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A.L., a survivor of sex trafficking, is 31 years old. She lives in another state. ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý been more than four years since police rescued her from a suburban Atlanta hotel and Earnest Reed.

For more than two years, she was sold for sex and beaten regularly by Reed. A.L. said Reed lured her in with a romantic relationship. Through violence and manipulation, he turned her into one of his victims.

The men who purchased A.L. did so online. They saw her advertised on sites such as MegaPersonals and SkipTheGames.

Some of the other girls working for Reed were underage, she said.

A.L. could make Reed between $1,500 and $2,000 a day, but he kept all the money. When she wasn’t earning enough, he’d beat her or deprive her of food, she said.

While it was the promise of love that first attracted her to Reed, it was fear that kept her quiet.

“He almost killed me,� she said.

In October 2019, A.L. was rescued by police from a Days Inn after she dialed 911. In her case, before her rescue, the Days Inn had already canceled the last day of her and ReedÐÔÊӽ紫ý stay “due to concerns there was prostitution going on,â€� police said at the time.

On the day of her rescue, A.L. had a black eye and fractured ribs.

In the parking lot, she was being treated by first responders when a car pulled up behind the ambulance. She thought it was Reed.

“I lost it,� she said. “… I almost jumped off the ambulance, I was ready to run.�

Police said that once A.L. arrived at the hospital, she “was so terrified that she would not exit the ambulance unless it was in the presence of a police officer.�

There are a number of initiatives and organizations working to help victims escape sex trafficking situations and rebuild their lives, in Gwinnett County and around the state. They include law enforcement going after the traffickers, lawmakers changing policy and nonprofits shepherding victims to new beginnings. But it is no simple task.

Escaping and surviving

One arm of the anti-trafficking space sees hundreds of cases annually. At GeorgiaÐÔÊӽ紫ý 47 ChildrenÐÔÊӽ紫ý Advocacy Centers, minors believed to have been abused or sex trafficked are assessed. In 2023, the various centers across the state worked with around 400 confirmed victims of child sex trafficking.

Different counties and regions have their own advocacy centers. The Sexual Assault Center of Northwest Georgia and Harbor House, among others, provide services to victims of sexual assault.

While a specially trained staffer interviews a child, police and caseworkers from the state Division of Family & Children Services observe, to avoid duplicating investigative efforts.

“Sometimes … organizations and entities can silo, and that is not in the best interest of the child,â€� said Naeshia McDowell, who oversees CACGAÐÔÊӽ紫ý child sex trafficking response team.

In this public-private partnership, the centers are referred to cases by local, state and federal law enforcement, as well as DFCS.

In addition to conducting or facilitating forensic interviews, ChildrenÐÔÊӽ紫ý Advocacy Centers performs assessments and medical exams, and provides therapy for children. When cases are prosecuted, staff will testify in the courtroom. ChildrenÐÔÊӽ紫ý Advocacy Centers of Georgia is just one entity among many, public and private, working to prevent and respond to sex trafficking across the state.

State initiatives

Sex trafficking has received more attention in recent years in Georgia, in part due to first lady Marty Kemp, whoÐÔÊӽ紫ý made combating it her main initiative.

For Kemp, her work was spurred by attending a 2019 conference at Atlantic Station, shortly before her husband Brian Kemp was sworn in as Georgia governor. Organizers had lined up “72 school buses, which represented 3,600 kids in Georgia that are taken into trafficking a year,� Kemp told the Daily Post.

“We’ve been campaigning for two and a half years (and) we’ve not heard anything about this (sex trafficking),� she recalled. “… I figured if God laid that on my heart, I needed to do something about it, giving it more of a voice.�

In 2019, she formed the Georgians for Refuge, Action, Compassion, and Education (GRACE) Commission to bring experts together, discuss needs and work on legislative solutions.

Since then, the General Assembly has passed eight laws aimed at curbing human trafficking.

One of the bills sheÐÔÊӽ紫ý proudest of enables survivors to change their names without having to advertise it.

“They’re running from their traffickers, they don’t want to be found,� Kemp said.

Lawmakers have also passed legislation to:

♦ Increase penalties for criminal offenses;

♦ Add minimum and maximum fines for certain businesses that are required to post human trafficking notices and fail to do so (the notices advertise a hotline for victims to report abuse and seek help);

♦ Ban truckers who are convicted of trafficking from holding a commercial driverÐÔÊӽ紫ý license, for life;

♦ Enable survivors to seek civil damages from those who knowingly aided their trafficking;

♦ Ban minors from being charged with prostitution;

♦ Enable survivors to get their criminal record restricted or vacated if the crime stemmed from their exploitation.

