Jasmine Ortiz
Sex Trafficking Survivor; Consultant; Advocate
From the age of three until she fled her home at fourteen, Jasmine Ortiz was sold for sex by her grandfather, two uncles, and an aunt. Sexual abuse in Mrs. Ortiz’s family was multigenerational. As a child, Ms. Ortiz’s body was offered up to her uncle’s landlord in lieu of him having to pay rent, and to drug dealers in exchange for drugs, and to neighbors for money. Although surviving her past was a long battle—during which her PSTD was misdiagnosed as bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia and she spent three years in and out of psychiatric wards, losing full custody of her three children in the process—Mrs. Ortiz is today a devoted wife and mother. She is also a public speaker, consultant, and advocate with lived experience in human trafficking and domestic violence. Because in her work with survivors, Mrs. Ortiz sees how frequently their PTSD is misdiagnosed in the same way that hers was, she is also committed to helping survivors get proper diagnoses to avoid further repeats of her own experience.
“New Yorkers need to know that sex trafficking of children is happening right now in our own backyards. Familial trafficking is perhaps the most prevalent — but also the most hidden — form of sex trafficking. If you see a lot of men coming in and out of a family home, that can be a sign.”
