T, a former trafficking victim, is now a beacon of hope for people faced in similar situations. She has been named a TIME Top 100 person in 2014 and Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year in 2011. She shares her insights and experiences to sexuality after trauma on stage at TEDxAmherst.

Withelma “T” Ortiz Walker Pettigrew spent the first 18 years of her life in the U.S. foster care system and for seven of them she was victimized by sex traffickers in streets, strip clubs and massage parlors. Now a college student, T has become a beacon of hope, raising her voice against the world’s $96 billion human-trafficking industry, which exploits 27 million victims, including millions of youths and children. Testifying last October before Congress, T turned her words into action, offering practical tools to improve the child-welfare system. She was awarded the Time Top 100 Most Influential Person for 2014 and Glamour Woman of the Year 2011.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx