HOUSTON — There's a new approach to fighting human trafficking.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is now giving survivors the chance to wipe their slates clean and apply for clemency. The new clemency application gives survivors a chance to receive a pardon from Abbott if the Board of Pardons and Paroles determines that their crimes were committed while they were a victim of human trafficking or domestic violence.
According to the National Survivors Network, 90% of trafficking survivors have been arrested and almost half have been arrested more than nine times.
It’s a difficult world to understand unless you’ve been on the other side.
“Immediate rush of excitement, because it is one of the things we’ve been waiting on," said Kathy McGibbon, an advocate for victims of human trafficking.
“Job opportunities, housing, it affects everything," she said of the clemency idea.
She's passionate because she’s also a survivor.
“I was trafficked by a 'Romeo' trafficker is what we call them, someone I fell in love with, someone I was in a relationship with,” she said.
McGibbon said she was groomed and trafficked in Houston and Dallas. From start to finish, it lasted about two years.
“There were several things that I saw out there and several crimes and things that I even had to commit in order just to survive," she said.
McGibbon says clemency could be a game-changer and encourage more survivors to speak up.
“You don’t know what trafficking is when you get out. You don’t know what to call it. Now, not only is the community being educated, but survivors and victims are being educated,” she said.