Join us on Tuesday, March 10^th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm for a very special program entitled Sex Trafficking 101. RSVP is required and location will be sent to you once you rsvp below. You will learn what trafficking is, how youth are lured into this trap and the current state of trafficking in Texas. You will also learn about opportunities to become involved in restoring the lives of the young women who have been trafficking victims. This program is appropriate for those who are interested in becoming better informed about this issue and/or for those who are considering the possibility of volunteering.
 
Trafficking is a growing criminal industry in our state and in our city. Approximately 79,000 youth up to the age of 25 are being trafficked in Texas right now. Magdalene House ATX will be a place of safety and restoration for trafficked young women. The crime of sex trafficking is one of the worst traumas that can happen to a human being. It will take a community for these women to find restoration and healing and that is what Magdalene House is going to be.
 
Magdalene House ATX is modeled after Thistle Farms and Magdalene Nashville, founded by Becca Stevens in 1997. Their social enterprise, Thistle Farms, is now the largest survivor-run small business in the United States, and their model has spread to over 30 communities across the country. In twenty years of operations in Nashville, they have found that every single woman who enters their program has a story that begins with a rape – the average age of the first assault is between 7-11.  The average age these women began living on the streets is between 14-16.  Many of them have spent decades battling through repeated rapes, violence, other trauma, and drug addiction. The Magdalene Nashville residential community recovery program has achieved stunning results.  In its twenty years of operation, 84% of the women who enter the program graduate clean and sober two years later.  Two-thirds have maintained long-term sobriety and economic self-sufficiency living independently after graduation. Magdalene House ATX, opening this year, will follow the model of Magdalene House Nashville.

Magdalene House of Austin was chartered in 2016 due to a lack of long-term, holistic care for adult survivors of sex trafficking in the Austin area. When a victim is released from jail or their captor, in many situations the survivor doesn’t have a support system like a permanent place to live, or the training to hold a job to prevent them from going back to the street. Most rehabilitation centers for human trafficking are for minors, and while there are a handful of short-term emergency care operations for adults, there is an enormous need for long-term care in the state of Texas, nationally-ranked as one of the top three states for sex trafficking.  Often times survivors will land in a short-term facility, but never heal from their trauma which leads to lifetime revictimization. The women involved have nowhere to go. Many have been arrested more than 30 times because they don’t have a place to live and receive counseling. As a result, survivors often return to their trafficker, or the streets, for lack of a better option. Magdalene House ATX will provide a better option and be a sanctuary for healing. As the first long-term residential program in central Texas, Magdalene House ATX will offer a life in community that empowers survivors to create an independent and meaningful future.