Safety First: What All Parents Need to Know to Protect Kids from Human Trafficking | S7 E8

Susie Valdez:
But you can sell a victim of sex trafficking 8 to 10 times a day. My mind can't even process that. And that's just domestically in the US. Yeah. So if we end the demand and it's gonna be a very hard demand to end. Right. But if we start treating the problem, we can get there.

Mary Alessi:
Well,

Mary Alessi:
hello, and welcome to another episode of the family business with the Alessis. I am Mary Alessi, and I am so honored today to have in the podcast booth with us the one and only miss Susie Valdez. And she has some incredible information that we're gonna talk about. And before we start talking though, Susie, we need to make sure that everybody understands that this is one of those topics that you might wanna get the kids out of the room for. Because we're gonna be talking about something that's kind of heavy. Yeah. And we want you to make sure that you listen to the very end if you can. Grab this link.

Mary Alessi:
Share it. Especially, if you know somebody that has dealt with trauma, with abuse in the area of of, sex trafficking, sexual abuse, this will be a a topic that I promise you you won't forget. So share, click, like, let us know. Even though it's a tough subject, these are the subjects that we like to talk tackle here in the podcast booth, the things we don't like to talk on Sundays Yeah. About too much in our services. But we get in this room and we talk about it. And, we have a lot to talk about Yes, we do.

Susie Valdez:
Today. So welcome. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.

Mary Alessi:
Thanks for coming. And I I I just I want our listeners to know that we've been in a relationship with you for a long time.

Susie Valdez:
Oh my gosh. Such a long time. I think the first time I came to Metro was October 2010. Oh, Mhmm. Wow. Almost 14 years. Baby. I was.

Susie Valdez:
We've gone through seasons. I was I started coming here freshman in college

Mary Alessi:
Yeah.

Susie Valdez:
And started dating Gio October 2013. It's always in October. Oh, wow. October. So it's been it's been a lot. Yeah. It's been

Mary Alessi:
a lot. And you've always just been one of those people that you are a bulldog when it comes to life. And Yeah. And, and really, I think in this particular area, it, it's fitting that God led you down this path because it takes a special person. We've said this many times about you, Susie, that we couldn't handle what you do. Yeah. Not a lot of people can. Not a lot of people can, but God has somehow given you, like, a Teflon exterior

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
That you're getting down into the depths with people and hearing the worst stories that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night after just hearing 1 and you're dealing with this all day long, but you're helping women. You're helping young girls.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
And so we wanna talk about it. We've talked about it some before with you. You've always been a a huge help kind of in the on the personal side of things when we're when we've had things come up and and, you've just helped with aftercare so much, which is what you do

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
In this regard. So sex trafficking, we're gonna talk about what it is. We're gonna talk about how afraid of it we should be, how real it is. And before the podcast started, I said, you know, we talked about taming this down

Susie Valdez:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi:
But we're not there anymore. No. We're just not. We really need to talk about how dark the world is. We need to be aware. We need to know how to pray.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
And, it's really a call to arms in a lot of ways. And this is your life. This is your everyday. This is what God has equipped you to do. And, I just want us once we get going, Susie's not gonna stop, and we're gonna get informed of a lot of things that might be hard to hear. Yeah. But it's imperative that we hear it. We need to know what is going on in our country and in our city and in our neighborhoods.

Mary Alessi:
It's very important. So, first of all, just kindly give everybody a background of exactly what it is you do, the organization you work for. So human trafficking was something

Susie Valdez:
I found out about back in college, and it has changed a lot since then. So I started working in this field of the anti trafficking stuff back in 2015. And it was just because I went to volunteer at an organization, and I actually went into a foster care organization, and it was not for me. As much as I can do this all day, the kids, I wanted to adopt every single one of them. So I'm like, this isn't it. Gotta find somewhere

Mary Alessi:
else. Right.

Susie Valdez:
So I went to volunteer and I got hired as a caregiver at the Safe House. I was doing that for a bit. I was a case manager for a bit. And then I opened up a drop in center in Overtown, And we ran that up until the pandemic. Past the pandemic, we couldn't meet in person, so our service had to shift. Right. And now after all of those titles, I am an enrichment sustainability specialist sustainability specialist. Oh, wow.

Susie Valdez:
So I'm gonna say that again. Yes. Enrichment and sustainability specialist. Okay. And that's just a fancy way of saying that I get to come in now and help all of the victims dream again. So when I first started working with them, it was just ladies. Now I work with men. I work with adults.

