This SC human trafficking survivor is drawing from her past to tackle the problem – Charleston Post Courier

As South Carolinas leaders pledge to end human trafficking and prosecute its perpetrators, a Lowcountry woman is pulling their focus to thesurvivors of such horrors.

Kat Wehunt, who survived years of sex trafficking as a teenager, knows shes lucky to have escaped. But she worries that her peers in the Palmetto State dont have a simple, thorough and accessible system to help them maintain a life free from abuse.

Her solution is The Formation Project, the states only survivor-led nonprofit dedicated to ending human trafficking. While law enforcement, legislators and faith leaders work to pull victims from their abusers, Wehunt focuses on the next step: connecting them with resources to make sure theyre able to thrive for the rest of their lives with the physical and emotional support they deserve.

Kat Wehunt, the founder of The Formation Project, poses for a photo with her artwork in her home studio on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 in Goose Creek. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

A woman named Heaven drove her to do it.

Heaven, a mother of three whod pulled herself out of trafficking, was succeeding by every measure. Wehunt worked with her for about four years, she said, and watched as the woman saved her money, bought a car, took on a management role at her Orangeburg plant and regained custody of her children.

By every measure that Wehunts colleagues followed, Heaven was a success story. Shed stayed out of trafficking, pushed down a heroin addiction and started sharing her story with others. Even Wehunt figured she was safe.

But one day, when Wehunt had already moved to Charleston but not yet started The Formation Project, she got the kind of call for which shes always preparing and never prepared. Heaven had overdosed and died.

To volunteer at or get resources from The Formation Project, call 843-375-6635.

The news shocked Wehunt. The pair had become good friends, she said, and Heaven never mentioned needing help.

Years before, Heaven had called Wehunt from a hotel room.

I need you to get here, she said. My trafficker is on his way and if you get here before him, then Ill go with you. But if he gets here before you then Im gone.

Wehunt raced to the hotel, speeding through her mental catalogue of which emergency shelters, rehabs and hospitals might have room for her friend. But Heaven had a different plan.

Take me toCVS and Ill get myself detoxed, Wehunt remembered Heaven telling her. Just drive me, I can take care of the rest.

So Wehunt was especially shocked when Heaven died without warning.

It almost made me leave the field, Wehunt said years later. Its so easy for organizations to get someone a job, or into rehab, and then check them off as a survivor. ... So shes been my driving force.

For every atrocity Wehunt has survived, she keeps a tally of the privileges that made it easier for her than many of the victims she serves. Shes White and grew up with good grades and a stable family income. An older man began trafficking her at 14, she says, but she was able to safely cut ties with him before her 18th birthday.

Wehunt knew she'd need help to heal from the sexual abuse, and the particular trauma of trust was betrayed by the man, whom she knew. But perhaps in part because she said she'd always thought of sex trafficking as a crime committed by violent strangers she didn't realize she'd survived it until learning the definition in a social work training clinic.

I was like, oh, Im in the wrong place, Wehunt said, gesturing to a cluster of survivors. I think Im supposed to be there.

Nearly 10 years later, she hasn't publicly identified her abuser but wants to share her story so that other victims can recognize the abuse.

Wehunt had never seen a trafficking survivor with her story. She knew of women whod been kidnapped by strangers, made desperate by addictions and denied education. Theyre overwhelmingly marginalized: transgender, undocumented, impoverished or women of color. They shared core experiences of abuse, but Wehunt stays conscious of her blind spots.

On the one hand, its exhausting, being the only survivor whos an organization leader here, and its really painful when people dont seem to listen, Wehunt told The Post and Courier. I think its about using your privilege to open doors and then bring (marginalized survivors) in and put them on the stage.

Wehunt said shes eager to share more stories of South Carolina survivors, but stopped short of pressuring them to join her. No public awareness or education is worth a persons wellbeing, she said a lesson she learned the hard way.

Kat Wehunt, the founder of The Formation Project, continues to paint on her artwork of Mona Lisa after work in her home studio on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 in Goose Creek. When she was a teenager an older relative trafficked her for sex and uses painting to help cope with her past. Wehunt is now the only survivor in South Carolina to found her own organization aimed at connecting victims to resources. Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

How do you move forward from the worst part of your life while surrounding yourself with reminders of it?

Its something Wehunt has meditated on but never found an answer to. In her early days as a social worker, she used all her energy to help others, and it took a full burnout for her to realize shed need to prioritize her own happiness like she does other survivors.

It feels selfish to even take a lunch break, when the people youre trying to help dont even have food or health care or a job, she said. I still struggle with that.

Over the past couple years, Wehunt said, shes gotten better at taking care of her own needs. She turns off her phone after work and spends her evenings painting or playing music with her husband, uninterrupted.

Ive started taking a step back and remembering that if a survivor I was helping told me she worked 16 hours a day, Id see that as a major block to her healing, Wehunt said. That would be a failure.

So every time Wehunt starts feeling overwhelmed or demoralized, she reminds herself of the joy she feels when another survivor finds a therapist, lands a job or starts a healthy relationship. If theres hope for one of them, she said, theres a future for all.

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This SC human trafficking survivor is drawing from her past to tackle the problem - Charleston Post Courier