San Antonio Standard

Although San Antonio is a central hub to human trafficking, it is also the home of Our Empowering Women of America, an organization supporting victims of human trafficking that has recently seen an increase in survivors coming forward. 

"There is prevention, there is awareness, there is resources. We have so many resources in San Antonio—there is help," Maria Perez, founder of Our Empowering Women of America recently told KENS5. "If you see something, please say something." 

Perez is a survivor who escaped a smuggler decades ago when she was 25 years old. But a woman Perez met while she was trapped was not able to escape, and Perez started this organization to not only help other women but also to hopefully save that woman.

"I made a promise to her that I would come back and save her," Perez told KENS5. "It breaks my heart. I'm doing this for her because I don't even know if she is alive or dead." 

Last year alone, there were 561 human trafficking cases in Texas, with the overwhelming majority of them being sex trafficking cases, the National Human Trafficking Hotline cites. 

"The community has to step up," Perez told KENS5. "We have to work together, it's just too much for law enforcement. It seems like – and I hate to use the word – but we're losing the battle in America. But we cannot. We have to fight for our children, and we have to work alongside law enforcement. It's necessary."