September 25, 2024 – Human trafficking prevention and rescue organization Breaking the Chains (BTC) celebrated their fourth annual “Forever Freedom Celebration” on Friday evening of the 20th.
This was an event celebrating the efforts of heroes who have combatted the issue of human trafficking and gave back a life to survivors after their horrific experiences of sexual abuse in the system.
Specifically, it brings attention to the law enforcement officials who partner with BTC in rescuing the individuals impacted by human trafficking, which BTC thereafter take under their wing to provide healing, rehabilitation, and transformed lives.
BTC was started in 2014, after the CEO and founder Debra Rush was on a journey of healing from her own experience as a survivor. She founded the organization with Tiffany Apodaca, herself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and abandonment.
This year’s celebration is an especially poignant one for Rush, whose daughter Kendra was tragically killed in a shooting in an LA neighborhood this past June.
Despite this tragedy, however, she is still strongly fighting against the issue of trafficking in Fresno County, where the trafficking rate is especially high compared to other cities in the nation.
Apodaca, speaking about the importance of this event celebrating the efforts of local law enforcement, explained how they wanted to show their appreciation for their efforts in fighting against trafficking in Fresno County.
She expressed that many officers only see the first part – the rescue – of the victims, not knowing how they ended up or what became of them.
“We get to see [the victims] from the point of contact and all the way through, the officers don’t, they just make the connection with us. They don’t actually…get to see where it goes and what difference they made in that moment just by connecting them to us,” Apodaca stated.
She further commented that if it were not for the law enforcement intervening in these situations, BTC would not be able to provide those rehabilitation services to the people who get out.
Apodaca and others also recognized how these law enforcement and other supporters saw beyond the facade of survivors being identified as perpetrators in the public’s perception.
One of these officers was Curtis Chastain, who has been retired from the Fresno Police Department for five years and was originally very involved with BTC when it was first founded.
At the time BTC was founded, Chastain was the supervisor of a new trafficking task force within Fresno PD. He explained, “it was kind of a paradigm trip, because law enforcement traditionally had thought of it being…a victimless crime.”
This perception stemmed from the individuals being convicted of prostitution and being involved in the drug trade, which Apodaca attributed to their trauma from the sexual abuse they faced.
Apodaca explained how trafficking being viewed as a victimless crime has hurt victims from potentially seeking help as well. She stated, “It could be somebody [as young as] between 9 and 12 years old, that has been sold by their family, or might be in the foster system, and was trafficked that way.”
When Chastain and the task force switched their perception of trafficking being a victimless crime to one that did have victims, things changed dramatically.
“If we arrested one pimp out of the year and got him convicted, that was a good year, sadly,” Chastain stated. “We started investigating from the victim’s standpoint and offering them the resources…we were so successful our first year we convicted over 15.”
He also commended people such as Rush in partnering with law enforcement to make this change possible, allowing survivors to have a path forward after the horrific abuse they endure.
The current Board President of BTC, Don Eskes, also spoke about how impactful local law enforcement has been in this organization. “[Tonight] we’re honoring our partner agencies, which are all the law enforcement agencies. We couldn’t do it without them and they couldn’t do it without us.”
Going forward, these individuals look to a hopeful future in which they can intervene in the lives of these victims to a further extent and continue honoring the law enforcement who serve that mission. Those wishing to give back and support the BTC’s goal are encouraged to give on their website at www.btcfresno.org.