Latest / The Rachelle Starr Podcast / Fifteen Hours of Presence | The Rachelle Starr Podcast Episode 4
Transcript
- Rachelle Starr: Hi, I'm Rochelle, the host of the Rochelle Star Podcast, where we equip the church to bring the hope and love of Jesus to women in the adult entertainment industry. We're going to be having honest conversations about what that really looks like. So if you've ever wondered how to engage in this space or how to do it well, you're in the right place. Hi, everybody. I am really excited to be back because this time we are talking about something that is really a behind the scenes look into what most people I don't think really even know happens and what most people don't even know exists. It's the illicit massage parlors that people drive by, the Asian massage parlors that people drive by and they think they're CD, but they don't really know what goes on there. And they certainly don't typically don't know what to do or care about those places. And so today I really hope on this episode that you walk away and when you drive past another one of those places, you actually begin to pray for the people that work there and the people inside. Natalie and I had an amazing opportunity a couple of weeks ago to be a part of something here in Louisville, Kentucky that was a very unique opportunity with the LMPD and a lot of different parties involved and we're gonna talk through that. But we were on a sting operation that rescued five victims and arrested six owners of these illicit massage parlors across five states. And it was an experience that we're going to let you behind the curtain to. So Natalie Let's talk all things sting, okay? Let's talk all things sting. All right. So let's talk about how we first got invited to be a part of this. And then I'm gonna kind of talk to our ⁓ I'm gonna talk about like what these places look like, what are some statistics that go behind them? and we're gonna talk really about the people inside. So our one of my coworkers, Heather and I, we are on lots of different anti human trafficking ⁓ task force here in Louisville and Kentucky. And so as we're a part of them, we're just given information on things that are going on in our city. And so that's really how we got involved and were invited to be advocates on this sting operation. ⁓ so someone reached out to Heather and I and then obviously you, Rochelle and Just invited us to ⁓ be advocates for any potential women that were rescued ⁓ during this operation. ⁓ we were able to ⁓ go to a meeting the day before where they kind of briefed us on okay, these are the places that we're going. ⁓ these are the individuals we're looking for. And what was really interesting to me is they definitely knew who the people were that. They wanted to arrest, ⁓ but they didn't know much about the victims. And so that's the first thing that stood out to me was we don't really know how many victims there will be or how many women will be in these places. And really that's one of the first things that stuck out because it's these places are so unseen and unlooked at. And the victims are so unseen and unlooked at to the point where we didn't even know who they were, how many there were how many there were, how many you know, what that was gonna look like. ⁓ and so ⁓ but we were invited to go and we were each partnered with a victim and we were able to give some trauma informed care to them, ⁓ stay with them, walk with them kind of share with them like what's going on. ⁓ and just it was a very it was a very interesting and eye opening day. It was a very long day. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes, we're gonna get into that long day because we are. I I want our listeners to understand what actually, you know, there's a lot of details that we cannot share because ⁓ this is an investigation. It is, you know, ⁓ a pretty risky thing to be a part of, to be honest. ⁓ because these are illegal brothels, so to speak, selling and trafficking women, Asian women, ⁓ across many ethnicities b all across the United States. And ⁓ the we're gonna shorten this. It's called I and Bs, they're illicit massage brothels, and they are one of the fastest growing ⁓ commercial sex industry establishments in America. So Scarlet Hope works with you know, ⁓ a coup a couple of companies out of Dallas and a couple of tech companies that work at looking at how many IMBs there are, how many how to take them down, how to ig illegally ⁓ stop the owners from multiplying them. ⁓ as we found out in the sting operation that we were a part of, there were the same owners across many states. And so how do these things keep popping up? How do they keep easily I'd say popping up? ⁓ and we discovered a little bit more about that. But one of the things that we're gonna kind of dive into is ⁓ that these women are brought here on a promise. And they're bought brought here on a promise that they'll have a better life, that one of the women that I got to talk to, ⁓ on that operation, she's actually a licensed massage therapist in her country. And she was specifically targeted to come to America and make more money doing licensed massage. But when she got here, her license doesn't transfer from her company. And so all of a