On Wednesday, July 13, 2016 South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul Chapter, will be showing “The Girl Next Door: The Story of a Human Trafficking Survivor.” The program will be preceded by a discussion of chapter activities. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. and is held at the First Baptist Church, 19 West Main Street in Moorestown. Please enter via the side door closest to municipal parking lot and Carl’s Shoe Store.
”The Girl Next Door” is an award-wining film that tells the true story of an all-American teenager, Theresa Flores who survived two years of being a sex slave in the Michigan suburbs at the age of 15. Over a two-year period, she was stalked, intimidated, sold and broken in mind and body. Out of shame, guilt and fear of what could happen to her young brothers, Teresa stayed silent.
Twenty years later, she is speaking out on the reality of human trafficking in the United States and how she overcame her past. On her worst night, being auctioned off to nearly two dozen men in a dingy, dirty, inner city Detroit motel, Theresa recalled the only item that would have reached out to her, was a bar of soap to clean up. With that in mind, she created S.O.A.P., Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution. She is also founder of the advocacy organization TraffickFREE and her efforts were a major part of the success of Anti-Trafficking Bill SB235 passed in Ohio in 2010.
The “Girl Next Door” has been to four film festivals, won two awards and the director plans to turn her short film into a full feature. This is the sort of film everyone needs to see. Most people won’t discuss or expose their children to the reality of sex trafficking in their own backyards because they feel this is a taboo subject or their children are too young to know about predators that are scouting out schools, shopping malls, and grocery stores in search of another victim. If children aren’t exposed to it by their parents and friends, many could end up experiencing the very perversions that were never revealed to them.
Please join in for a riveting and unforgettable story. This film is an excellent educational resource for high and middle schools, libraries and other educational institutions.
