For a decade and a half, Holly Austin Smith of Midlothian didn't know how to describe the horrible thing that happened to her when she was 14. Watching a documentary in 2008, she finally learned the term for it: sex trafficking.
A chronic runaway from New Jersey, she was befriended by a man who offered to help her escape her home life. Smith, who was severely depressed, said he drove her from the mall where she met him to an Atlantic City motel and dropped her off with a woman, who treated her kindly. But soon after, Smith found out why she was there — she was sold to men wanting to have sex with underage girls. Thirty-six hours later, a police officer arrested her and later realized she was a victim, she said.
Smith, now 33, said understanding how to frame her 1992 experience was "a very big deal to me. For years and years, I thought I was the only person that this happened to."
In the past three years, she has reached out to organizations that provide services for sex trafficking survivors, volunteering at Courtney's House in Washington. On Sundays, she answers calls to the nonprofit organization's hotline.
"She's a wonderful person," said Tina Frundt, founder and executive director of Courtney's House. "She's a survivor able to talk to other survivors and understand."
"It would have been easier for me … to accept that I was victimized if I met another survivor," Smith said.
This year, Smith, who works in a medical lab, spoke to a Henrico County Police Department training academy about her experiences, and she hopes to be invited to share her story with other law enforcement agencies. She also started a Facebook page for victims of sex trafficking, and one of the young women she connected with on the site recently enrolled in college. "I'm honored to be a part of her life and encourage her in school," Smith said.
Another priority for Smith is preventing child trafficking. She mentors a 12-year-old girl because she believes it's important to reach girls and provide extra support when they are vulnerable, particularly between the ages of eight and 12.
Sara Pomeroy, founder of Richmond Justice Initiative, which is working to raise awareness of human trafficking, said she met Smith 18 months ago and has provided her platforms to share her story.
"At first, it was kind of rough because she wasn't quite ready," Pomeroy said. "We've seen a lot of growth from her."
Smith is now writing a memoir about her experiences, which she hopes will be useful for sex trafficking victims and law enforcement officers. She recently shared her story on "The Dr. Oz Show" and was profiled in Cosmopolitan magazine.
Next year, Smith plans to get involved with Polaris Project, an organization that combats human trafficking and slavery by calling for stronger laws.
Getting involved in the cause of preventing child trafficking has been therapeutic, Smith said. She has begun telling friends and family members what happened to her, and she is surprised by how supportive they have been. All that she has learned about child trafficking in the past three years is helping her to process, and recover from, her experience.
"I didn't understand this was an organized crime, that these guys prey on children," Smith said. "Had I known that, I could have let go of that shame a lot sooner."
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