Amid Human Trafficking Awareness Month, a Connecticut woman is making it her mission to help victims and spread awareness by talking about her own experiences.
“I let my fear go. And letting go of that big fear allowed me to see the human heroes and live,” Ashley Phan said.
Phan opens up about being a survivor of human trafficking during a human rights event at West Hartford Town Hall.
The crime can take on many forms, from being forced to do labor, like Phan was as a child, or being coerced into a sex act.
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“My trafficker, which was someone in my family, exploited the home daycare system,” she said.
Phan recalls having to work in a daycare with no pay and very little time for schoolwork or education. At the time, she didn’t know she was being trafficked as free labor and kept a low profile at school.
“It looks like going to Branford's public schools. It looks like, having some friends, like, kind of knew you, but kind of didn't,” she said.
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Phan eventually went to college but didn’t realize until later in life that she was a victim of human trafficking. She said that realization was hard to process at first.
“As hard as that is for people to understand, a lot of time, like, there was love and exploitation and they coexisted in the same space,” Phan said.
She turned her pain into purpose starting the nonprofit We Are One, focused on raising awareness about human and sex trafficking in Connecticut, and helping victims.
Her goal is to tackle the root causes of the issue.
“That's poverty, poverty and lack of education. And unfortunately, not enough housing,” Phan said.
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 63 victims in Connecticut in 2023. Phan said she believes that’s an undercount, saying about 350 victims got assistance last year from her nonprofit.
“It takes time to have them come forward,” she said.
The chair of the West Hartford Human Rights Commission, Mark Linabury, said Phan’s story isn’t often heard publicly and applauded her work.
“It's huge. And it takes a lot of courage to be able to speak your truth, but you need to really speak your truth,” he said.
Phan said her focus is on continuing to spread awareness.
“I'm very passionate about the work. But, honestly, I do it for the next generation,” she said.
Phan works with a handful of groups in our state, from the Lions Club to North Branford police and even was recently nominated for a Department of Justice survivor voices award.
If you or a loved one believes they are in danger, you can call the human trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888.