Their Stories: Audrey Morrissey

“My daughter was one when I started the life. I was 16 and in love with her father, and he made me work on the streets for money. I didn’t want to go out there, but once I’d started it didn’t seem like I could do anything else. I’d think, ‘Once a ho, always a ho.’”

“I worked all night, until about 5 a.m. Daylight was an enemy. My main concern was whether I’d live or die. I was often afraid that this would be the last car I got into. The other concern was if I’d make enough money to keep peace in the house – to keep my daughter’s father happy.”

“In those days, they still arrested minors, and one of the biggest challenges was ducking the police. Another was seeing my family, especially my daughter. I was full of shame to be absent for days in a row and doing what I was doing.”

“Now I live with my youngest daughter, and each day I wake up and think, ‘God is good.’ I go to the gym, have a shake for breakfast, then get to the office. I schedule visits with the girls I mentor, which range from helping them apply for GED programs to just spending time with them.”

“Sometimes I have to fight back tears. If I pay a visit to a child who is still being exploited, it’s often very emotional, because I have been there. I know what they are feeling. In situations like these, I am very empathetic and I let her know that I’m there for her no matter what and this is a judgment-free relationship.”

“My vision for My Life My Choice is to have our own space with clinical services and education amenities. I would love to have a place for children to stay when they are midway or on the run, a space where they can just hang out for the day, shower, lounge, and eat. I would like to write a book.”

“A successful day is when I make my visits and all the girls are still on the right path for recovery. When I walk in, their eyes light up. I hear, ‘Audrey, if you can do it, I can do it, too. I will remain strong and overcome this.’ I’m inspired by the girls I mentor and by other survivor leaders who have been doing this work for a long time, like Rachel Lloyd.”

“Sex trafficking is happening right in your back yard. Just because your street appears to be clean, doesn’t mean it is. When I was in the life, I was visible, people saw me. But the children today are put in hotel rooms and no one knows that they are in there, except for the pimps and the stream of johns.”

Audrey Morrissey is the associate director of My Life My Choice, a survivor-led organization in Boston, MA that provides mentorship to girls who have been trafficked. After enduring years of exploitation and drug addiction, she is working to empower other survivors and to end the sexual exploitation of young people.

Photos: 1, 4, 6, and 7: Paddy Cashin; 2, 3, and 8: Audrey Hall for Show of Force