“That has been probably one of the prouder moments,� Marty Kemp said of the record restriction law. “Because I’ve had people say, ‘Thank you for giving me an opportunity, where these charges were pulling me down.’ And also, it wasn’t their fault.

“I mean, I know they got caught up in a bad situation. But their traffickers were making them steal and do drugs and things like that.�

She believes the stateÐÔÊӽ紫ý various initiatives have had an impact.

“ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý bad, but I know that we’ve made a dent in it, because I hear people around the state say thank you,â€� she said.

In this yearÐÔÊӽ紫ý legislative session, lawmakers in both chambers approved Senate Bill 370, which will enable law enforcement to inspect massage parlors, without warning, to ensure they’ve posted trafficking notices. Who is the target audience and what is the purpose of the notice?

Earlier this year, the state cut the ribbon on “GraceÐÔÊӽ紫ý Place,â€� a state-run, 24-bed receiving center in Lawrenceville where sex trafficking victims can get inpatient treatment for two to three months and access wraparound services.

“I’d like more,â€� Kemp said of the receiving center. “... That takes money, I get all that. But we’re going to find creative ways to figure out how to do that. ThereÐÔÊӽ紫ý a lot of nonprofits in the state of Georgia that are really helping.â€�

The first lady said itÐÔÊӽ紫ý important the state not just go after traffickers, but also support survivors.

“Because once they get out of the life … they don’t have anywhere to go. They don’t have clothing, they don’t have housing, they don’t have anything,� Kemp said.

Enforcement efforts

Another state initiative is the Georgia Bureau of InvestigationÐÔÊӽ紫ý Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, whose seven agents have made 73 arrests since the unitÐÔÊӽ紫ý creation in 2020.

State Attorney General Chris Carr, meanwhile, created a Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit in 2019. He tapped Hannah Palmquist to lead it. The 12-person unit includes prosecutors, investigators and analysts. Last year, it secured 29 convictions.

Palmquist said the unit has a 100% conviction rate. Almost none of their cases make it to trial, as defendants plead guilty.

“We are extremely thorough in our investigations — for ethics reasons, for all of those reasons — but also because we want to build such a rock solid case that the victims never have to testify,� Palmquist said.

PalmquistÐÔÊӽ紫ý unit is trying to go after more buyers — traditionally, law enforcement has focused on pimps — and to be more proactive.

“When we know that thereÐÔÊӽ紫ý a missing child, and thereÐÔÊӽ紫ý indicators that they may be being trafficked, instead of waiting for the child to be found and an arrest, we’re going to go look for that child,â€� Palmquist said.

Escaping

Getting out of a trafficking situation isn’t easy.

For some women, thereÐÔÊӽ紫ý a catalytic event — a pregnancy, an arrest, a beating, an overdose. Other times, the day simply comes where they decide they have to get out.

A.L. escaped her exploitation in 2019, when she dialed 911 from a Days Inn off Interstate 75. She did so in a rare moment when her trafficker left her alone in a room.

“You got to say, I’m tired of this,â€� A.L. said. “I can’t do this no more, itÐÔÊӽ紫ý going to kill me. ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý going to kill me if I do not make a change. If I do not stand up for myself. … I don’t need to be treated like this. I’m more, I am a woman.â€�

After her escape she was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for injuries, including a black eye and cracked ribs. She was released to a short-term shelter for about a week and a half.

Then came a six-month stay at Wellspring Living, which assists trafficking survivors, where she learned life skills. She later changed her name.

Reed had moved A.L. from motel to motel and from state to state. She was only in metro Atlanta a few months before being rescued.

Reed was apprehended by ÐÔÊӽ紫ý marshals in Tennessee about two months after A.L.ÐÔÊӽ紫ý rescue.

“He exploited her through his repeated acts of violence and profited from her suffering,� said Lindsay Raynor, who prosecuted Reed. “She was one of the brave ones who came forward to help us prosecute the case.�

Reed pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years, 13 to be served in prison. He now sits in Calhoun State Prison.

Victims’ biggest challenge in leaving is the fear of the unknown, said Jeff Shaw, founder of Atlanta-based anti-trafficking nonprofit Out of Darkness.

