This is a story of how a woman changed her life after being involved in sex trafficking to become a restaurant owner. Delgado's restaurant is a small, take-out establishment located in a working-class neighborhood in Mexico. But to its owner, La Familia means much more than just four walls: It's a sign that she's once again free to dream big again. "This is very beautiful to me. It's the first step, but we will soon be growing and adding new dishes," Delgado said.
Delgado says her life turned upside down when she was 18 years old. "My father died the month before I was to finish high school and my family completely collapsed," she said. Homeless, penniless and grieving, Delgado says she was easy prey for a charming man who promised to care for her, offering marriage and eternal love.
"I used to eat cheap apples and coffee. That's all I could afford," Delgado said. "I was suffering a lot, and when he approached me offering to help, I felt I had no other option."
But the promise of marriage was just a trick. Her suitor was, in reality, a human trafficker.
"One day he told me 'I gave my life for you and you're also going to have to give yours for me. I'm struggling financially so you're going to have to help me by being a sex-worker in Mexico City,'" Delgado said. 'We were shown off as merchandise'
Delgado was soon forced to work in an alley in La Merced, a notorious red-light district in Mexico City. "Those of us girls who were new would stand at the entrance. They would show us off as if we were merchandise," Delgado said.
Delgado says she was forced to have sex with 30 to 40 men every night for a month, until a police raid finally set her free. She says that she was not the only victim of human trafficking. "Ninety percent of those of us there were human trafficking victims," Delgado said.
Her trafficker was convicted and sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison.
It took some time to put her life back together after regaining her freedom, but Delgado says once she got there she formed an ambitious plan to make something out of a second chance.
That's when she thought of opening her own restaurant, a dream Delgado had ever since she was working on getting her business degree after regaining her freedom. Her new dream is growing her business enough to make it a franchise in Mexico City.
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