Dr. Pat Spencer authored a textbook, newspaper and magazine columns, as well as trade and scholarly articles. She received degrees from Riverside Community College, University of La Verne, and University of California, Riverside. She began her academic career as a community college teacher and retired as a college president. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Mike.
Why I wrote Story of a Stolen Girl.
I began my professional career in the California Community College system as a cosmetology instructor and retired as a college president. During this time, my primary goal was to develop programs, services, and facilities to improve student opportunities and achievements. In that spirit, I wanted to write a novel that would make a difference.
Every year, 800,000 children, women, and men are trafficked. Human trafficking, as the fastest growing crime in the world, is also the most under-reported. From infant to young adult, children are sold as slaves. To survive, they struggle in untenable conditions to secure the most minimal form of survival. Children work in the sex industry, in mines, in homes cooking and cleaning, in the streets, and on construction sites. They haul rocks, pull heavy carts, and clear land. They slave in sweatshops, kitchens, and assembly lines. Young boys, dressed as girls, are forced to dance and often much more. Parents atone for their sins by selling young girls to religious leaders as "slaves to the gods." From the age of five and into adulthood, should they survive, children make bricks, dig for diamonds, and work on drug and cocoa farms. They die having their organs harvested. They also die in battle when they are turned into killers to fight adults' wars.
Most Americans believe human trafficking is a problem only in poor and underdeveloped countries, too far away to be our concern. However, statistics report over 50,000 slaves in the United States, with another 17,500 being trafficked every year. There has never been a country or time in history when it did not occur. The problem is huge. Resolution requires societal change. If this book stimulates conversation that makes a difference for any of these children, I am satisfied with its results. Pat Spencer
