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I know someone who was trafficked, though she does not call it that. I have watched her heal and gain confidence. I have watched her educate herself to better provide for herself and her daughter. I am proud to call her my daughter.

I struggle with mental health myself and need to be careful about self-talk. For this coming year I want to build a network of friends I can turn to.

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Thank you for sharing this - it's always inspiring to hear stories of resilience and healing.

I am always open to using the language that the person sharing their story wants to use. The Dressember participants that I've interviewed aren't typically trafficking survivors themselves, so I don't always learn what the people who have gone through it describe it as but whenever I do, I definitely include that. Everyone is, of course, at different stages of healing and understanding.

A network of supportive friends has been critical to my own mental health and sounds like a good intention.

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I am not free to tell her story using her language because it involves details that could be traced from me to her that she doesn't want shared.

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Makes perfect sense. I just meant to recognize exactly that - her story is hers in whatever way she wants to share it if at all. And when I learn new language around it that people prefer I try to remember it 💙

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