MEET JANE

Jane came from a single parent home with no brothers or sisters.  Her mother tried hard at first to provide the life she always wanted for Jane, however drugs soon became an everyday reality. Jane was approached by a pimp at the age of 18. After years of physical and emotional abuse from the only consistent person in Jane’s life, she fell hard for the fantasy her pimp played out. Soon she realized that everything he promised her were lies. The image of this perfect, carefree life haunted Jane and she was determined to “Escort” on her own. She quickly learned that in "The Game" there was no independence, and in order to survive she needed a “Daddy”. The gifts and kind words rapidly turned into tears and physical punishment. 

Jane continued on this roller coaster through two pregnancies fathered by her pimp, multiple prostitution arrests, numerous relations with Wifeys, and an unstoppable revolving door of Sex Buyers. Each day ran into the next, the years seemed to melt together.  The fear of what would happen if she ever left had her paralyzed. 

Following the directions of her pimp, obeying so she wasn’t his next punching bag. Jane picked up payments being made to her pimp from another victim. On January 11, 2009, through extensive surveillance and case building, Jane and her pimp were arrested on Federal Extortion Charges. Jane was six weeks pregnant with her pimp’s second child. As a plea for her testimony and cooperation, she plead down to two Federal Felony Counts of Aiding and Abetting Illegal Immigrants by mean of force, fraud, or coercion. 

As a result of this, Jane has faced countless situations where she is re-victimized. Jane called over 50 places in her rural city and was immediately rejected for housing due to her felony charge. Jane’s dream job of working in law enforcement is a dream that will not come true. Today her conviction would hopefully be handled differently. 

Even though the odds have been against Jane, she continues to move forward in her journey. Jane started paving this road to success alone without any help from those who were supposed to support her; the victim. She raises her four children on her own, and has finally obtained fulltime employment working in this movement with the support of countless friends and community supports. Jane is a determined women who won’t take no for an answer, and has made a huge impact on the human trafficking movement in North Dakota.

*Survivor’s name was changed for this story to ensure her safety and confidentiality.