievous ways pimps connect with women.

Shandra replied to a literal job advertisement; she wasn’t looking for a relationship, she wasn’t posting explicit photos; she was looking for an occupation that could support her and her three-year-old child.

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