Living with drug-addicted grandparents, Hollie Daniels ended up on drugs herself, trying to escape a life she wasn’t prepared for. By age 15, she found herself involved in prostitution, and for 17 years she was in and out of the justice system.
According to her story (written by Maeve Walsh, and published on The Lantern website)
She said that no one, in the 17 years of being in and out of the criminal justice system, children’s services and foster care, asked her if she needed help.
Despite years of abuse, Daniels said she eventually escaped the system after a mental health professional encouraged her to attend a human trafficking counseling program.
Now, Daniels is putting herself through college and advocating for education of those who could help others avoid the life she led.
“A lot of you are students here at OSU — maybe service providers, medical professionals or doing some type of education — you’re going to be the one to intervene for people like me,” Daniels said. “If one of you intervened for me at a young age, my story would be completely different standing up here today. So be that person for that little girl because that’s what she needs.”
So, what does fashion have to do with this story? Well, if you haven’t already clicked on the link above, ladies from Unchained OSU, an undergraduate student organization at The Ohio State University, held their third-annual fashion show to spread awareness of human trafficking at Curl Hall.
“With more than 150 audience members, Unchained OSU raised about $800 from donations that will contribute to the Unchained Overcomer Scholarship. The scholarship is given to human trafficking survivors like Daniels to help fund their higher education,” says Rebecca Kuhr, a third-year in fashion and retail studies, as well as treasurer of Unchained OSU
.
“A big part of us raising awareness is prevention because some people don’t even know that they’re being trafficked or see the red flags of where it’s heading,” Kuhr said. “Hopefully it can prevent trafficking in some way.”
Full disclosure: Being an Ohio State alum and having a son who’s also an alum, I couldn’t be happier to see them caring for this cause.
Stock photo by Hale Phelps on Unsplash