Susie Valdez:
I work with minors because the sad part is that there is not just one prototype. It's not just one thing they're looking for. They just look for the vulnerable. So it could be in a good neighborhood. It could be in a bad neighborhood. It could be in high school. It could be at the mall. Many people think, oh, well, my kids, you know, they're safe.

Susie Valdez:
They're going to a good school. It's in the good schools. Right. Because they'll use one victim to groom another victim. Wow. And it's just it's a cycle.

Mary Alessi:
So it doesn't stop?

Susie Valdez:
Okay. So so Yes.

Mary Alessi:
Let's make sure that our listeners know when we say they, who we're talking about, and what is let's start with this.

Susie Valdez:
What is

Mary Alessi:
What is sex trafficking?

Susie Valdez:
Human trafficking. So human trafficking is a big umbrella that encompasses sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and organ trafficking. Did you say organ? Organ trafficking. That's real. Yes. And that happens mostly in other countries, but it happens everywhere. We mostly see here sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Before, we used to think it was 2 different pathways.

Susie Valdez:
We could treat 1 and not treat the other. Now they intersect too much, especially in Miami. Florida, unfortunately, is top 3 in the country for this human trafficking. Wow. Miami is number 1. We love to be number 1 in things. This was not one of them.

Mary Alessi:
Oh god. And Now So Miami is number 1 in Florida? In the country. In the country. Number 1

Susie Valdez:
in the country. We have LA, Atlanta, and Miami. Miami is number 1 because of the fact that we are a major hub. People are coming from all over the world. We have an airport. We have the port. We have the the bay. We have everything.

Mary Alessi:
So it's much access.

Susie Valdez:
It's way too much. And there's way so much happening here that what happens in Miami stays in Miami, and they come to party. And we have

Mary Alessi:
It's our culture. It's our culture. Nobody cares. Everybody looks the other way. No.

Susie Valdez:
It's okay. And it's become normal. Yeah. That's the sad part. It's become way too normal for, oh, well, you know, she just has a sugar daddy. Mhmm. Oh, well, she just grew up like that. But it didn't just happen.

Susie Valdez:
It's been years of trauma and issues that have led to this point, and we've just let it happen. Wow.

Mary Alessi:
So that's where we're at. So in our city, on a regular basis Mhmm. Like a daily basis. I mean, I don't know how much into numbers and percentages we wanna get because it can be overwhelming. Yeah. I know you've told me some things you talked to the girls about, some things Gabby was telling me last night in my neighborhood at a hotel that I stayed at last summer

Susie Valdez:
Yes.

Mary Alessi:
At the mall because we were getting our home reconstructed. Yep. And I had Marriott miles. So I used this hotel, and me and the girl stayed there. Steve stayed there with us. But, you said that was one of the places that something recently happened.

Susie Valdez:
Yes. So in Miami, the average age of a victim is anywhere from 11 to 14 years old. That's the average age. The average age. I have worked with individuals who were first victimized at 3 or 4 years old.

Mary Alessi:
Oh god.

Susie Valdez:
So they didn't know any better, and they actually found out it was something wrong and reported by the time they got to middle school or high school when they learned about sex ed. Right. Because, wait. What's been happening to me wasn't right. Yeah. That's not and it's not always a stranger. It's usually family Right. Or a friend, somebody that they trust.

Susie Valdez:
That's actually how it happens so easily because they trust the person. The person loves me. They're not trying to hurt me.

Mary Alessi:
Is that person you think trying to groom them for this lifestyle? Is that 100%. So that's k. So we all understand when you say a loved one, we're not talking about an uncle that molests a niece and is trying to we're talking about a relative that will start with a child young to groom them for the purposes of sex trafficking.

Susie Valdez:
That's what you're talking about? So, for example, I have a particular individual that at 4 years old, her father first raped her. Okay. From there, it escalated to he was just loving her. Mhmm. But by the time she was 6 7 years old, he would sell her in cages. Now this case specifically was not in Miami Okay. But it was in the United States. And he would sell her in cages to his buddies too, and he was involved in multiple crimes and multiple things.

Susie Valdez:
But this is how it happened.

Mary Alessi:
Right.

