Survivors' Stories

Cycling For Change would like to acknowledge and support amazing survivors who are world changers.
We will be featuring a human trafficking survivors and their authored books here on our website.

Jasmine Grace - ​The Diary Of Jasmine Grace

In her true story, The Diary of Jasmine Grace, this modern-day abolitionist reflects on the values and experiences that influenced her. From dating a man who would eventually sell her body, to finding redemption in the back seat of a car, Jasmine reveals the strengths, vulnerabilities and processes that changed her.

She opens a door into her life as a prostitute, sharing her diary and the struggles that eventually landed her a seat in a 12-step program, a job in the anti-trafficking movement and a place in a community church. Speaking candidly about her years as a prostitute and heroin addict, Jasmine discusses how faith influenced her, and she sheds light on the road to recovery, relapse and redemption.

Carissa Phelps - Runaway Girl

Carissa Phelps was a runner. By the time she was twelve, she had run away from home, dropped out of school, and fled blindly into the arms of a brutal pimp. Even when she escaped him, she could not outrun the crushing inner pain of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. With little to hope for, she expected to end up in prison, or worse. But then her life was transformed through the unexpected kindness of a teacher and a counselor. Through small miracles, Carissa accomplished the unimaginable, graduating from UCLA with both a law degree and an MBA. She left the streets behind, yet found herself back, this time working to help homeless and at-risk youth discover their own paths to a better life. Like the multimillion-copy bestseller The Glass Castle, this memoir moves us through the power of its unflinching candor and generosity.

Rebecca Bender - In Pursuit of Love

Born and raised in a small Oregon town, all-American girl Rebecca Bender was a varsity athlete and honor roll student with a promising future. Then a predator pretending to be her boyfriend lured her into a web of lies that sent her down a path she never imagined possible. For nearly six years, Rebecca was sold across the underground world of sex trafficking in Las Vegas. She was branded, beaten, told when to sleep and what to wear, and traded between traffickers. Forced into a dark sisterhood, Rebecca formed bonds with her trafficker and three other women, creating a false sense of family. During that time, God began revealing himself to her. And in the midst of her exploitation, she found the hope she needed to survive. After a federal raid, Rebecca escaped. Her life was forever changed as she felt the embrace of her heavenly Father guiding her to healing and wholeness. Rebecca soon began to use her own experiences to change the lives of others as she went back into the darkest places she had known--assisting FBI, VICE, and law enforcement across the country in some of their most difficult cases. Through Rebecca's incredible story of redemption, we remember that our past does not have to determine our destiny.

Wendy Barnes - And Life Continues

Wendy Barnes was introduced to sex trafficking by her first love, the father of her children. And Life Continues is her story: how she became a victim of human trafficking, why she was unable to leave the man who enslaved her for fifteen years, and the obstacles she overcame to heal and rebuild her life after she was rescued. Wendy Barnes has worked very hard to create a "normal" life for herself. She holds down a full-time job and lives with her daughter in Orange County, California. Grateful to have a close relationship with her brothers, sister, and kids, she loves the simple, calm life with occasional visits from her sons and family trips to Disneyland. She enjoys helping other survivors understand that healing is a lifelong journey, but one that can be achieved with commitment, good choices, and a heart open to accepting a helping hand here and there along the way.

Holly Austin Smith - Walking Prey

Today, two cultural forces are converging to make America's youth easy targets for sex traffickers. Younger and younger girls are engaging in adult sexual attitudes and practices, and the pressure to conform means thousands have little self-worth and are vulnerable to exploitation. At the same time, thanks to social media, texting, and chatting services, predators are able to ferret out their victims more easily than ever before. In Walking Prey, advocate and former victim Holly Austin Smith shows how middle class suburban communities are fast becoming the new epicenter of sex trafficking in America. Smith speaks from experience: Without consistent positive guidance or engagement, Holly was ripe for exploitation at age fourteen. A chance encounter with an older man led her to run away from home, and she soon found herself on the streets of Atlantic City. Her experience led her, two decades later, to become one of the foremost advocates for trafficking victims. Smith argues that these young women should be treated as victims by law enforcement, but that too often the criminal justice system lacks the resources and training to prevent the vicious cycle of prostitution. This is a clarion call to take a sharp look at one of the most striking human rights abuses, and one that is going on in our own backyard.

