Katie Ford’s ‘long but not impossible’ battle against human trafficking

People know Katie Ford as the former CEO of modeling agency Ford Models in New York City. But to Filipino human trafficking survivors, she is Mommy Katie.

For the past nine years, Katie has been visiting the Center for Hope shelter in the Philippines and helping victims reclaim their lives.

Center for Hope, a program started by the local non-government organization (NGO) Voice of the Free, is home to 44 girls, ages 4 to 25 years old -- all of them victims of sex trafficking.

Formerly called the Visayan Forum Foundation, Voice of the Free had partnered with Katie's own organization, Freedom for All, which combats sex trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, and child labor worldwide.

"I love the children. Now over nine years, I've watched kids grow up, the ones who live there," she told GMA News Online.

Until 2007, Katie had been helping aspiring models from all over the world build their careers in modeling. Now, she is helping women and children rebuild their lives after falling victim to different kinds of violence and trafficking.

The change in vocation came when Katie attended a human trafficking conference at the United Nations.

"I was just so horrified. I had no idea that people were in slavery today. I couldn't believe it," she recalled.

"Having worked with young women, who came from all over the world, as CEO of Ford Models, I really could understand how vulnerable people are," Katie explained. "And it didn't take having a gun to your head to be vulnerable. You're new in a country, you don't know where you are, you don't know the language, and so you don't even know where you are when people are taking you somewhere."

Katie traveled all over the world, meeting trafficking victims and connecting with local NGOs and agencies that share her advocacy.

"First of all, the victims, I can't say there's exactly one thing they have in common, the situations are just so different. But when you understand the definition of forced to work without pay, under the threat of violence and they cannot walk away, they have that in common. When they get out, all I can say is with a little healing time, they're fierce," she said.

Terrible

Katie was appalled by what traffickers were doing in the Philippines.

"It's terrible. The human trafficking here is just terrible. There is every form of trafficking, there's a lot of labor trafficking because they travel abroad. There are also a lot of poor people who have a dream of a better life and are willing to take risks," she said.

The issue of human trafficking is not largely discussed in the country, despite the numerous victims, and despite the Philippines being the fourth largest source of migrant workers who are vulnerable to labor trafficking.

The Philippines is also plagued with calamities and conflicts, two situations that traffickers take advantage of to dupe their victims.

Voice of the Free Founding President Cecila Flores-Oebanda meanwhile said that the dangers of human trafficking should be considered during the rehabilitation process.

"Every time there's a natural or man-made disaster there's a spike in the numbers of human trafficking. After Yolanda, we were able to intercept 30 girls in Northern Samar," she said during a Charity Talk in Manila House BGC.

"We need to be faster than the traffickers... we intercept, we cannot always be there. Sometimes the traffickers are faster than the relief goods," she added.

Katie also pointed out that Filipino children should be educated about human trafficking as this would later lower the chance of falling prey to it.

‘My heart broke’

The stories of those trafficked were violent, heartbreaking, tragic, and harrowing.

Thus, helping even just one person was a rewarding.

"It's a big deal, it's really a big deal. You know what a little girl said to me when I brought pictures of the people who had helped support them... One said, 'Why did they care about us?'" she recounted.

"My heart broke. Because their families didn't care, they didn't have any of the things to fall on that most of us have."

Despite the uphill battle, Katie said that she was hopeful matters would improve in the long run.

"As people go up in economic scale, their children get more education. Each generation changes. It's a long battle, but not an impossible battle," she said.

"What keeps me going is watching how people change." — DVM, GMA News