Anne Bissell spoke at a Convocation event in Elkins Auditorium on Monday about the unknown horrors of child sex trafficking as part of the International Justice Mission’s “Abolition Week.”
Bissell who had been sexually exploited in Africa as a youth by her step-father is now the director and founder of the Silver Braid a charity organization dedicated to helping victims of the sex industry.
Bissell also authored a book titled “Memoirs of a Sex Industry Survivor.”
International Justice Mission (IJM) sponsored Abolition Week to bring attention to the 27 million people living in slavery today and to advocate action.
After Bissell’s talk she spared a few moments to answer some questions about her experience.Graphic: How did your past influence you in what you do with the Silver Braid?Anne Bissell: It completely influenced me. I don’t think I’d have the heart and the compassion for this work if I hadn’t directly gone through all of it as a survivor. There’s an expression that if you give out of where you’ve been wounded it helps you find out what your true mission should be.” So I feel like with the Silver Braid I’m definitely giving back where I’ve been hurt.
G: Is it hard that your mission— your calling— has to do with recalling these memories?AB: Very much so. Yeah because it’s one of the reasons I don’t do as much direct contact with survivors and I don’t do that program at the prisons anymore because by the time I would leave I was just so hurt and flattened by it I couldn’t even take it. Just to hear each story— each story is just worse than the other. It does get hard. I prefer right now to be at the solution end of it. I feel that’s what I’ve accomplished.
G: Do you see some glimmers of hope?AB: Very much so. I mean something like this? [She indicated the standing-room-only crowd in Elkins] Look at the impact this could have you never know. You guys are so bright so young…
G: And hope with your foundation?AB: Well you know it is a charity. All we need the right sponsor or someone to find out about silverbraid.com. We are a California nonprofit. So eventually if we get enough funding we could have Silver Braid safe houses where we could send the child trafficking victims.
G: I don’t think anyone was expecting you to try and make us laugh tonight.AB: Ha ha but I did it anyway.
G: Any insight on why you think that laughter alongside such a serious topic is important?AB: You have to break the ice a little bit. Because people get really… It’s just who I am too. I’ve used it as a healing tool. I just find it’s necessary for my own survival— and healing. So it helps me. When you guys laughed it kind of helped me stay up a little bit too. It’s just a healing— it’s probably a defense mechanism.