SEX TRAFFICKING BY THE NUMBERS:
(from Polaris Project)
14,597
Sex trafficking victims & survivors (identified)
4,312
Survivors called the trafficking hotline
33%
Were recruited by an intimate partner
17
Average age sex trafficking began
Where does sex trafficking happen?
I’m Pamela Rich and I’m here to tell you the scary truth about sex trafficking.
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t think about sex trafficking much—and if you do, you envision shipping containers arriving from overseas packed with girls and women who speak little English and have no family or other prospects.
But I was a victim of sex trafficking right here in Richmond, VA. My hometown. From ages 13-18.
I went to school with other kids. I lived at home most of the time. I even got a perfect score on my SAT.
If you can hear me, listen—before we can hope to do anything about this growing problem, first we need to change how we think about it as a society.
That’s why I speak.
Pamela is an informative, inspiring, and authentic storyteller with an unmatched sense of humor...she invites her audience to become a part of the narrative...to feel seen, heard, and empowered to create change.
—Erin Mahone, If You Could See Me
Audiences crave authenticity and academic authority
I offer both.
I hold an MS in Forensic Psychology and have been coaching people through their life's struggles for over 7 years. My clients come to me for a variety of reasons but one of the most often comments I receive is that my clients appreciate my lived experience, my working knowledge of psychological concerns, and the feeling that they can talk to me freely about their wants and needs.
And being trafficked for 5 years of my adolescence gives me an authentic dimension beyond just about anyone else in this field.
I offer your audience a unique emotional connection through my stories—so the stuff they’re learning comes to life in a deeper way than facts & figures alone.
It’s one thing to read an annual statistic...it’s something else entirely to hear the stories of teenage girls who went into motel rooms and never came out.
And don’t worry—I’m just as comfortable speaking before officers of the court as I am to an auditorium of college students. I’ll adjust my humor and language accordingly.
Public speaking & sex-trafficking education for:
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University students
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High school students
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Educators
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Law enforcement
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Policy makers
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Political teams
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Legal teams
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Corporate groups
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Rallies & marches
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Nonprofits & activists
AS SEEN IN:
Survivors Fight Back
Two survivors on Governor Youngkin’s Commission on Human Trafficking Prevention and Survivor Support, withTanya Gould, Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Office of the VA Attorney General.
My Amygdala is an Asshole
If I were a superhero, my power would be hypervigilance. My brain is different from yours because of my complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Here’s the story of an epic clash between me and my amygdala (the part of the brain in charge of emotion and fear response).
Don't Declaw Me
When you declaw a cat it takes away their sense of ownership and security in their space. And it makes them vulnerable to attack. When you tell me I can’t share my story and shred a room to ribbons, because it makes people uncomfortable—you’re trying to declaw me. Let’s stop declawing people.
If You Could See Me
Allison and I were locked in a closet together. She was 14. I was 15. I comforted her as best I could. She screamed when our trafficker dragged her away, and it was all I could hear in the dark. Until she stopped…
I tell my story for the countless women I saw silenced.