Susie Valdez:
So then after so many years, she realized this is wrong, and she reported it. She was able to get somebody he covered up for a while, but she finally got out of the situation. But by the time she did, she was 16 years old. So now we're adding up all these years of trauma Her whole life. Her whole life, everything she knew. And it's funny because they say it takes a village to raise a child. It takes about 10 villages to help one survivor Wow. Restore their lives because they're gonna go through programs.

Susie Valdez:
They're gonna go through therapy. They're going to go through recovery. They're gonna need all of that. But they also need the stability unless they have a community around them. Might not be family, but they need people. They need people.

Mary Alessi:
Trust. Yeah. They need God.

Susie Valdez:
That that's a big part of it. That's how I've seen a lot of healing come to pass because they were finally able to really deal with the deep stuff to get past all of those years of trauma and issues Right. That have been just building up, and it's not easy.

Mary Alessi:
Now if we go back to, the hotel story, I know that that was a story that the girl was just an innocent. She was at the pool. And

Susie Valdez:
this is what has been reported through social media and different news articles. Apparently, she was at the pool. And a woman who was a psychologist came to speak to her and was talking to her, and they were just hanging out. And the girl was vulnerable. That's what it comes down to. The teen years are so crucial because they have all these hormones, all these feelings, all this stuff going on, and everything feels like the end of the world for them. Right? So the moment they have somebody hearing them out, now the person cares. Yeah.

Susie Valdez:
Right? And the lady invited her back to her room Oh. To where 2 men came in and took advantage of the situation, and they they have all apparently been arrested and stuff. Yeah. But it was right there.

Mary Alessi:
That's one story that you knew about the news covered just 2 weeks ago. 2 different stories. 1 in Miami Springs and one I can't remember exactly that were hubs. They were homes

Susie Valdez:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi:
That were rented by a couple from another country Mhmm. That were here illegally. Okay? That's not the topic of discussion, but that was that is part of the problem. And they were luring women over the border with promise of working for a big concrete company.

Susie Valdez:
Well, that's the that's the gray area. Right. That's where the labor trafficking comes into play. Okay. Because that's what that is. So they promised them this perfect job. We're gonna get you a house. We're gonna get you a job.

Susie Valdez:
We're gonna get you money. Your family's gonna be able to come to the United States. Yeah. And then they get here, and who they were talking to is not who they found.

Mary Alessi:
That's right.

Susie Valdez:
Who they're with is not who it was. It's not the situation. There's no work. They lose their papers. They lose all their information. They get taken it gets taken away from them. Yeah. They have no money, no food, no phone.

Susie Valdez:
And now they're being forced to either work or perform sex acts Right. And puts them in the situation that they have no way out because they don't know anything anymore. They're basically abducted. They are. They're being abducted. They're being kept against their will. And now unless they get an opportunity to get out or somebody notices something, nothing can be done.

Mary Alessi:
Right. I know this can feel like it's a hopeless situation that what can we do? It's, you know, why are we why are we talking about this? And it's, you know, what who who can stop it? You know, the government needs to. Yeah. We're right on the the, the brink of an election cycle season, you know, where we're getting ready to vote in another president. There's so many promises

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
Of who can turn that around and, like, oh, it's a border issue. No. It's, you know, it's a social media issue or it's, a crime issue, all these different things. But you said something earlier that as a believer and as Christians, it really does bring some peace. Because you said, the turnaround can't happen without a relationship with Christ. Yep. So the church is more important than ever in this season. And people like you, Susie, that are called to this with the ability to be able to handle it.

Mary Alessi:
And you've got a wonderful husband who, he's got a podcast of his own, and a business of his own, and he is a a coach and a life coach, and you've got 2 beautiful children. But you're able to look into the face of this with all its darkness and find hope. Yeah.

Susie Valdez:
How do you do that? Well, when I first started with the human trafficking stuff, it looked very different. Yeah. Now technology has come a long way, and the issue is not so much now in person as much as it is online. Yeah. So we've got kids gaming. We've got kids on social media. I got my first cell phone when I was 13. And it was a Nokia brick that the most I could do Yeah.

Susie Valdez:
Was play snake, change its covers Yeah. And call after 9 because we had minutes. Yeah. That was it. That's right. Now you give a 10 year old a smartphone that has access to everything. And they're seeing things a lot younger. Kids are being exposed to pornography and issues that they have no business knowing about

Mary Alessi:
Mm-mm.

Susie Valdez:
At the average age of, like, 7 and 8.

