January marks Human Trafficking Awareness Month, a time to recognize the ongoing issue of human trafficking. According to the FBI, approximately 8,000 children are trafficked each year in San Diego alone.
Even after being freed from their captors, survivors often carry physical reminders of their trauma, including scars and tattoos that can serve as painful symbols of their past.
A local non-profit organization, Fresh Start Surgical Gifts, has long been known for offering free cosmetic surgeries to children worldwide. Now, their transformative services are also extended to survivors of human trafficking through a new program called Unbranded.
One survivor shared her powerful story with CBS 8.
“I was empty, I was a shell of a person, I didn’t feel anything,” said Ali Evans.
Evans recalls that her ordeal began with what she thought was a teenage love story.
“I would go over there for family dinners, but then it took on this whole other life,” she explained.
What began as family gatherings quickly turned into years of abuse.
“If I tried to put up any sort of fight, if I tried to resist, he would use physical force,” Evans said.
From the age of 14 to 19, Evans was trafficked by her boyfriend and his father.
“They were selling me to multiple men, sometimes multiple times a day,” Evans shared.
She describes her experience as a mental prison, one that left both emotional and physical scars.
“I have a lot of scars, from cutting myself and being cut,” she added. These scars serve as constant reminders of her trauma, but she eventually found the strength to escape.
“I remember looking myself in the mirror, and saying he’s going to kill you if you don’t get out,” Evans said.
One fateful morning, after a long night of abuse, she seized the chance to flee and eventually found Fresh Start Surgical Gifts in San Diego.
Through Unbranded for a Fresh Start, the organization helps survivors like Evans by offering scar revision and tattoo removal services at no cost.
“We’ve seen survivors with cigarette burns, broken bottles over their heads—leaving major scars. I’ve seen women dragged behind cars, left for dead but somehow surviving—yet the scars remain,” said Jill Granquist, Medical Program Director and Registered Nurse at Fresh Start.
The medical team at Fresh Start volunteers their time to provide these services. The program began when an Encinitas plastic surgeon offered corrective cosmetic surgeries pro bono. Since 1991, Fresh Start has performed over 23,000 surgeries on underprivileged children worldwide. Now, it has expanded to help more than 40 survivors of human trafficking.
“It was a very bad time in their lives, and they make themselves so vulnerable to us while we provide care. They trust us, and to me, that is so rewarding. This often marks the last step in their healing and recovery,” Granquist added.
Evans’s abuser was eventually charged in a separate human trafficking case. After being released, he came to her home, prompting her to call the police. He fled but was later found dead in a hotel room from a self-inflicted gunshot. Evans says Unbranded has played a crucial role in her journey toward reclaiming her life.
“It gives you your dignity back and makes you feel human again,” Evans reflected.
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