Eva's Survivor Story
Names and places have been changed to protect the victim.
Eva moved from Russia to the United States in the hopes of having a better life. However, finding a job in a new country was much harder than she had anticipated. She was scouring newspapers for any open position when she noticed an advertisement for a job as an “escort.”
The listing claimed that an escort could make $20,000 in one month.
Alone in a foreign country and quickly running out of money, Eva called the number in the advertisement and set up a meeting with the man running the “agency.”
In a matter of weeks, she was being trafficked.
“I didn’t want to do what they asked of me, but I felt I had no other option,” Eva says. “Eventually, I started using drugs to numb my feelings.”
She began as a “house girl” (house slave or servant), and it escalated into her being sold for sex.
“I didn’t want to do what they asked of me, but I felt I had no other option,” Eva says. “Eventually, I started using drugs to numb my feelings.”
Eva was in jail when her Public Defender gave her the name of a woman who worked with The WellHouse. They set up a meeting at the courthouse and the woman told Eva about the residential and counseling programs The WellHouse provides to victims of sex trafficking.
As soon as she was released from jail, Eva was transported to The WellHouse campus and began her journey to recovery.
Today, Eva is healing from her trauma and building healthy relationships with her other WellHouse residents. She says, “I’ve learned to trust women and myself. I’m learning how to set boundaries for myself.”
Eva is also working on speaking fluent English and getting her GED online. She hopes that one day her family will be able come to the United States from Russia so that they can be reunited.