sudden she found herself in what they call a sort of villages that are in New York and LA. And then they get assigned to go to different IMBs. And so she she immediately though was in debt bondage to the person and the the network of people that actually found her and promised her a better life in America. So she comes to America, she gets put in bondage, roughly around $10,000. And so the only way they tell her she's going to be able to pay that off is if they if if she works for them in their establishments. And so that's how thousands of people are getting funneled all throughout these places. They move from one place to the next. We saw that in our in the sting operation. Many of the girls had just shown up at the particular IMBs that were the police, you know, went to and busted and they had just gotten there one girl the day before, another girl six days before that. And so they're constantly moved around, which makes it very hard. To not only help the victims, but it also makes it hard to trace and track their activity. And so I just want to give some context to that because when I when you drive by these places, you know, you just think, you know, you see Asian massage places in the mall, and you see them, you know, the red signs and they're open 247 and all of those things. And we don't really understand the the complex complex network that it takes and that has taken place to traffic these individuals. And we came face to face with that firsthand, ⁓ you know, on a Tuesday morning. And so we're gonna kind of go into a little bit of these behind the scenes looks. So eight o'clock ⁓ eight hundred if you're on the LMPD. And you gotta, you know, we got assigned to a particular IMB that was going to be approached by the the police department. And Let me just say too, I have a couple of other nonprofits that are they they attend sting operations for police departments in different cities. And typically nine the percent of victims do not actually come and get help. And so and we can talk about that in a little bit, but ⁓ it's very rare that victims actually will go with an agency to get help. Or we'll cooperate in an investigation. So we show up, we have no idea how many people are in the places we're assigned to. And I just want to share this a little bit and then I I I really wanna get to your time sitting with this victim. and you spent many, many hours with her and it was so sweet, but I do think that it was pivotal and key in building a relationship and trust with these victims. So one of the things that I remember is I as I was watching you and Heather, ⁓ that was on the sting ⁓ one at a time approach each victim that would go with the, you know, advocates. I remember the first woman coming out of I'm gonna I'm like gonna get emotional because I saw her come out of the IMB and she was in handcuffs. And she was the mammasan of these places. And if you don't know that term, she's essentially the manager of these places, but she is the acting known trafficker, if you will. She's the one making the deals, selling the women, orchestrating their their ⁓ services. And so ⁓ you know, she got arrested as, you know, she she should. However you just gotta think of where she started. You know, this is a sixty plus year old woman that is now the management of these places and how long has she been in this network of of human trafficking. And and so my heart really broke first and foremost for her, but then I saw you go in to the building and get a victim and and bring that victim out with you and her stuff. And so Could you please take us back to that moment where you first meet her inside and what was that like? And what was it like immediately trying to gain trust with her? Because this is all happening very fast. And then you sit in a car with her for a couple of hours ⁓ while they did their investigation on the premise. So take us back to that moment. Yeah. Well, when I was introduced to the victim that was assigned to me, ⁓ It was really interesting because she she was frightened. That was her major emotion. And it and it's interesting because I think a lot of times when we think of women who are being trafficked in that way, we think, ⁓ they would probably be so relieved if they were rescued. But this woman, relief was not her emotion. It was she was scared. ⁓ she was scared of all the police that had come in. She didn't know what was going on. she didn't know what was going to happen next. ⁓ there was a big cultural barrier. She speaks a different language than me. we are from different places, different countries. ⁓ we've had vastly different lives. And so for me I think one of the things that I really relied heavily on was the ministry of presence. ⁓ and just how I have felt so comforted by the thought of God's presence with me and He's sat with me in some of the darkest moments of my life and not necessarily said anything verbally, like not like I'm hearing voices, but just I felt his presence and just how comforting that was to me. And so I really tried to do that with this woman. ⁓ to sit with her in the fear that she was in, but to be able to tell her like I'm not going there. Like we're going to be in a lot of different places today. ⁓ you're gonna have to pack