Mary Alessi:
That's

Susie Valdez:
right. It's way too young. So the biggest thing is Jesus. Yeah. They need Jesus. That's the way that the healing is gonna happen. That's the way they're gonna get out of it. And not just in this, but in any issue, any victim of crime, any trauma.

Susie Valdez:
But communication is huge. Family support systems are huge. Right. Because I was blessed that I was born into a 2 parent household. Right. My parents, we sat down for dinner every night. We talked about everything under the sun. We had a great communications.

Mary Alessi:
Right.

Susie Valdez:
But my parents opened my bedroom door at any point.

Mary Alessi:
That's right.

Susie Valdez:
They knew who I was with. If I was going to the mall, they would drop me off. They would stay at the mall. That's weird. Go to Sunset Place, and they would sit at Barnes and Noble and wait. But now, oh, mom. I I met a friend online. Oh, mom.

Susie Valdez:
I'm gonna go to the mall with my friends. And they show up, and you got a 30, 40 something year old Right. That is not their friend online. Mm-mm. So parents also feel hopeless because they say, well, what do we do? Our kid already has a phone. Well, look at the phone. Yeah. Be aware.

Susie Valdez:
Put the parental controls. Don't give them the smartphone at 10.

Mary Alessi:
That's right. Change the phone. Get a flip phone. Oh, but we

Susie Valdez:
already gave it to them.

Mary Alessi:
That's okay. Take it away.

Susie Valdez:
My time, it was sleepovers. Yeah. That was the big thing. Yeah. Everybody was having a sleepover. My parents never let me sleepover.

Mary Alessi:
That's right.

Susie Valdez:
And I never understood, but it's not you're so unfair. It's not cool. All my friends are doing it. But I was never a victim of abuse at somebody's house.

Mary Alessi:
That's exactly right.

Susie Valdez:
That's very true. Parents knew. My parents knew all my friends. Yeah. The moment somebody walked in, and my dad would say, I don't like them. That was it. There was a curse. Something bad was but he knew.

Susie Valdez:
He felt it. Yes. He can read a person walking into the room Yes. Because he also knew his kids. That's right. And it's not black and white. I know every family is not a mother and a father.

Mary Alessi:
Right.

Susie Valdez:
I know they're single moms. I know they're single dads. There's relatives, guardians. But you need a community. Right. They need the youth leader. They need the youth group.

Mary Alessi:
Yes. They do.

Susie Valdez:
They need the teacher that's in their corner really taking care of their grades. Protect come together with people Yeah. Come together with other families.

Mary Alessi:
That have the same values. Bring up

Susie Valdez:
the kids together where they know. Okay. I might not have my dad here, but dad's here.

Mary Alessi:
That's right. And we

Susie Valdez:
might not it might not look black and white, and it might not look cookie cutter. But we've got communication. We know what's going on. I can trust my mom. I can trust my dad. Yeah. I'm not just gonna get in trouble That's

Mary Alessi:
right.

Susie Valdez:
Because somebody sent me a DM and it was a naked picture. Right. No. I was able to go to my parents and say, look. This happened. So that's where it all comes down to. We need to know what's going on. We can't feel hopeless.

Mary Alessi:
Right.

Susie Valdez:
Because this is something that can be very dark, and this is something that can be very scary. But we need to have the information

Mary Alessi:
we do.

Susie Valdez:
And feel equipped.

Mary Alessi:
We do. And and I think as a mom of 3 daughters, and, obviously, they're all grown now, but I am I was a different kind of mother. I I had friends and even some other family members that were mothers that were more leaning into don't tell your kids things that will scare them. Well, my mother wasn't that way. She would scare us about things that could happen, and yet we still people know my story. I had a grandfather that was abusive.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
And, there you know, when it's within the home, when it's within the family, what do you do? That's very difficult. But I will tell you because of my experience, I made sure my kids knew. Not just my daughters, my son too.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
And I wasn't I didn't protect them out of the world is a horrible place and somebody's trying to hurt you. I wanted to educate them from the perspective of the world is a very dangerous place, and I'm trying to protect your innocence. And I only get a window to do it. I don't have forever. It's just a few years to keep you protected. So Steve and I really chose to and, actually, I took the lead because of my own experience of having really open conversations with my daughters, very specific about who you could be with, where who could put their hands on you, whose lap you could sit in. I mean, all of those basic things, respect yourself, respect other people in the room. I know that there are young men and young women out there that might be listening to this saying, well, that's good for you.

