Sean wakes up naked, bleeding and missing three teeth.
My memory is hazy, but I do remember feeling like I was floating above the man’s body as I watched him rape her in bed. His pimp enforcers then broke into his room at the luxury W San Francisco hotel.
They rushed him to the hospital.
“I think that guy went through a lot,” said Sean, who asked that his full name not be used for privacy reasons. He added that the man was one of several people he drugged and raped during the seven years he was sex trafficked.
Sean, 44, is decades removed from the horrific exploitation he experienced as a teenager and 20s. But like other survivors of sex trafficking, he continues to struggle with homelessness, addiction, and mental health disorders.
He belongs to a group of middle-aged San Francisco survivors who feel pushed to their limits. Survivors and leaders of the nonprofit organizations that support them say most of the resources dedicated to combating human trafficking go toward rescuing young victims today.
That leaves people like Sean with few places to turn.
“These are the forgotten people of the forgotten people,” said Francesca Gonzalez, executive director of the nonprofit organization Freedom Forward.
Although the Standard has not been able to independently verify all details provided by survivors in this story, we have fact-checked the background information they provided. Experts say their stories are consistent with those of other survivors they have worked with.
