FROM SURVIVING
to Soaring!
EMBRACING SEX TRAFFICKING SURVIVORS WITH ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT AS THEY TRANSITION FROM SLAVERY TO A SAFE PLACE.
Sula's Story
"I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.”
- HARRIET TUBMAN
Take Flight Podcast is designed to empower survivors, believers, and freedom-seekers to break free from limitations, embrace healing, and walk in purpose. Hosted by Sula Lael—Transformation Strategist, Trafficking Survivor Expert, and Freedom Empowerment Consultant—each episode is packed with wisdom, real-life stories, and actionable steps to help you soar into the life you were created for.
Find resources for transportation, safe houses, immediate needs during transition from sex trafficking to FREEDOM.
Take Flight Academy exists to help survivors reclaim their identity and walk in joy—and to equip service providers with the spiritual and practical tools to serve them with wisdom, compassion, and power. Whether you're healing from trauma or called to help others soar, your journey starts here.
FACTS AND STATISTICS
It is very challenging to find accurate statistics and facts about sex trafficking, because this crime is under reported. The global statistics available reflect what is reported. Imagine how much greater the problem actually is!
The United States is one of the top 3 nations in which trafficking originates.
-U.S. Dept. of State Trafficking In Persons Report
Top 3 States in the USA where Sex Trafficking is Reported
1. California 2. Texas 3. Florida
-Polaris
Studies consistently report that 50-90% of child sex trafficking victims have been involved in the child welfare system.
-Child Welfare Information Gateway
The United States is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, transgender individuals, and children—both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals— subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.
-U.S. Dept. of State T.I.P.
Every 2 minutes a child is being prepared for sexual exploitation.
-Unicef
There are girls as young as 5 and 6 years old in the U.S. that are forced to do sexual acts for economic gain by their pimp.
–U.S. Department of Justice
In some cases children may be born into sex trafficking, or be forced into it as a toddler. Sex trafficking of those that are younger than 10 years old when they entered the life is perpetrated almost exclusively by family members, often a father or stepfather.
-THORN.org
The average age a girl enters the commercial sex trade is 12-14 years old. For boys, it’s even younger, just 11-13 years old.
-National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
4,500,000 are being trafficked for forced labor through sexual exploitation every year; this is in addition to the millions already held captive by trafficking.
–ILO
Each year, as many as 100,000-300,000 American children are at risk of being trafficked for commercial sex in the United States.
-U.S. Department of Justice
Field research in nine countries concluded that 60-75% of women in prostitution were raped, 70-95% were physically assaulted, and 68% met the criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the same range as treatment-seeking combat veterans.
-Farley, Melissa et al. 2003. "Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine Countries: An Update on Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." Journal of Trauma Practice
70% of female trafficking victims are trafficked into the commercial sex industry, including porn, stripping, and legal brothels.
-US Department of Justice, Assessment of US Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons
Up to 95% have a history of childhood sexual abuse.
-Melissa Farley, Prostitution and Sexual Violence Psychiatric Times
A study published in the scientific Journal of Trauma Practice found that 89% of women in prostitution wanted to escape but had no other means of survival.