Magdalene House Austin creates home for sex trafficking survivors

Imagine living a life where someone else has complete authority over you. This is the life of many women who have been sex trafficked. Toni McKinley, executive director of Magdalene House Austin, Texas works face-to-face with female survivors of sex trafficking. 

“Magdalene House is a survivor-led program that assists women with resources they need,” McKinley said. “Things like housing, medical care, jobs, transportation and the education of basic life skills so they can get on their feet.” 

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Founded in 2016, Magdalene House Austin is the first long term residential program in Central Texas built on holistic care. The program offers free long-term housing up to two years, access to healthcare services, counseling and job training. Women become personally and financially self-sufficient by living in community with other survivors through this model.  

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According to Magdalene House, 84% of the survivors graduate from the program clean and sober. McKinley explains that the success of this program is dependent on the willingness of the women to make change. 

“Magdalene house is not a safe house,” McKinley said. “It’s a place for women to get on their feet, heal generational patterning, and get into the community. If they are looking for a place to hide from their pimp, this isn’t the place.” 

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Like most local organizations involving survivors of trafficking, referrals often come from the FBI, state correctional facilities and advocacy organizations. 

Donald Asper, special agent for the FBI’s Division of Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking, explains the role of the FBI in recovering victims.   

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“In the FBI, we take a victim-centered approach,” Asper said. “Sometimes we find that these offenders are brutally beating these women, sexually abusing them and sometimes locking them in cages. Some of the worst things you can imagine.”

He explains how the victim-centered approach helps the victims. “Back in the old days, there wasn’t much after-care resources for the victims but now our approach is to really take care using our team of victim specialists to get them what they need once they have been recovered,” Asper said. 

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The investigations of human and sex trafficking is no simple task. Asper explained social media platforms through the internet have become the primary modality in which individuals are trafficked. This yields a higher demand for cyber security in law enforcement. 

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Asper said that the biggest misconception of sex trafficking is drug abuse. If a trafficker is involved, they want their girls clean and not on drugs. This makes them more valuable.

“The other aspect is that some of the women are doing it on their own, even teenagers,” Asper said. “Many of them are run-aways and then become lured by traffickers.” 

“Historically speaking numbers, the average age is about 14 when they get involved with the life,” Asper said. “And often times they aren’t recovered until way later in their adult years.” 

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McKinley explains how the community can contribute to this issue through financial donations or volunteering by teaching a life skill workshop. 

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“No one likes to ask for this, but money is one of the most beneficial ways to contribute,” McKinley said. “If that is not feasible, the sharing of any life skills is huge for these women. They are grateful and eager to learn anything that will be helpful for life.”