“I think a lot of times we think the obstacle is, well, how do you get them away from the trafficker? … But really, the hardest obstacle to overcome is the psychological bondage,� Shaw said.

ShawÐÔÊӽ紫ý Out of Darkness rescues women who call their 24/7 hotline. ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý about responding to people who request it, not kicking down doors.

“You can be drunk, you can be high, you can be pregnant, you can have outstanding criminal charges. … If you’ve got a background where you’ve been forced into sexual exploitation, come get safe. And then once you’re safe, we’ll start to unpack all the rest of that stuff,� he said.

They get calls from women in the hospital, who’ve fled to a gas station or restaurant near the location of their trafficking, or directly from motel rooms.

Out of Darkness, which has a staff of about 20 in Atlanta, also does outreach, including to women in jail.

The organization has a home which can have up to 10 residents at a time. Women stay, on average, for three weeks.

The goal is to provide a “low-barrier bridge.� Women fresh out of exploitation are in survival mode, he said. Before anything else happens, they need food, shelter, medical care and the like.

“We’re not trying to help you resolve your childhood trauma. … ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý very much like that base level of physical safety, emotional safety.â€�

What survivors need

A 2023 survey of 457 human trafficking survivors, conducted by Polaris Project, asked about survivors’ top needs. Chief among them were:

♦ 75% — Mental health care

♦ 73% — Finding people they can trust

♦ 70% — A safe place to stay

♦ 69% — A stable, living-wage job

The survey also found:

♦ 73% had incomes less than $50,000, compared to 42% of Americans

♦ 57% lacked stable work with benefits

♦ 62% had kids

♦ 35% had the child with the person who exploited them

♦ 62% had been cited, arrested or detained by police

♦ For 81% of them, their arrest occurred while they were being trafficked

♦ Survivors were twice as likely to have overdrafted a bank account, had a check bounce or had a transaction declined for insufficient funds.

♦ 10% had no bank account

♦ Survivors take out payday loans at a rate 11 times the national average.

When escaping, survivors were also asked by Polaris about the best tool they had to leave that life.

Chief among them was their own resourcefulness, at 54%.

What to do

First lady Marty Kemp and others said that average citizens can help by donating time and resources to nonprofits, and by taking the GRACE CommissionÐÔÊӽ紫ý online training.

Experts said people should follow the old adage, “if you see something, say something.�

“What we’re looking for is control by the trafficker over their victim,â€� prosecutor Palmquist said. “ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý usually not going to be overt … itÐÔÊӽ紫ý going to be more subtle.â€�

Cheryl Richardson, an attorney who works with survivors who have won legal settlements, said people should also keep an eye on their own children.

“If you’re not telling them that they’re loved, that they’re cared for, somebody else will. And that person isn’t necessarily going to be a good person,� Richardson said.

ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý easy for people to feel powerless, said McDowell with ChildrenÐÔÊӽ紫ý Advocacy Centers of Georgia. But anything someone does to assist a child is helpful.

Whether itÐÔÊӽ紫ý paying off school lunch debt, volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, mentoring a child, or supporting your local childrenÐÔÊӽ紫ý advocacy center, “each thing that you do to positively impact the life of a child is one less thing that a trafficker can come in and try to exploit,â€� she said.

‘In a million years’

A.L. is 31 years old now. She lives out of state.

For anyone being exploited, her message is simple.

“Please, take whatever you have inside of you, every breath, everything thatÐÔÊӽ紫ý within you … call the police,â€� she said. “Please get out of it. Because baby you don’t want to experience none of that. … ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý straight hell on Earth.â€�

She still has the tattoo of her pimpÐÔÊӽ紫ý street name across her chest, and the scars on her leg from where he branded her with a metal prong.

And every once in a while, she still feels pain in her ribs.

Earnest Reed is behind bars, hundreds of miles away. But when A.L. gets out of the car in the grocery store parking lot, she still looks over her shoulder, worried he’ll be there.

She has a son now who will be two years old in May. A.L. lives with his father. They’re both employed — she has a packing and ordering job in the logistics industry. SheÐÔÊӽ紫ý off drugs.

“ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý amazing,â€� she said. “I never ever, ever thought I would have the life that I have right now, because of where I came from. I never thought in a million years I would ever be this happy. … To have somebody finally love me for me. … It does get better, it really does.â€�

A.L. is considering going back to school. She’d like to study criminal justice.

“I think that’d be cool,� she said. “… Get the bad guys off the street.