Safe Haven for Sex-Trafficked Minors has Wait List, Poised for Growth

At first glance, the large house on a hill north of Sacramento suggests nothing out of the ordinary, sitting quietly amid dusty rolling foothills.

Inside, six girls seek refuge from a world that had forced them into childhoods working as prostitutes. On this 52-acre parcel, they enjoy anonymity and safety, from pimps, former customers, even their own parents.

On a recent blistering hot day in September, one of the girls, with her dark hair shaped into a ponytail, hopped on a Razor scooter, then rode to a nearby barn to tend to one of seven horses inside. She is 14 years old and had been forced into prostitution for two years in Bakersfield before coming to Courage House.

“All of the girls have (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms,” said Jenny Williamson, founder of Courage House and Courage Worldwide, the nonprofit group that runs the center. “The trauma they’ve experienced – thousands of rapes – requires a great deal of time and intentional therapy for healing.”

Sex trafficking victim shares story

On her sixth birthday, Liz Williamson was sold into the sex industry.

Her mother wanted to make money off child pornography.

Then, through age 18, on most nights, Liz was raped.

It happened in her house on the East Coast and throughout the United States, including in Jackson.

Men paid to have sex with her, and her mother told her, “Smile, look pretty, and do whatever he says if you love me,” Liz said.

Despite being surrounded by L’Oréal Paris’ influential Women of Worth contenders at the ninth annual gala on Tuesday night at The Pierre hotel, Rupert Friend, who arrived hand in hand with fiancé and L’Oréal ambassador Aimee Mullins, was fangirled by attendees.

Friend posed for photos happily, but he put forth his utmost charm making the night about the women being honored and supporting Mullins by holding her clutch and scarf.

Every year, L’Oréal Paris’s Women of Worth program honors extraordinary and selfless women of all ages who follow their hearts to make significant changes in their communities. Through helping fight drug addiction, helping homeless veterans, providing proper health care for children, creating a shelter for young victims of human trafficking, and more, these women are certainly noteworthy. As in the past, each honoree received $10,000 for her charitable cause and was brilliantly recognized.

Last night we had the honor of joining L’Oreal Paris for their 9th Annual Women of Worth event, which celebrates the work of 10 extraordinary women who have made a difference in their community with utter bravery and perseverance. During the evening, a convoy of famous women — including Diane Keaton, Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, Eva Longoria, Andie MacDowell, and Aimee Mullins — presented each nominee with tug-at-your-heartstrings candor and shined a light on their altruistic work.

“When a woman feels empowered, she will never feel like a victim to anyone or anything.”

President of L’Oréal Paris Karen T. Fondu opened the 2014 L’Oréal Paris Women Of Worth event perfectly with one powerful statement. Now in its ninth year, Women Of Worth recognizes 10 remarkable women for whom the term “worthy” feels wildly insufficient. The 2014 honorees, and their stories of perseverance and survival, are no exception.

This year’s honorees were celebrated at the annual gala in New York City on Dec. 2 by friends, family and some very famous admirers. These women of exceptional worth were introduced by L’Oréal Paris ambassadors Eva Longoria, Blake Lively, Diane Keaton, Julianne Moore, Andie MacDowell and Aimee Mullins as well as MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski, “The Today Show’s” Hoda Kotb and 2013 national honoree Lauren Book.

Jenny Williamson of Rocklin is a mother of three sons who is being honored in New York by L’Oreal of Paris as a “Woman of Worth” for her dedicated effort to help girls rescued from sex trafficking begin a new life through her non-profit, Courage Worldwide. “We have turned away over 80 kids this past year because we have limited capacity,” she said, “This recognition means that we can get the exposure and potential funding to build more cottages and house 60 more girls rescued from sex trafficking.” Williamson will be awarded $10,000 for her charity and will join nine other inspiring women in NYC on Dec. 2 for a very special evening in their honor.

Gary Davis smiles as the aroma of roasting coffee beans begins to fill the crowded back room, a bucket of Rwanda now, a load of Guatemala later. A few footsteps away, customers at his newly opened Grace Coffee Roasters location in Elk Grove trickle in for a late-morning cup.

It’s perhaps an unlikely career move for Davis, who is Elk Grove’s mayor and works for the California Charter Schools Association. But it stems from a dream he’s held since his college days at California State University, Sacramento, and, he says, a need to make a difference.

“I don’t remember life without sexual abuse and torment. It was my reality. Believing in anything else was foolish.”

So begins the story, in her own words, of a girl who at one time found solace from abuse through Courage House, a local recovery facility looking to rescue girls from sex trafficking.

Since 2006, more than 250 girls under 18 have been rescued from sex trafficking in Sacramento, a hub on the West Coast “circuit” that includes San Francisco and Reno, Portland and Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles and beyond. But in the Capital Region, the FBI, churches and nonprofits have decided to fight back, and together they are rescuing these children one at a time.

By: Teresa O’Hanlon, Placer Herald Correspondent
Published: April 13, 2011

She was escaping from sexual abuse the only way she knew how, and that meant running away.

A teenager from Placer County who would eventually spend time in 11 different foster care and group homes. Escaping to the streets again, only to end up emotionally entrapped in a Sacramento sex trafficking business so deep underground, no one can even estimate the number of victims.

Jenny Williamson of Rocklin said she would never forget hearing this victim’s story. Read More