Mary Alessi:
I don't have a parent that has safeguarded me or put boundaries in my life. I think there's twofold things here that I wanna say through this moment. I think parents do need to raise the levels of concern.

Susie Valdez:
Yes.

Mary Alessi:
I do think more than ever parents need to not brush aside a little bit of fear when it comes to their kids' phones, who they're hanging out with, in a very permissive parenting season that we're in. Mhmm. I think parents are making a huge mistake. Yes. By not following that little voice and that check going, am I being too permissive here? Yes. You are. If you have that check at all Pull back. Pull back.

Mary Alessi:
Yep. Do what you have to do. Check on their phones. I I say that because, you know, we have parents in our church that that try to do everything right. Their kids are in youth. And I think it was last year we had a a young girl who's amazing girl, amazing family. This could happen to anybody, guys. This isn't, you know, that one kid.

Mary Alessi:
This could happen to any of our kids, which is what we're trying to say. And another girl in the youth group, they were best friends. She was looking over the friend's shoulder, seeing her constantly talk to this person online. Well, the person she was supposedly talking to was an older girl. Oh, she's a friend. She really likes me. Well, the girl in that was her friend. This was sitting in youth group here at Metro.

Mary Alessi:
So I don't know. I don't feel good about that. And because her parents had really warned her about the dangers, she had a discernment on her and a caution flag for her friend. This is sitting in youth group, Susie.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
And so she goes, you need to tell your parents. She didn't wanna tell her parents. So she knew. Something instinctively in her knew, if I don't wanna tell my parents, something's off. Yeah. So they went to Gabby. Gabby said, you gotta tell your parents. Sure enough, told the parents, and absolutely, it wasn't a per it wasn't a woman.

Mary Alessi:
Yeah. It was a man that was pursuing their daughter. So this is this is in our village. Yes. This isn't somebody else's village. This isn't in the inner city village. This isn't in in the village of people who don't love their kids or don't kick take care of their kids. This is in our village.

Susie Valdez:
Well, it's hard because if you don't realize the pressure on kids right now

Mary Alessi:
Right.

Susie Valdez:
You can't understand it. No. It's true. So back then, in school, if somebody didn't like you, well, they would bully you. They would say but it had to be in person. Yeah. Things nowadays, everything is virtual. So they're meeting people, and they have all this pressure of likes on social media and followers and influencers.

Susie Valdez:
And that's great. We do need the people giving the right message and showing the right products and all of that. But there's also a lot of pressure on young kids that don't they're not ready for that. No. They're not. They're not ready for the social media world. They're not because they're not ready for the real world. No.

Susie Valdez:
That's right. Becoming more real than the real world right now. So the fact that that girl was aware enough to say something's not right. We don't have the luxury anymore to I don't wanna tell them because I'm gonna take their innocence. You don't have to take their innocence. Yeah. You can say it in a safe way.

Mary Alessi:
That's exactly right.

Susie Valdez:
You can bring awareness and prepare your children.

Mary Alessi:
I did that with my kids.

Susie Valdez:
But if they don't Yep. Someone else will. Yep. Okay. 100%. Because there's information in kids' cartoons nowadays that kids have no business in hearing about. It's really true. But it's right in their face? Yes.

Susie Valdez:
It is. It's in preschool cartoons. So if we don't bring it up now and we don't do it in our home, on our level, on our standards, someone else will. So then who do you want talking to your kid? Because when something happens, it happened. It's too late. Yeah. Now we gotta fix the problem. We can't avoid the problem.

Susie Valdez:
So the fact here is they were in youth group. 1 girl was already aware. Yeah. There was a danger that was prevented. And thank god it was in that scenario.

Mary Alessi:
That's right.

Susie Valdez:
What if they're in school? Oh my god. They love your post. They're liking your pictures. You need to meet this person. Yeah. And now what happened? It could have ended so much worse. So now we need we need to put up our barriers. We need to be aware.

Susie Valdez:
As parents, we need to do better. As a community, we need to do better. Yeah. Because it can happen anywhere. But as long as we have our kids in our home, in our church, in our village, like you said, Pastor Mary Yeah. It's our responsibility to protect them.

Mary Alessi:
That's right.