Rachel Lloyd - Girls Like Us

With the power and verity of First They Killed My Father and A Long Way Gone, Rachel Lloyd’s riveting survivor story is the true tale of her hard-won escape from the commercial sex industry and her bold founding of GEMS, New York City’s Girls Education and Mentoring Service, to help countless other young girls escape "the life." Lloyd’s unflinchingly honest memoir is a powerful and unforgettable story of inhuman abuse, enduring hope, and the promise of redemption. In Girls Like Us, Lloyd reveals the dark world of commercial sex trafficking in cinematic detail and tells the story of her groundbreaking nonprofit organization: GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. With great humanity, she shares the stories of the girls whose lives GEMS has helped—small victories that have healed her wounds and made her whole. Revelatory, authentic, and brave, Girls Like Us is an unforgettable memoir.

Annie Lobert - Fallen

When Annie grabbed at what looked like an opportunity to escape her tumultuous, abuse-filled home, she had never heard the term “sex trafficking.” Needing money, wanting to be loved, and desperately seeking control of her life, she stumbled into the ever-darkening world of the sex industry as a glamorous, high-class escort in Las Vegas. All that glittered was not gold. She embarked on a dangerous path toward self-destruction. She lost everything she envisioned her new life would bring her, even her own identity. Beatings, abandonment, and death threats became routine — she often wondered if dying would be the best way out.

Shyima Hall - Hidden Girl

Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt’s capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima’s servitude—but her journey to true freedom was far from over. A volunteer at her local police department since she was a teenager, Shyima is passionate about helping to rescue others who are in bondage. Now a US citizen, she regularly speaks out about human trafficking and intends to one day become an immigration officer. In Hidden Girl, Shyima candidly reveals how she overcame her harrowing circumstances and brings vital awareness to a timely and relevant topic.

Barbara Amaya - Nobody's Girl

Sexual abuse, human trafficking, drug addiction, rape, prison, and domestic violence—Barbara Amaya experienced it all on first on the streets of Washington DC and then New York City, most of it before her sixteenth birthday. In Nobody’s Girl she shares her journey from trafficking victim to human rights advocate, weaving together a story of loss, pain, courage, and transformation. Barbara Amaya is an award-winning advocate and author currently living in the Washington D.C. area. Today her life's purpose is doing whatever she can to give a voice to those who have none and to ensure that human rights for all are fully recognized. Nobody's Girl received best memoir at the 2015 TAZ awards, Foreword Reviews gave Nobody's Girl five hearts and also one of Fall 2015's Best Memoirs.

Theresa Flores - The Slave Across the Street

Since The Slave Across the Street was first published, Theresa Flores has become a leading human trafficking subject matter expert and activist. But reaching this point in her recovery didn't happen overnight. This updated edition delves deeper into the aftermath of her experience, physical and emotional implications, and multiple levels of trauma that trafficking can have upon a person.In this powerful true story, Theresa shares how her life as an all-American 15-year-old teenager became enslaved into the dangerous world of sex trafficking all while living at home with unsuspecting parents in an upper middle-class suburb of Detroit.

Her story peels the cover off this horrific criminal activity and gives both dedicated activists and casual bystanders a glimpse into the underbelly of human trafficking and tools to help stop it. Theresa shares about the aftereffects of trafficking and how her faith set her on a spiritual journey to help others. Theresa's experience provides a well-rounded portrait of the dark world of human trafficking and serves as a reminder of the most important element to overcoming slavery: hope.

Sophie Hayes - Trafficked

The haunting, unforgettable memoir that took the UK by storm, Trafficked is a gripping first-hand account of a young woman who survived the horrors of human trafficking. Sophie Hayes, a young, educated English woman, was spending an idyllic weekend in Italy with her seemingly charming boyfriend. But the day of her return home, he made it clear she wasn't going anywhere. Punching and shouting at her, he threatened to kill her adored younger brothers if she didn't cooperate to help him pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars he'd racked up in debts. Over the next six months, Sophie is forced to work as a prostitute in a country where she didn't speak the language, nobody knows her whereabouts, and escape seems impossible. She struggles to survive, constantly at the mercy of her boyfriend's violent moods and living in fear of being killed by any of her customers. When a life-threatening illness lands her in the hospital, Sophie has a chance to phone her mother and escape—if her boyfriend doesn't get to her first.

Megan Stephens - Bought and Sold

A heart-stopping story of lies brutality and fear. British girl Megan Stephens tells the true story of how an idyllic Mediterranean holiday turned into an unimaginable nightmare when she was tricked into becoming a victim of human trafficking and held captive for six years by deception, threats and violence. While on holiday with her mother at a popular Mediterranean coastal resort, Megan fell in love. Just 14 years old, naïve and vulnerable, she had no reason to suspect that the man who said he loved her would commit the ultimate betrayal of her trust. When her mother returned to England, Megan stayed with Jak, who said he would find her a job as a waitress and promised they would be together forever. But when Megan travelled to the city with Jak, his attitude quickly changed and instead of finding her work as a waitress, he allowed her to be raped and then sold her to a human trafficker.