At the San Diego Comic-Con Convention in late July, San Diego’s Human Trafficking Task Force — comprised of numerous local, state and federal agencies — conducted an undercover operation that resulted in the arrest of 14 alleged sex buyers and the recovery of 10 potential victims, including a 16-year-old youth.
This operation is a reminder of the prevalence of human trafficking hidden within San Diego County. It can occur in any neighborhood, often within close trusting relationships.
While sting operations make headlines, for most victims, the escape from exploitation is nonlinear and filled with setbacks. Often, traffickers groom their victims to win their trust. It’s a gradual, disempowering process that isolates victims from their loved ones and makes them dependent on their trafficker.
Even after survivors escape exploitation, they face hurdles that prevent financial stability, safety and healing.
One way survivors can regain a sense of control and stability in their lives is through a college education.
Last month, the Center for Justice and Reconciliation at Point Loma Nazarene University celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Beauty for Ashes Scholarship Fund, a first-of-its-kind scholarship that provides trafficking survivors college tuition and supports them as they attend school.
“Education can be a lifeline a survivor needs to heal, rebuild, break down stigma and cycles of generational bondage,” says Buki Domingos, a trafficking survivor who graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University with a nursing degree. “My education empowered me to develop a career that I love,” says one of the survivors. Another survivor and Point Loma Nazarene University graduate who obtained a social work degree said, “I made lifelong friends, and it brought a sense of normalcy to my life.”
“Education can be a lifeline a survivor needs to heal, rebuild, break down stigma and cycles of generational bondage.”
Since the scholarship’s inception, 17 individuals, including Buki, have received scholarships, including eight individuals who graduated with degrees in social work, nursing, psychology, Christian studies and business administration. Seven women are currently enrolled at Point Loma Nazarene University and are set to graduate in the next two years.
For many survivors, though, a college degree seems unimaginable. They have other pressing needs, like healing from trauma, finding a job and gaining financial stability. Plus, the financial cost makes attending a university seem out of reach.
While the Beauty for Ashes scholarship relieves the financial burden to pay tuition, often survivors still need to work to make ends meet. At Point Loma Nazarene University, Buki was able to work and raise her kids as she took classes online to obtain her nursing degree.
This level of flexibility is important for nontraditional students. In fact, Point Loma Nazarene University’s Accelerated Undergraduate program has opened doors for more scholars to go to college because it gives flexibility to attend part time and take classes online. This year, six of the seven current Beauty for Ashes scholars are enrolled in the Accelerated Undergraduate program.
As the 10th anniversary Beauty for Ashes celebration wound down, Buki and her jazz band sang “You’ve Got a Friend” by Carole King. The song carries significance; friendships and safe relationships help survivors navigate the stress of college and feeling like they don’t belong.
These pressures are often compounded by unhealed trauma and work and family demands outside school. At one point, one of the students experienced a panic attack on campus because she had neglected her trauma and set unrealistic expectations on herself. “I immersed myself in studying and leaned on the support of friends I made, specifically other survivors, professors and tutors,” she recalled. “It was with this support that I was able to earn my undergraduate degree and go on to achieve my master’s degree.”
Recently, past Beauty for Ashes scholars helped initiate an alumni group to foster connection with scholarship recipients. “It’s critical to create a safe space to vent, share or be silent,” Buki says.
Beauty for Ashes survivor scholars give hope to those who have experienced similar brokenness and doubt that college is a realistic option. While undercover operations, like at Comic-Con, give victims a chance to escape exploitation, Buki and other students’ lives speak loudly about what’s possible with courage, hard work and perseverance.
Story by Jonathan Derby. Derby is the executive director for the Center for Justice and Reconciliation at Point Loma Nazarene University. He has 20 years of experience working on access to justice issues in India and the U.S. and lives in Point Loma.
This story was originally published in The San Diego Union-Tribune with permission from author Jonathan Derby. It has been adapted for our platform and can be read in entirety here.