Susie Valdez:
And not just my kids. Yes. But that's what that's what I do. Yeah. Now they might not be my children, but I'm bringing awareness. I'll speak at the schools. I'll talk. And now parents are saying, okay.

Susie Valdez:
We get it. We have to do more. We have to be more involved. Talk to your kids. Take the phones away. That's it. We're going to sit together as a family and watch a movie as a family. No phones.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah. That's it. No tablets. No social media. Because they also need that disconnect. It's really important that they get their brains get that break, that they feel that break because they're up at 12 o'clock at night on their phones.

Mary Alessi:
Yes. They are. By

Susie Valdez:
the time they finally get to sleep and they wake up the next day, and it's that constant cycle. So now their guard is down. They feel empowered by the social media aspect. They're tired. They're not resting. They're meeting all these different people. They're hearing all these different messages, and they're not equipped. We need to equip them.

Susie Valdez:
Not scare them, but equip them. And make them realize the reality of this because it's there. It's very real. Well, it's a healthy fear. Yes.

Mary Alessi:
And I think that's the point that you're making here today. We, as parents, we all do it. We want to believe that that's not the reality.

Susie Valdez:
Yes.

Mary Alessi:
But the world and I you know, I I'm a person that always likes to talk about hope, and the world is great, and people are good, and they are. But I think what we have to remember is the world is still a very dark place, and we have a responsibility to raise our children, protecting them from trauma. Yes. You know, you you have these kids with the hope that they have these glorious childhoods.

Susie Valdez:
Yes.

Mary Alessi:
And and what you're saying is and just affirm that this is what you're saying. I'm it's a it's a shocker, but I think it's true. What you're telling us today is the world is dangerous through the phone. Yes. And as somebody who works in sex trafficking, this is the vehicle. Yes. So if you wanna protect your daughters and your sons

Susie Valdez:
Yes.

Mary Alessi:
And your sons from sex trafficking or the traumas of being lured in through

Susie Valdez:
Any form of crime.

Mary Alessi:
Any form of crime.

Susie Valdez:
Victim's crime. Yeah. This is the pathway. Yes. That's what you're saying. We need to do better. We need to protect our kids better. And I'm not saying because a lot of people say, well, my kid already has a smartphone, and you sound extreme.

Susie Valdez:
It doesn't have to be extreme. We just need to be aware. So sometimes this sounds like, okay. Well, my kid already experienced something. My kid was already a victim to something. There's no hope. There is hope. Yeah.

Susie Valdez:
The hope is, let's fix it. They have a smartphone. Show them how to use it. Build the trust in them. Let them have communications with you where they know if something happens, they can come talk to you about it. That's right. Because okay. They're not perfect.

Susie Valdez:
They're kids. People are gonna reach out to them. That's the reality of it. Doesn't have to be on the phone. It could be anywhere. Right. But they need to know this doesn't feel right.

Mary Alessi:
Well, just like we're having to deal with like, I'll get a random text or Yes. The other day, I got that USPS email. You have a package or whatever, and that's how they clear out your bank account.

Susie Valdez:
Mhmm. I thank god

Mary Alessi:
all the time. Yes. But we talk about it. Hey. That is fraud. Don't click on that. Be protected.

Susie Valdez:
Yes.

Mary Alessi:
Protect your yourself from that. These these people steal your identity. That's the that's what we're talking about. Mhmm. Prepare your children from that perspective. Don't click on that. Let me see your phone. Entrust them

Susie Valdez:
Yes.

Mary Alessi:
To be respectful of the world that they're aware of. Yes. But not try to protect them from something. Sadly, that ship has sailed.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah. We definitely have to inform our friends. Now on the other end of it. Yeah. To the kids who have already gone through something, to the families who are already battling an event, there is hope. There is not you can't brush it under the rug and say, well, we went through counseling once and then say, we're not gonna talk about abuser. We don't talk about it. It didn't happen.

Susie Valdez:
We need to talk about it. We need to get the help. We need to bring people into this that know what they're doing. Yeah. Because if you brush it under the rug, it's gonna build up. So it's not too late if something happened. And I always like to let people know. There are people that are ready and willing to help.

