Hi, little guys. Hi. It's a nice trick.
It all started with rescuing animals
that had special needs. And for
15 years now, Bob Williams and his team
have been learning their stories. So
this is Daisy. She came
to us with a broken neck.
They learn and love these animals and
teach other people to love them too.
It's just great to see them and
the animals who have similar
past similar stories interact.
It's it's beautiful to just see.
I designed a program with the help of
professionals to be able to partner.
Abusing neglected animals with
abused and neglected kids. They
don't mess around when it comes to their hay.
On a typical week,
these stalls are filled with
kids who've come for counseling.
Veterans with PTSD and abuse victims
help with feeding and chores.
They come here to slow down and take this in.
But Williams wanted to do more
to serve more people,
people many often don't see.
So they expand
it. We were full within the first week,
and then the calls started coming in.
And then I started out saying, OK,
you know. We need 10 more beds.
And then I went to 25 and then I
went to 35 and now it's at 50, right?
And and but we could use 100 more beds.
What you're looking at is the first safe
house in the country fully dedicated
to male sex trafficking victims.
You're 13. Bob's House of Hope.
You can take it.
I was adopted at the age of four.
This victim agreed to tell me their story.
We've hidden their identity.
We had six other children.
I was kind of the outcast.
So I was the one who was always in
trouble and all types of stuff.
And when my parents finally got tired of it,
they put me on drugs at the age
of nine and at the age of 12.
This actually, they were the ones
who sold me to my trafficker.
They said the first time it happened
was after a concert with their dad.
He just left me there after the concert
and this one person just picked me up.
I started getting older and
it started happening more.
I finally realized what was happening.
And I didn't want to tell anybody
because I was embarrassed.
And I didn't want to tell anybody
because I was scared too.
They went through middle school and
high school here in North Texas,
addicted to hard drugs and
forced into sex trafficking.
By the time they were 18,
they were homeless.
They called a friend only
after surviving 1/3 overdose.
That put them in a coma.
This is that's normal.
I mean, what you were told,
all of them have been through
that or something very similar to
it. Landon Dixon is the executive
director here at Bob's House of Hope.
It's not just Texas. We're
serving all over the country. The
calls usually come from law enforcement
and other agencies that just don't know
what to do with victims when they're men.
Nobody is specialized in this.
Nobody even thinks of this.
They're having to bend protocols
and procedures and find new ways
of doing things because it's.
Never even occurred to them that it
could be a male being trafficked.
The cases are underreported across the board,
but for males, ignorance dwindles those
numbers even further. In 2012, the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes
estimated more than 1/4 of human
trafficking victims are males.
In 2017, the US State
Department released this PSA,
estimating about half of the world's
human trafficking victims as males,
citing the illegal commercial
sex industry as the most common
form here in the United States,
but acknowledging most programs and
resources are tailored for female victims.
For example,
the process of collecting evidence
after a man or boy has been assaulted.
Young man who needed a sane
exam and the doctor said,
well, we don't know how to do
that. So kicking you out a sane exam,
sometimes called a rape kit, is the
first step in a victim getting justice
against their attacker.
Dixon says the greatest barrier
to taking that step is a lack
of understanding about who
these victims are and what
this crime actually looks like.
A lot of people think this is a
strictly gay issue, and it's not.
Homosexuality doesn't really play
into it when it comes to abuse.
Many victims do identify as part of
the LGBTQ plus community. Many don't.
It's about exploitation, it's about power.
It's about money. It's about control.
It's not actually about sex.
Like with female victims,
it hides under the label of prostitution,
blending in with online sex ads.
In these cases, it is often
written off as promiscuity,
with secrecy anchored and fear.
The traffickers tell them that people
are just going to think that you're gay.
People are just going to think that
you're whatever the case may be.
And that is part of what keeps them silent
and for those who survive.
Years of abuse, addiction and
trauma take years to heal.
The risk to suicide,
self harm, substance abuse,
lifelong addiction issues,
mental health challenges
is exponentially high. Ohh,
these stories are really hard.
The second victim who wanted
to tell his story tried.
It's OK take a breath.
Don't apologize one.
Take a breath together.
He's only been at the
house for a few months.
It happens more than often.
The details were too much.
Sorry. That's OK, that's OK. The
kind of trauma reaction that you're
seeing is the product of repeated abuse.
It's a billion dollar business
with the boys in our program
when traffics since they were mid
teens and some as young as eight.
When you look at that issue,
right and then they turn 18,
how do you help them?
Offer hope for recovery from addiction,
healing from abuse framework for a real life.
I didn't even think I was going
to make it the first month.
I was already trying to
leave. Remember our first victim.
They're doing well in school and
celebrating sobriety milestones.
I'm excited for my future when I get to
the point in this program where I can
be independent, that I can pay forward.
The love and the care and help another person
out. Stories like these are starting
to bloom at Bob's House of Hope.
Signs of success. They beat me,
yeah, but before they can get there,
they have to be found.
I'm sorry we have to see them.
It was nice to meet you, too.
Thank you for doing this and we
appreciate it in North Texas.
I'm Morgan young.
Some admirable work being done there.
If you or someone you know may be a
victim of trafficking, there is help.
Specially trained advocates
are available to talk 24/7.
You can call them at
888-373-7888 or text the word help to
233733.