With less than 50 beds for child sex trafficking victims in the state, a lot of times victims end up having to stay in juvenile detention centers. It’s something a group of Lubbock women hope to change with a new facility, first of it’s kind in this region.

Gloria Toti is one of the Lubbock women who have helped to organize the shelter, ‘One Voice Home‘ is going to act as a campus for victims 18 and younger. It will be located on a West Texas ranch.

“If they are trafficked at a young age then they need to have the normalcy of life that they have never known and so its going to be long term care, these girls will be offered emotional care, health care, education, therapy, extracurricular,” Toti said. 

  • According to the rape crisis center, Voice of Hope, in 2016 this area had 55 cases of human trafficking. 
  • The average age of a trafficking victim is 12 years old. 
  • Approximately 79,000 minors and youth are victims of sex trafficking in Texas. 

“This is human trafficking, it’s  modern day slavery but you are held against your will as a sex slave, It just hurts my heart to even say,” Toti said.

They hope to have the shelter built by the end of the year and they are asking local churches and groups to help them get on board with their journey.