up everything that you own. You're gonna be in a car where you don't know anyone. You know, you're going to a building where you don't know anyone. You're gonna be there for a long time and you're not gonna you know, there's so many unknowns, so I wanted one thing, my presence to be the thing that was like steady in that. And so, ⁓ that's what I tried to do, but ⁓ It was just really sweet getting to know her more and more as we got more comfortable with each other. you know, we were we were able to get really good at ⁓ t translating apps and ⁓ getting to know one another and some foods that we we liked and there were a lot of things we weren't allowed to talk about, obviously. ⁓ but just getting to know her and the you know, getting to know people she loved and ⁓ being able to pray for her. she allowed me to pray for her at one point and so just the Ministry of Presence was really impactful, I think. And I think it was so impactful that, you know, ultimately five victims that day chose to accept to come with advocates. Yeah. And That's a big deal. ⁓ they really, number one, I don't think the police were actually expecting that. No, I don't ⁓ and it was for the purpose of not only helping provide resources for them and opportunities for them, but it was also to see if they would cooperate with the investigation of the owners of these places. And that that it w will be a very, very long process and ⁓ again, an for maybe another episode of solutions that would actually help these victims long term would be things like, you know, programs that speak their language. I mean I you know, I was on the phone with program after program and I would say, you know, do you have anyone c that can speak this language? Do you take anyone that speaks this language? And, you know, programs would say, No, we we don't, we can't. And so there was very minimal actual services for women that do not have visas that do not speak the language and that are being trafficked. And and that was disheartening and I, you know, I I know at Scroll, I hope we want to help change that narrative in ever in whatever capacity we can. ⁓ but I think the the power of presence that day was so important. Mm-hmm. Because, you know, one of the women that we walked alongside and served, we actually brought to our Hope House the next day and you got to meet with her and talk with her there. And she sent us a text and said I was treated and and it was translated, you know, from her language into English, but she said I was treated with kindness and love and I want to make sure I I meet you again. And I just think about that did not happen through like again, so many cultural bar barriers. We didn't speak the language, but that happened simply by presence that we became a safe presence for these women. ⁓ And I think that that's it it means a lot to them. So one of the things that happened on the sting is they you got to spend about f tw fifteen actually. Fifteen. Yes. Hours. Fifteen hours. So just kind of if you can, what what was that like? Well, first I had no idea how long it was going to be. So it's not like I planned, okay, hour ⁓ yeah, prepared. Hour one we'll do this and hour two we'll do this. I was like, okay, we there's no end in sight. I have no l idea how long we will be here. ⁓ and like I said before, there were lots of things that we were asked not to discuss. And so I really focused on getting to know the people she loved. I focused on similarities. We both liked food. So we talked a lot about food. ⁓ and just sat in each other's presence. We watched some cooking shows. We bonded over that. she took a nap at one point. So just like allowing it to be like a safe place is what really it became before we were able to like wrap up the day and provide services. Yeah. And you still, ⁓ I know we both are still talking to a few of the women. Praise God for that. And that was over a couple of weeks ago. So again, just I cannot stress to our listeners enough, please pray for the the women that l that yes, live in these places. That they were living physically in these places. they had all of their belongings that they owned on their backs. and in i in their move from city to city on a regular basis. And when these places get shut down through law enforcement, ⁓ I do believe, especially as a nonprofit that works in this space, that we wanna have solutions that we build towards helping them build a sustainable life out of exploitation and trafficking. And so I'm excited to see what the future holds for Scarlet Hope and for this. But I do know that God gave us a special window into an area in darkness in our city. that day that I am forever grateful for getting that window. But just ask and pray that people will come alongside us, pray over it. Pray, yes. And if you want to be a part of it, please join us. We would love to have you. We would. Thank you for listening to the Rochelle Star Podcast. If this conversation encouraged you or challenged you, I'd invite you to take the next step. Whether that's learning more, getting involved, or sharing this episode with someone else. At Scarlet Hope, we believe consistent presence changes lives, and there's a place for you in this work. You can learn more at ScarletHope.org.