FACSAFoundation.org Shattering The Silence Tour Documentary Project February 2015 Volume 3 | Page 57
For the past 32 years I have been the mother of 4 beautiful daughters and now I am
the grandmother of 4 delightful grandchildren. I can definitely say that being a
parent is a huge part of who and what I am. I love them all and I am so proud of
every one of them.
March 28, 2006 the course of my life changed dramatically when my 2nd oldest
daughter, Jessie Foster, went missing. We (her family and friends) knew from the
first day that something was terribly wrong because Jessie was in constant contact
with us every day she was away from home. It was after we hired a private
investigator that I knew Jessie was taken away against her will and was forced to
work as a prostitute – that Jessie was the victim of human trafficking.
Jessie was lured from her home in Canada to the USA by a sex-trafficker
supposedly bringing her on a vacation, who consequently entrapped her into the
sex-trade world in Las Vegas, NV after ‘breaking’ her in three other U.S. cities
deemed hubs for human trafficking by the FBI (just like in the movies, but this is
not a movie, it is a living nightmare). A huge market for human trafficking is
always waiting in Las Vegas, Nevada . . . A.K.A.: SIN CITY, where she was
introduced to two other pimps (human traffickers) which lead to more brutality and
sex slavery . . . ultimately leading to her disappearance almost five years ago.
I did not have a choice for this to happen, neither did Jessie – so I have CHOSEN
to do everything that is within my power to stop this from happening to others. I do
not want another person to experience the unimaginable horror that Jessie has and I
do not want another mother to suffer the agony of losing her daughter to such
despicable people. Since Jessie has been missing I have been crusading against
human trafficking by educating students in our local high schools and attending
human trafficking events to educate myself and talk about Jessie’s case. I also
testified twice in Ottawa in support of Bill C-36, now Canada’s first antiprostitution law … dubbed “Jessie’s Law” due to the fact she is like the poster
child for human trafficking in our country. I’m amazed at the amount of the
knowledge I have gained and that I am able to share Jessie’s dreadful story in such
a compelling way.
There have been many books written and published that include Jessie’s case,
including INVISIBLE CHAINS: Canada’s Underground World of Human
Trafficking by University of British Columbia Assistant Professor of Law,
Benjamin Perrin and MEMOIRS OF A SEX SLAVE by human trafficking
survivor and the founder of the human trafficking organization Walk-With-Me,