While I’ve shot short form and “low-cost” video on my phone and with relatively non-fancy DSLRs, and have done basic editing, my role in most of the video projects I’ve participated involves scripts, shaping the story, and working with stakeholders and the video team to create cohesive and on-brand videos.

I don’t really consider myself the “storyteller” in these contexts, but the amplifier of a story that was lived and is owned by someone else. I tried to deeply root each story in the survivors own words, with clear and non-sensationalized context to support each quote.

Over the 11+ years REST has been walking alongside victims and survivors of sex trafficking and the sex trade, we’ve heard countless stories and reasons why survivors don’t feel welcome in churches—even when they are devout Christians.

That decision came over 300 years after interracial marriage was made illegal through colonial antimiscegenation laws. These laws vastly expanded a racist system of sexual exploitation—and we still see their impact in the sex trade today. 

While pornography is a sexually exploitative industry that objectifies, commodifies, and degrades individuals from every walk of life, it is often uniquely degrading and reliant on centuries-old racist stereotypes for people of color.

The thing is, there is no “fair trade” stamp for pornographic content—pornography consumers have no way of knowing if sexual acts they are viewing are consensual. There is no enforceable measure for “ethical production”. Even if it’s something that looks consensual or caring, there’s no guarantee that force, fraud, or coercion wasn’t involved.

At REST, we hear similar stories often—adults, who naturally hold the position of power in an adult/child relationship, twist and abuse their power to exploit, silence, and shame their victims—allowing for repeated and prolonged sexual abuse.

Housing and homelessness are near and dear to our hearts at REST, because we know it is one of the most significant hurdles for the individuals we serve. Without stable housing, it is often very difficult to achieve other goals—like getting out of the sex trade, addressing chemical dependency issues, or keeping your children safe and healthy.

Today, more than 200 years after Harriet Jacobs was born, we still see the impact of the slave trade and a social system that allows for the devaluation and oppression of marginalized individuals, in the sex trade. And we see it here in King County, Washington.