Susie Valdez:
There are so many resources and organizations out there that no matter what the situation was, if you don't feel equipped, find someone who can do it. Yeah. Because you can't do it alone. That's another thing. The recovery will not happen alone. They need people around them. They're gonna need services. They're gonna as they get older, they're gonna need somebody to talk to.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah. And sometimes mom and dad is not it. The grandparent or the relative, that's not it. No. It's true. And I always like to say this. It's not black and white for the predator. The reason they're a predator is because at one time, they were a victim.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah. So, yes, justice has to be served. There are proper procedures that need to go into place, but they need help too. Yeah. So if there is somebody watching this or they know of somebody who is dealing with something, there's also help for those too. It's not just, well, the world is bad, and that's it. There's nothing to be done. No.

Susie Valdez:
If we help with the bad, if we fix the bad, if we treat the bad Yeah. We can bring more good into it. Yeah. We can. Because we stop the cycle. Right. That's the problem. We need to stop the demand.

Susie Valdez:
The sex industry is thriving. It's past drugs because you sell the drug once. You're right. It's consumed. That's it. But you can sell a victim of sex trafficking 8 to 10 times a day. My mind can't even process that. And that's just domestically in the US.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah. So if we end the demand, and it's gonna be a very hard demand to end.

Mary Alessi:
Right.

Susie Valdez:
But if we start treating the problem, we can get there. Right. And that's the problem.

Mary Alessi:
But you shut down the door. Yeah. You lock the door on, needless victims Exactly. By protecting our children Yep. Which is really horrific to even think that this is the reality we're in. Yeah. But we are. It's on the news every day.

Mary Alessi:
If you live in Miami, you know, you've gotta be awake and aware. But it is everywhere all over the world, and I'm grateful for somebody like you who says, I will take the charge, and I will go into a very dark traumatic environment.

Susie Valdez:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi:
And I will help bring healing and hope to people that are really feeling like it's hopeless, and they're at the end because of what has happened to them and how they've become victims. But you're saying you're seeing it every day. You are a part of helping heal something that is just the rest of us don't even wanna believe exists. Yeah. And we thank you for that. And what would you say to, let's say, somebody who is listening? And I pray that this does get into the those hands of people that have either been victimized in the past. Maybe they got away from it, but they're still struggling. Or something right now is happening, and, they don't know where to turn.

Susie Valdez:
What would you tell them? You can always go to law enforcement. You can always go to the hotline number, and we'll put the hotline number in the caption. Yeah. You can always make the call. You can always find someone. But the act of be making them a victim the reason we call them survivors is because victims are stuck in their scenario. Yes. Survivors are overcoming it.

Susie Valdez:
I love that. So a survivor of any form of crime or abuse, that does not define them. That is just a moment, something that took place, but that does not define their lives. That does not define their purpose. That does not define the rest of their life. So we need to fix that now, and we get past it. There is healing on the other side. Yes.

Susie Valdez:
There is hope on the other side. Maybe they're stuck in that. There are people ready the moment that call is made to come in and pick them up. Yeah. I've gotten calls on a Sunday morning, and then Oh. Jill gets upset because I had to leave church. But we are ready. That's what we do.

Susie Valdez:
That's why we're here. Rescue those. We are ready to go pick them up. And doesn't matter where they are. You're not too far. You're not too lost. You're not It's not hopeless. There is hope, and there is an opportunity.

Susie Valdez:
You just have to make the call.

Mary Alessi:
Have the courage to reach out and make that call. Yep. And, they'll see you. They'll see some of the women that you work with and some of the men that you work with Yeah. Come in and help rescue them. And I again, I'm just overwhelmed with you and, the calling that's on your life to do this. God raised you up for such a time as this, and we know this. In the darkest hours, God always raises up some of the strongest and brightest lights to rescue those who are victimized, but they're gonna turn that victimization into survival when they reach out and they have the courage to ask for help.

Mary Alessi:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. No. Thank you. We we could go on and on and on, but I think for the sake of our listener, we're gonna leave it there. If you want more information at all, please reach out to us. Let us know.

Mary Alessi:
We can get you in contact with Susie, the organization that she works with. That's what we wanna do. We wanna be a lifeline and a bridge to those who need healing in this area. And, wow. It's probably gonna take a minute to process this podcast, but we hope that you will share it again. Let everybody know about it. You never know when you click share, when you click like, who else might see it that is in dire need of a rescue. And, that could be somebody in your life you don't even know.

Mary Alessi:
So make sure you share this content. Again, thank you so much for watching, for listening. Stay on our page for more. We have so much contact, content coming up in this season. And Susie, again, thank you. Thanks for listening.

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